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THE 
 
 IMPERIAL GUARD 
 
 OF 
 
 NAPOLEON 
 
 From Marengo to IVaterloo 
 
 J. T. HEADLEY 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 1892 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by 
 
 J. T. HEADLEY 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern 
 
 District of New York 
 
 Copyright, 1888, by 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 GIFT 
 
 TROW'8 
 
 PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY, 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
1 9e^ 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Gkeat revolutions develop great military leaders, 
 in whose single person seems to centre the destiny of 
 the struggle. In their rapid advance to power, there 
 is usually developed, also, a military body distin- 
 guished for its invincibility, in whose keeping the 
 fate of the leader seems especially to be placed. 
 Thus, in the first civil war of England, Cromwell 
 suddenly vaulted to power from the obscurity of a 
 country farmer. At the same time his Ironsides, al- 
 though never trained in military schools — became the 
 most terrible body of cavalry the nation had ever 
 known. Bonaparte, from a poor lieutenant, leaped 
 almost at a bound to the head of an empire. With 
 his first victories commenced the organization of the 
 corps which afterwards became the Old Guard, an 
 army in itself, and the firmest prop of his throne. 
 Victory perched with its eagles, and he always held 
 it in reserve till the last decisive moment came. 
 Again and again he flung his crown into its invinci- 
 ble squares, and saw it with calm confidence carry 
 his empire into the tossing tides of battle. 
 
 ivi625253 
 
vi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The Old Guard was the most renowned body of 
 soldiers to be found in the military annals of the 
 world. It was no less distinguished for its sobriety 
 and freedom from all excesses, its self-respect, than 
 for its strict discipline and invincible courage. On 
 these accounts it may be of especial service to us. A 
 great name is never acquired by a body of troops that 
 is not distinguished by its moral qualities. A bril- 
 liant charge may be made by a band of desperadoes, 
 but a sustained reputation cannot be acquired with- 
 out moral dignity. 
 
 The materials for this work were mostly collected 
 in the preparation of my " I^apoleon and his Mar- 
 shals," and hence it was comparatively an easy task 
 to arrange them in a connected and intelligible form. 
 At first sight there might seem to be a good deal of 
 repetition of scenes described in that work, because 
 reference is necessarily made to them. But what in 
 the former work is a mere reference made to give a 
 right conception of a battle or campaign, in this 
 becomes a full and detailed account. In the former 
 the main features of a conflict are delineated, and the 
 conduct of the Guard only mentioned incidentally, 
 while in the latter the battle-field and the main 
 operations of the army are sketched only enough to 
 allow the introduction of the Guard upon the field. 
 So that while the references to the same things are 
 constant, the details are entirely different. Two or 
 three exceptions to this remark occur in the present 
 
INTRODUCTION. vii 
 
 work, but I thought that the reader in these cases 
 would prefer a repetition to a hiatus in the history 
 of the Guard. 
 
 The facts are taken from a variety of works which 
 I need not here enumerate. The statistics, however, 
 and most of the details exhibiting the private life, if 
 I may so term it, of the Guard, are taken from a 
 French work entitled '' Histoire Pojpulaire de la 
 Garde Iniperiale, j^ar Entile Marco de Saint-Hi- 
 laire.''^ It is a large work, comprising some five hun- 
 dred closely printed pages. I should have given 
 credit to it in the body of my work, since many 
 scenes are in fact translations condensed, but the re- 
 ferences would have been endless. I have used it 
 without stint. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAQl 
 
 The origin of the Imperial Guard— Plan on which It was first constituted — 
 The Consular Guard of Napoleon — The Moral Character of the Old 
 Guard. IJ 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Marengo— The bloody baptism of the Consular Guard— Its firmness— Bona- 
 parte's eulogium upon it after the battle— Lannes made commander— Changes 
 Introduced— Anecdote of Lannes and Napoleon — Napoleon's attack on long 
 queues and long hair— Shearing of the Guard— Anger of the officers and gen- 
 erals—Distribution of the Legion of Honpr— Description of the Mamelukes 
 of the Guard. ----2t 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Becommencement of the War— The Camp of Boulogne— The Old Guard at 
 Austerlitz— Meeting of the Imperial Guards of the Czar and Napoleon— 
 The Guard at Jena— The Velites — Young Desherbiers — Habits of Napoleon 
 in campa'gn— His Body Guai-d- Presentation of the Eagle to a new r^- 
 mcnt. . • if 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CVeation of a legiinent of Polish Lancers— The Old Gnard at Eylau- Cam- 
 paign of 1807— Treaty of Tilsit— The interview of Napoleon with Alexan- 
 der—His influence over him— The Old Guard in Spain— Miraculous de- 
 spatch of Napoleon when he heard of the confederacy in Germany against 
 him— His rapid ride. --- 6( 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Organization of the Young Guard— Campaign of 1909— Extraordinary exer- 
 tions of Napoleon— His rapid success— Bombarding of Vienna, and first 
 courtship of Maria Louisa— Disgrace of a surgeon— The Old Guard at As- 
 pern — Its last charge — Incident showing how Napoleon punished the least 
 neglect of his Guard— The Guard at Wagram— Sublime spectacle— Its artil- 
 lery heads Macdcnald's charge — Diflicurty of appreciating the conduct of the 
 Guard. ---. ... 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Marriage of Napoleon to Maria Louisa— Augmentation of the Old Guard- 
 Grand review of the Old Guard at Paris— Touching incident— The brave 
 drummer and General Gros — Napoleon's treatment of them — Secret of Na- 
 poleon's influence over his troops, was in the afiection he inspired— His pro- 
 digious memory — Conversation with the Russian Chamberlain. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Increase jf the Guard— Birth of the king of Eome— The excitement and joy 
 of the Parisians at the event — Creation of the pupils of the Guard— Their 
 review in presence of the Old Guard— Napoleon's address to both— Anec- 
 dote of one of the pupils. The pupils in service to the young king of 
 Eu>m& 109 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 tussian Campaign— Sublime spectacle of the army of invasion— The Old Gnard 
 at Borodino — Gallant Charge and death of Caulincourt — Strange conduct 
 of Napoleon— The Old Guard in the Kremlin— Anecdote illustrating its hon- 
 esty—It saves the chest of the army at Beresina. - - - 13 1 
 
CONTENIS. XI 
 
 PAOl 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Narrow escape of Naj oleon— Disorder of the army on arriving at Smolensko 
 — Firmness of the Old Guard — The famine in the city — Gloomy departure — 
 The Guard passing a Russian battery— The Old Guard at Krasnoi— The fall 
 of Minsk, and gloom of Napoleon— His appeal to the Old Guard— His joy at 
 Ney's safety — The Old Guard at Beresina — Its frozen biyouacs — Anecdote 
 of an officer — Departure of Napoleon for Paris, and the breaking up of the 
 Guard — Last dreadful days. -.--.--.-133 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Reorganization of the Army — Death of Bessieres — The Old Guard at Lutzen 
 — Its Last Charge — Drouot; his character — Death of Duroc — Moiu-nful 
 Scene around the tent of Napoleon — The Guard in Bohemia — Its astonish- 
 ing march to Dresden — Its bravery — Napoleon in its squares on the battle- 
 field—Tableau—The Old Guard at Leipzio— The retreat— Battle of Hanau 
 won by the Guard — It leaves forever the scene of its achievements. - - 154 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Napoleon with Europe against lum— Care of his Guard— The Guard at Ro- 
 thiere — Captain Ilauillet — Terrible cross march to attack Blucher — Victory 
 of Champs d'Aubert — ^The Old Guard at Montmirail — Its victory — Its pro- 
 tracted marches and battles — Overthrow of Blucher— Return of the Guard 
 to the help of Victor and Oudinot — Its last battles and marches — Desertion 
 of Napoleon by his friends at his abdication — Faithfulness of the Guard— 
 The parting scene at Fontainbleau — The Guard by the side of its foes — Its 
 bearing and aspect ---184 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Its bearing towards its foes — Its anger at losing its colors— Tlie Old Guard at 
 Elba — Napoleon's habits — Anecdotes illustrating the discontent of the troops 
 in their exile — Their return to France and march to Paris — Reception of the 
 Guard— Last charge at Waterloo. -28T 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 iUge of the Guard at the surrender of Paris— Is disbanded— Part come to 
 America — Champ d'Asile in Texas — Last of the Guards — Tomb of Napo- 
 leon. 251 
 
XU CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Revijw of the dead — The office of tho French Revolution — Who is responsi- 
 ble for the wars that desolated Europe for so many years— Bonaparte's pol- 
 icy as general — As First CJonsul— His offers of peace rejected— England vio- 
 lates the treaty of Amiens— Napoleon's relation to the free States he had 
 organized— Austria violates the treaty of Presbourg- Invasion of Eussia— 
 Treachery of Austria and Prussia— Fall of Napoleon — Campaign of Water- 
 
 iM la 
 
THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Origin of the Imperial Guard— Plan on which it was first constitiited— Thi 
 Consular Guard of Napoleon— Its Baptism of Blood at Marengo— The Moral 
 Character of the Old Guard, 
 
 The Imperial Guard — or as it is more familiarly 
 known, the Old Guard of Kapoleon, is as much 
 renowned in modern as the Greek Phalanx was in 
 ancient war. "When the latter, eight or sixteen 
 thousand strong, shoulder to shoulder, and shield 
 touching shield, moved sixteen deep on the enemy, 
 the battle was over. So when the eagles of the Old 
 Guard were seen advancing through the smoke of 
 the conflict, the result was no longer doubtful. Its 
 whole history is an illustration of the moral and 
 physical power which a great idea imparts. 
 
 Called upon only in great emergencies, it came to 
 regard itself as the prop of the empire. When its 
 columns were ordered to move to the attack, every 
 
12 THE OLD GUARD 
 
 soldier knew it was not to execute a manoeuvre, or 
 perform a subordinate part in the battle, but to 
 march where the struggle was deadliest, and the fate 
 of the army was to be decided. He knew, too, that 
 over the dead and dying, over flaming batteries, and 
 through ranks of steel, the steady battalions were to 
 go. The bugle was never to sound a retreat for him, 
 and no reserve help him sustain the shock. It was 
 the consciousness of this great responsibility that 
 made it great and irresistible. This idea alone filled 
 the mind, leaving no room for fear of death. The bear- 
 skin caps of the grenadiers were never seen advancing 
 to the charge without causing a shout from the whole 
 army. The force it possessed over others was as 
 much moral as physical. Beaten troops rallied at its 
 approach, and despair gave way to confidence, and 
 the cry of terror was changed into the shout of victory. 
 The enemy on the other hand when they saw the 
 deep and massive columns of the Guard approach- 
 ing, were already half beaten. The prestige of 
 victory that went with its eagles paralyzed their arms, 
 and they struggled against hope. So well known 
 was it when they were ordered up, that the final hour 
 of one or the other army had come, that the contest 
 along the different portions of the line became appa- 
 rently of no account, and everything waited the re- 
 sult of their shock. So perfect was their discipline, 
 that their tread was unlike that of other regiments 
 
ITS LOVE FOE NAPOLEON. 13 
 
 while the consciousness of their power gave a gran- 
 deur to their movements, no body of men in ancient 
 or modem times have possessed. Their bivouac at 
 night and their squares in position on the battle-field, 
 were always the great objects of interest, for they en- 
 folded the emperor. Napoleon loved them devotedly, 
 and always called them his children. They never 
 suffered while anything was to be had, and he would 
 listen kindly to the suit of the meanest soldier. And 
 well did they deserve his love. For him, they knew 
 no weariness or pain. His presence amid them com- 
 pensated for all losses ; and at his voice, and for his 
 welfare, they would move steadily and cheerfully on 
 death. The care he took of them, and the pride he 
 felt in them, and the glory with which he covered 
 them, naturally produced a strong and abiding at- 
 tachment. He was proud of their appearance, and 
 always gave them a prominent place in his great 
 exhibitions at Paris. He allowed liberally for 
 the expenditures of the officers, wishing them to be 
 dressed magnificently, although habited himself in 
 the plainest costume. The dress of the drum-major ot 
 the Foot Grenadiers alone cost $6000. So richly work- 
 ed in gold was it, that in 1809, when the Old Guard 
 made its triumphant entry into Vienna, the ladies 
 said, that the drum-major would make a more pro- 
 fitable prisoner than Kapoleon. Even the musicians 
 and surgeons were dressed in this sumptuous uniform. 
 
14 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 The gorgeous appearance of the <ihief officers con* 
 trasted well with the grave, austeie costume of the 
 battalions of the Guard. When in front of their 
 lines, the former appeared like the sparkling foam 
 and crest of the wave that swept darkly after. 
 
 Napoleon took an interest in everything pertaining 
 to the officers of his Guard, even their marriages. 
 He was not less solicitous they should be good citizens 
 than good officers. One day, Dorsenne having ex- 
 pressed some astonishment at this paternal solicitude, 
 especially in regard to the approaching marriage of 
 an officer, Kapoleon replied, " Are you not all lions ? 
 Yery well, it is important the race should not perish. 
 France and myself will have need of new claws and 
 new teeth, when yours can no longer serve us." 
 The same interest extended to the children of those 
 who fell in battle. They were provided for and well 
 educated. Speaking once to Davoust, of the reluc- 
 tance of the soldiers of the Guard, to leave it even for 
 promotion among the troops of the line, he said, "My 
 old soldiers had rather eat a piece of bread near me, 
 than a chicken a hundred leagues from my person. It 
 is true that if they are not able to leave me, it also 
 gives me great pain to part from them." He inquired 
 into the wants of the soldiers, and often playfully 
 asked them, " My grumblers, are you in want of any- 
 thing ?" The uniform answer was " nothing." The 
 discipline was very severe, and the least departure 
 
ITS STRICT disciplinp:. 15 
 
 from duty was visited with punishment. It was 
 more rigorous than in the army of the line. Napo- 
 leon, had said, " If I wished only intrepid men, I 
 could take at hazard. the first soldiers in the army I 
 came to, but I desire more, I want good conduct, ma« 
 rality and obedience, and this I find difficult." These 
 words were often commented on in the Guard, and 
 cases of punishment were rare. Absence when the 
 morning roll was called was punished with two days 
 in the hall of police ; absence at the evening roll, four 
 days in the hall of police, and eight days of constant 
 duty ; sleeping away from his quarters, fifteen days 
 in the hall of police, and a month of constant duty ; 
 drunkenness and insubordination brought the dun- 
 geon, and a repetition of the offence, expulsion from 
 the corps. Even wiien out of their barracks, the 
 hand of discipline was on them. They were forbid- 
 den to promenade with suspected women, and haunt- 
 ing bad places and taverns. They were not allowed 
 to walk in the Palais Royal. In the day-time they 
 might cross the garden, if in their route, but in the 
 night, never. Their amusements naturally took a 
 simple and innocent direction, their manners grew 
 polite and affable, so that they became examples of 
 good behavior in the midst of a turbulent population. 
 Even on fete days, when great license was allowed, 
 they were quiet in their deportments, and subdued in 
 their mirth, as though it became them who held so 
 
1ft THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 high a trust, and so marked a position, to be reserve(5 
 and composed. Each man seemed to feel that the 
 honor of the whole corps was entrusted to his keeping. 
 This sentiment and thought pervading every heart 
 imparted that steady valor and unwavering constancy 
 amid the dispirited and flying army, fast perishing 
 in the snows of Russia. It is a singular fact, that for 
 fourteen years, Napoleon did not expel a single officer 
 of any grade from the Guard. 
 
 He wished it to be an example to the rest of the 
 army, and so it was in discipline, obedience, good be- 
 havior and heroic courage. It was on this account 
 that a duel among its officers always threw him into 
 a great rage, as indeed a duel among any of his offi- 
 cei'S. During the campaign in Egypt, Junot, his firat 
 aid-de-camp and Lannes, fought a bloody duel, in 
 which the former received a frightful sabre cut, 
 which well nigh sent him to his grave, and the latter 
 had his head nearly opened. When Desgenettes in- 
 formed l^apoleon of it, he was furious. " What!" he 
 exclaimed, " do they wish to cut each other's throats. 
 They have been among the reeds of the Nile to dis- 
 pute with the crocodiles for the palm of ferocity, and 
 to leave to them the corpse of him who should bo 
 be slain? Have they not enough of the Arabs and 
 the plague ? They deserve that I should call them 
 before me, and that * * * *." And then after 
 a moment of silence, he added, " No, I do not wish to 
 
A DUEL. 17 
 
 see them. I do not wish any one even to speak tc 
 me of tliem." 
 
 The severe manner in which he vented his displea- 
 sure against Filangieri, the godson of his sister, for 
 killing General Franceschetti, was well known, and 
 duels after a while became of rare occurrence among 
 the officers of the Guard. One harmless duel ending 
 in a farce never came to his ears. It has been 
 j)ublislied as having occurred between two Spanish 
 officers, whereas, the true heroes of it were two 
 captains of the horse grenadiers of the Guard. 
 One of them had spoken in a light, joking manner to 
 the sister of the other. The latter demanded that an 
 apology should be made to her in presence of the as- 
 sembled family. The former refused, and a challenge 
 was the consequence. They met in the woods of 
 Boulogne, and had already drawn their swords, when 
 a laboring man, till then unnoticed, advanced, and 
 addressing the combatants in a piteous tone said, 
 ''Alas ! my dear officers, I am a poor joiner without 
 work, and the father of a family." " Eh, my brave 
 fellow," said one of the seconds, " retire, this is no 
 time to ask for alms ; do you not see that these gen- 
 tlemen are about to cut each other's throats ?" " It is 
 for that reason, my brave officers," he replied, " that 
 I have come to ask the preference." "What pre- 
 ference?" they exclaimed. "To make the coffins of 
 these two gentlemen, for I am a poor join(.'r without 
 
18 THK OLD GUARD. 
 
 work, aud the father of a family." At these words, 
 the two antagonists paused, and gazed on each other 
 a moment, then burst into a simultaneous peal of 
 laughter. Their anger was over, and advancing, they 
 shook hands, and then retired to a restaurant to finish 
 their quarrel with forks over a well-covered table. 
 
 No matter who was the victor in a duel. Napoleon 
 always punished the challenger. " A duel," he was 
 wont to say, " is no indication of courage — it is the 
 fury of a cannibal." 
 
 The same r4gor was shown to every departure from 
 duty. Thus more by internal regulations than out- 
 ward forms, did he gradually perfect the charac- 
 ter of the Guard. By visiting with displeasure acts 
 which did not come under the rules of military dis- 
 cipline, he taught them to curb their passions, and 
 show an example of uprightness and integrity as well 
 as bravery to the army. The soldiers of it received 
 extra pay, and especial favors were lavisTied on them 
 by Napoleon. This he knew would not be borne by 
 the rest of the army, unless deserved not only by 
 superior service but a higher character. Never 
 pillaging a conquered city, or giving way to the 
 license of a common soldier, wliile quartered in 
 it, the latter naturally regarded tbem as superior — as 
 occupying a rank above them, akin to that of an offi- 
 cer. Napoleon said, he would not be disquieted by 
 the conduct of soldiers attached to his person. 
 
ITS MORAL CHARACTER. 19 
 
 So strict was tlieir integrity and so nice their sense 
 of honor, that in every city occupied by the French 
 troops, they left more or less grateful recollections of 
 themselves among the inhabitants. Their upright de- 
 portment and conciliatory behavior were remembered 
 long after; for on J^apoleon's final abdication, these 
 veterans distributed themselves over the world, and 
 received kindnesses from the very countries they had 
 swept through as conquerors. 
 
 So in garrison, at home, instead of being riotous 
 and quarrelsome, they prevented quarrels among the 
 citizens, and left behind them the esteem and good 
 will of all. 
 
 The character of the Old Guard, as delineated 
 above, was the result of education and discipline. It 
 required time to perfect it, but after it was formed it 
 distinguished this renowned corps to the last. I have 
 been thus particular in describing its moral qualities 
 because they are less known — its deeds shall illus- 
 trate its military character. 
 
 In Bonaparte's first campaign in Italy, he had sim- 
 ply his stafl:' about him. In Egypt, a corps which he 
 named guides^ acted as a personal guard, most of 
 whom returned with him to France, at length became 
 incorporated in the Guard. He said that a narrow 
 escape from being once made prisoner in Italy, sug- 
 gested to him the organization of this corps. 
 
 A national and imperial Guard have been common 
 
so THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 to all raonarchial and despotic governments. France 
 had the former during the revolution. It was on this 
 Bonaparte thundered with his cannon, when he 
 quelled the sections. He was then at the head of the 
 (xuard of the Convention, a corps formed to protect 
 that body from the violence of the mob. It was com- 
 posed of four companies, united in a single battalion, 
 with sappers, drummers, and a band of musicians ; and 
 numbered at fii-st, officers and all, but five hundred 
 men. In it, however, were the young Murat, Lefe- 
 bvre, Guisard, Monnet, and many others who after- 
 wards attained high rank and renown. Robespieri-e, 
 Couthon, St. Just, and others, had their creatures in 
 the ranks, and it was a miserable, inefficient corps. 
 After the death of the former, the Convention purged 
 it thoroughly of its bad members, and added to it 
 men of a different stamp, so that when Bonaparte put 
 himself at its head to quell the revolt of the sections, 
 he found it, especially the grenadiers, a warlike and 
 well-disciplined body of soldiers. 
 
 After the overthrow of the Convention, and the 
 establishment of the Directory, the Guard of the Con- 
 vention became the Guard of the Executive Directory. 
 Ail order was issued fixing its number at a hundred and 
 twenty foot soldiers, and a hundred and twenty cavalry. 
 The Directory also continued the work of purgation, 
 and incorporated into the corps, the veterans of the 
 Rhine, Sambre-et-Meuse, Pyrenees and Italy. A 
 
ITS ORIGIN. 
 
 21 
 
 severe discipline was introduced, and soon, under the 
 instructions of men, who had learned the art of war 
 on the field of battle, became one of the finest regi- 
 ments of the army. 
 
 When Bonaparte plotted the overthrow of the Di- 
 rectory, he introduced emissaries into the Guard, who 
 ioon worked the soldiers over to the interests of their 
 future master, so that when Moulin, one of the Direct- 
 ors, endeavored to rouse them in defence of the govern- 
 ment, they quietly remained in their barracks. On 
 the 20th Brumaire, when Bonaparte was saluted First 
 Consul by the people, he went to the Place 
 du Carrousel, at the head of a magnificent staff*, to 
 review the regiments that formed the garrison of 
 Paris. The Guard of the Directory formed the right 
 of the line of battle, and as Bonaparte halted in front 
 of it, he announced that, in future it was to be the 
 " Guard of the Consuls." Long live General Bona- 
 parte, rent the air along the whole line, and the Im- 
 perial Guard was horn. 
 
 This was. the nucleus of the Consular Guard, which 
 in the end, became the famed Imperial Guard, wLose 
 name sent terror over Europe. The change that imme 
 diately passed over this corps, was indicative of the 
 future plans of its chief. From two companies, com- 
 prising 270 men, it was raised to 2089 men, divided 
 into one company of light infantry; two battalions of 
 foot grenadiers ; one company of horse chasseurs ; two 
 
22 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 squadrons of cavalry ; one company of light artillery 
 of which a third was mounted. 
 
 It may be of interest to some to see the first organi 
 zation of this famed Guard : 
 
 Staff Officers of the Commander - 
 Inferior Officers of Infantry 
 2 Battalions of Grenadiers 
 
 1 Company of Chasseurs 
 Superior Officers of Cavalry 
 
 2 Squadrons of Grenadiers 
 Company of Horse Chasseurs 
 
 10 D. of Artillery ... 
 
 71 
 
 17 
 
 1,188 
 
 99 
 
 19 
 
 468 
 
 117 
 
 110 
 
 2,089 
 
 Total, - 
 
 This is the number as fixed by the decree of the 
 Consuls. Only a small i)ortion of these, however, 
 was given to Consul Bonaparte as General of the 
 army. 
 
 When he took the bold resolution to make the 
 Tuileries his palace, the first thing he did in the 
 morning, was to review the Consular Guard, and the 
 lialf brigades, which were still in barracks in Paris. 
 Passing through their ranks, he addressed flattering 
 words to the chief ofiicers of the corps, and then plac- 
 ing himself before the pavilion of the clock, with 
 Murat on his right and Lannes on his left, and behind 
 luia a numerous staff of young warriors, bronzed 
 by the sun of Italy and Egypt, he saw the troops de- 
 file before him. As the standards of the 96th, 43d 
 and 30th demi-brigades saluted him, presenting no- 
 
AN INCIDENT. 23 
 
 thing but shreds of banners riddled with balls and 
 blackened with powder, he raised his chapeau, and 
 bowed in token of respect. The shout that followed 
 rocked the old palace to its foundations. The troops' 
 having passed, he mounted with a bold step the stairs 
 of the Tuileries, that none but a king ever before dared 
 to occupy. It was a hazardous move on the part of 
 the young chief of the republic, thus to foreshadow 
 his future designs. He felt it to be such, and to off- 
 set this assumption of regal splendor, a few days after 
 he issued the following decree to the Consular Guard, 
 " "Washington is dead ! This great man has fought 
 against tyranny, and consolidated the liberty of his 
 country. His memory will always be dear to the 
 French people, as to all free men in both hemispheres, 
 and especially to the French soldiers, who, equally 
 with the American soldiers, fight for liberty and 
 equality. The First Consul, therefore, decrees that 
 for ten days black crape shall be hung on the stan- 
 dards and colors of the Consular Guard." 
 
 The distribution of " arms of honor," in reward for 
 great deeds, was also very popular, and prepared the 
 way for the future creation of the " Legion of Honor." 
 
 A third incident helped to increase the popular en- 
 thusiasm for ]N"apoleon, and to attach the Guard still 
 jaore strongly to him. A sergeant of grenadiers, who 
 was noted for the remarkable feats in arms he had 
 performed, received one of these *' arms of honor," a 
 
24 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 fine sabre. Immediately on its inception, he wrote 
 the following naive letter to the First Consul, in which. 
 it will be observed, he forgets to thank his benefactor 
 for the gift, and simply enumerates his own deeds and 
 asks a favor. It commences : 
 
 *'Leon Aune, Sergeant of Grenadiers, in the 32d denni-brigade, 
 to citizen Bonaparte, First Consul at Paris. 
 
 Citizen First Consul : Your arrival upon the territory of 
 the Republic has consoled all pure souls, chiefly mine. Hav- 
 ing no hope but in you, I conne to you as my guardian deity, to 
 pray you to give a place in your good memory to Leon, whom 
 you have so often loaded with favors on the field of battle. 
 
 Not having been able to embark with you for Egypt, there 
 to reap new laurels under your command, I find myself at the 
 depot of the 32d demi-brigade, in the quality of a sergeant. 
 Having been told by my comrades, that you often spoke of me in 
 Egypt, I pray you not to abandon me, while you make me know 
 that you remember me. It is useless to remind you of affairs, 
 where I have shown myself a true republican, and where I have 
 merited the esteem of my superiors. Nevertheless, you will not 
 forget that at Montenotte, I saved the life of General Rampoii, 
 and the Chief of the Brigade, Masse, as they will certify. At 
 Diego, I took a stand of colors from the Chief Engineer of the 
 Army of the enemy ; at Lodi, 1 was the first to mount to the 
 assault, and I opened the gates to our brethren in arms; at Borg- 
 hetto, I was among the first who passed the bridges — the bridge 
 giving way, T was cast among the enemy, and took the comman- 
 dan of the post prisoner. A little after, being made prisoner 
 myself, I slew the hostile commanding officer, and by this action, 
 rescued four hundred more prisoners, like myself, and enabled 
 them to re-join their respective corps. Moreover, I have five 
 
LEON ATJNE. 2S 
 
 wounds upon my body. I dare then to hope, and am well per- 
 suaded, that you always have regard for those who have so well 
 seived their country. 
 
 Health and respect, 
 
 LEON AUNE." 
 
 This letter, more distinguished, we must confess for 
 its simplicity and honesty, than for its modesty, fur- 
 nished Bonaparte, an admirable opportunity for pro 
 ducing an effect upon his Guard, and indeed the 
 whole army. He intended his answer should be 
 made public, although apparently written as a private 
 note. He wrote — 
 
 " I have received your letter, my brave comrade. You did not 
 
 need to refresh my memory ; you are the bravest grenadier, since 
 
 the death of Benezete ; you have had one of the sabres that I 
 
 have distributed to the army. All your comrades, with one 
 
 accord, pronounce you worthy of it above all others. I desire 
 
 much to see you ; the Minister of War, sends an order for you 
 
 to come to Paris. 
 
 BONAPARTE." 
 
 The sensation this letter caused in the army was 
 prodigious. "What, the First Consul of the Republic, 
 and the greatest General of modern times, write to a 
 common sergeant, and call him '' my hrave com/rade P^ 
 He might occupy forty Tuileries with the pomp of 
 an emperor, such language would atone for all in 
 the sight of the army. A better republican could 
 not exist. This letter was a double hit, for it not 
 only removed from the soldiers whatever suspiciona 
 2 
 
26 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 might have arisen of Bonaparte's designs, when thej^ 
 saw him ascend the steps of the Tuileries, as its occu- 
 pant, but it fired them with the loftiest enthusiasm. 
 Who would not fight bravely under a chieftain who 
 bestowed such epithets on the humblest soldier fi r 
 deeds of daring ? 
 
 But Bonaparte's chief favors were lavished on his 
 Guard. Already he seemed to forecast the future, 
 and see the terrible corps with which he was to sur- 
 round his person. This attention to his guard soon 
 produced feelings of envy and rivalry in other regi- 
 ments of the army, which at length broke out into 
 quarrels and serious conflicts. One day a trumpeter 
 of the mounted chasseurs of the Guard was conversing 
 at the entrance to the barracks with some under- 
 officers like himself, when several masters of arms in 
 the army of the line approached and demanded to 
 see their colleagues — the masters of arms of the chas- 
 seurs, intending it as an insult to the trumpeter and 
 his friends. "They rest in Egypt," was the reply. 
 " But, trumpeter," said one, as he gave his moustache 
 a contemptuous twist, " you ought to have some one 
 of them remaining." The trumpeter replying in the 
 negative, the masters showed so clearly that they 
 were bent on a quarrel, that the former became im- 
 patient and exclaimed, " Oh, well, gentlemen, enter 
 the barracks, shut your eyes, and the first man you 
 put your hands on will prove to you that, if the mas- 
 
A QUARREL. 27 
 
 ters and pro'^-osts of the regiment rest in Egypt, their 
 good swords yet remain." This was sufficient ^ each 
 chose his champion, and, in a few minutes, four 
 masters of arms were put Jiors du comhat. Eugene 
 Beauharnais, who was then but chief of a squadron 
 of chasseurs, hearing of it, called the trumpeter to 
 him and reproached him bitterly. The latter de- 
 fended himself on the ground that he was provoked 
 into the quarrel. "I detest bullies," broke in Eu- 
 gene, with a tone that did not admit a reply. " Let 
 me hear no more of such scandalous conduct. As to 
 you, if it happens again, I will put a blade of wood 
 in your scabbard." "My commander," said the 
 trumpeter, smiling, "there will still be means to 
 brush the clothes of those who would throw dirt 
 upon ours." 
 
 A few days after, new provocations were given to 
 the chasseurs of the Guard, when a quarrel ensued 
 which finally drew fifty men into a deliberate fight. 
 Murderous work would have followed had not Lefeb- 
 vre, who had been apprised of it, charged on them with 
 a squadron of horse grenadiers. 
 
 These quarrels, however, were soon forgotten in 
 more serious events, and the Consular Guard was to 
 place itself beyond the reach of envy and be looked 
 up to as a model, and not frowned upon as a rival. 
 The peace was over, and Bonaparte directed his vast 
 
28 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 energies, which liad been employed in developing 
 the I'esources of the nation, to the war which threat- 
 ened him on every side. The campaign of Marengo 
 was at hajv^ 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Marengo— The bloody baptlsTi of tlie Consular Guard— Its flrmnees— Bonapartoi 
 eulogium upon it after the wattle — Lannes made commander — Changes introduced 
 — Anecdote of Lannes and Napoleon — Napoleon's attack on long queues aud 
 long hair— Shearing of the Guard— Anger of the officers and generals— Distribu- 
 tion of the Legion of Honor— Description of the Mamelukes of the Guard. 
 
 During Bonaparte's campaign in Egypt, France 
 had lost her possessions in Italy; and, after his re- 
 turn, he determined to make that country again the 
 field of his conquests. 
 
 One hardly knows which to wonder at most, the 
 resurrection he gave to France in the few months 
 that succeeded his election as First Consul; the de- 
 velopment of her internal resources and strength, or 
 the magical army that seemed to rise at his touch 
 from the earth, and the next moment hang in three 
 mighty columns amid the glaciers of the Alps. As 
 in his expedition to Egypt he had completely out- 
 witted both England and the Continent, which re- 
 mained to the last moment icfuorant of the destination 
 
30 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 of his army, so now he managed to mislead Europe 
 as to the point where he designed to strike. It was 
 generally supposed that he was on his way to Genoa, 
 to relieve Massena, who was starving to death within 
 its walls. That brave veteran thought so too, and long 
 and patiently waited to hear the thunder of his can- 
 non, amid the Appenines. But Bonaparte was seeking 
 the Austrian general, Melas, though, strange as it may 
 seem, when he had reunited his divisions in the 
 plains of Piedmont he could not find him. It was 
 owing: to this imiorance of the whereabouts of Melae 
 that his army became so divided. Having scoured 
 the plains of Marengo, of which a few months before 
 he had spoken as the spot for a great battle, without 
 finding the enemy, he supposed he must have taken 
 flight. He never dreamed that if he intended to give 
 battle at all, he would leave the plain — above all the 
 village of Marengo unoccupied. He, therefore, left 
 Victor with two divisions at Marengo, and Lannes with 
 one division en echelon in the plain, and hastened back 
 to his head quarters at Yoghera, hoping to hear news 
 of the enemy from Moncey on the Tessino, or Duhes- 
 me,on the Lower Po. Luckily for him, however, the 
 Scrivia had overflowed its banks, so that he was 
 compelled to stop on the other side. Despatches 
 wore received from these oflicers, stating that all 
 was quiet in their sections. He then decided that 
 Melas must have gone by vay of Novi to Genoa, and 
 
MAKENGO. 81 
 
 despatched Desaix with a single division, to inter 
 cept him. Great was his surprise, therefore, in the 
 morning, when a courier from Yictor, burst in a wild 
 gallop, into Torre di Garofolo, announcing that the 
 whole Austrian army was crossing the Bormida and 
 marching straight upon Marengo. Yictor had scarcely 
 sent off his despatch before the enemy, 40,000 strong, 
 sustained by two hundred pieces of artillery, was 
 upon him. Sixteen thousand men were all he had, 
 with which to oppose this formidable array. But for 
 the little muddy stream of Fontenone, along whose 
 banks he had placed his army, the battle would have 
 been irretrievably lost, long before Bonaparte could 
 arrive. As it was, nothing but the most stubborn re- 
 solution held that ground. Immense batteries 
 thundered on his shivering lines, almost within 
 pistol shot, making horrible gaps at every discharge. 
 His ranks melted away around him like men of mist, 
 still he maintained his ground, anxiously waiting the 
 arrival of Bonaparte. If he could not hold that 
 position he was lost, for nothing but the little village 
 of Marengo lay between -him and the vast open plain, 
 where the cavalry of the enemy would scatter his 
 army like dust before the wdnd. For two mortal 
 hours did he stand on the edge of that narrow stream 
 and see his army sink, whole ranks at a time, before 
 the murderous discharges of artillery. One division, 
 stationed in the open field, was almost entirely anni- 
 
32 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 hilated by grape shot. At length tlie Austrian^ 
 forced the stream. The French commanders put 
 forth almost superhuman efforts, to stop the flow of 
 troops across it. But they were compelled to retire, 
 leaving the field heaped with the dead. The road was 
 filled with wounded and disbanded soldiers, the latter 
 crying that all was lost. Lannes, though outflanked, 
 was making desperate efibrts to hold on with his left 
 wing to Marengo, his last remaining hope. Retreat 
 was impossible, it would become a slaughter in the 
 open plain. Pressed by that mass of artillery, 
 and chased by clouds of cavalry, his beaten, and 
 already half destroyed division, would be crushed to 
 atoms. 
 
 This was the state of things at ten o'clock, when 
 Bonaparte came on a full gallop to the field. As soon 
 as he received Victor's despatch, he sent for Desaix, 
 and taking with him a single division and his Consular 
 Guard, set off"; a reserve of cavalry was to follow. 
 
 Casting his eye over the disastrous field, he saw but 
 the shattered and flying remnant of the army, but he 
 also saw, at a glance, that where Lannes still held 
 Marengo, was his only hope. He must there make 
 a stand and rally his troops in the rear. It was then 
 he rode up to the Consular Guard, and bade them 
 march into the open plain and hold the cavalry of 
 the enemy in check. These eight hundred forming 
 instantly into a square, moved forward and presented 
 
THE COLUMN OF GRANITE. 33 
 
 their wall-like sides to the Austrian horse. In the 
 meantime Bonaparte flew with his fresh troops to the 
 help of Lannes. As the wearied soldiers of the lat- 
 ter saw the escort that told of the approat^U of 
 their commander, they sent up a loud shout, and 
 rushed with renewed fury to- the assault. Lannes 
 performed prodigies ; and at first, success smiled on the 
 etforts of Bonaparte — but at lent^th overborne by 
 superior numbers, he w^as compelled to retreat. Then 
 came a trial to which all the rest, murderous as it had 
 been, was as nothing. To m()ve into the open plain, 
 pressed by a victorious army, with such heavy 
 artillery and numerous cavalry, was testing the nerves 
 of officers and men to the utmost. 
 
 Yet all this time the Consular Guard remamed un- 
 shaken. " A living citadel" it moved over the plain, 
 rolling from its adamantine sides the successive 
 waves of cavalry that dashed against them. Bona- 
 parte's eye often turned anxiously to it. At moments 
 it would be lost to view, apparently engulfed by the 
 enemy. The dark mass that shut it in, would then 
 rend asunder, and there moved that wall-like enclosure, 
 the fire pouring in streams from its sides. Lannes 
 fought like a lion, canning his squares slowly 
 and sternly over the plain, though eighty pieces of 
 artillery hurled their iron storm upon his mutilated 
 ranks. 
 
 The Consular Guard till now had been attacked 
 
34 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 only by cavalry. It seemed impossible that so small 
 a body of men, forming but a mere speck on that vast 
 plain, could resist the overwhelming squadrons. 
 Astonished at such resistance, the enemy at length 
 bi'oiight forward his artillery. Bound and grape shot 
 smote through the thinned ranks till it was supposed 
 they were so dreadfully shaken that the cavalry could 
 ride them down with ease, when they were ordered 
 again to charge. Advancing on a sweeping gallop, 
 they burst with redoubled fury upon this mere hand- 
 ful of men. Again and again they thundered on that 
 firm formation, but when the dust and smoke cleared 
 away there it stood solid and terrible as ever. Re- 
 coil and melt away it must, and did, but break 
 or fly it never would. In the midst of a vast plain, 
 surrounded by tens of thousands of men and horses, 
 pressed by a victorious foe, enveloped in dark masses 
 of cavalry that kept falling in successive shocks on 
 its exhausted ranks, rent by cannon shot — in the in- 
 tervals of the roars of artillery their ears assailed by 
 cries of terror from their flying comrades — ignorant 
 how the battle was going in other parts of the dis- 
 ordered field, save that the whole army was in full 
 retreat, this band of eight hundred men, now reduced 
 to a mere handful, never thought of flying- 
 
 In the midst of this tumult and carnage, when they 
 seemed no longer struggling for victory, and intent 
 only on showing how brave men should die, a sight 
 
ITS FIRST BAPTISM. 85 
 
 burst on tiieiu ;liat tilled every heart with the wildest 
 enthusiasm. As the cloud of battle rent a iiiomeiit 
 before them, they saw in the midst of the turbulent 
 plain, JSTapoleon, surrounded by his staff and two hun- 
 dred mounted grenadiers, bravely breasting the storm. 
 At the view an involuntary and frantic hurrah burst 
 from that solid sqwdve^ and '"'' vive JVajjoleon,-^ roWed 
 over the field like the shout of victory. 
 
 That single square, though dreadfully narrowed, 
 and bleeding at every pore remained as perfect in 
 its formation at the close of that disastrous retreat, 
 as when it first marched into the plain to stem the 
 tide of battle. To use the expressive metaphor of 
 Bonaparte, it stood, during those five hours of 
 slaughter, a " column of granite." 
 
 The arrival of Desaix, and the defeat of the 
 Austrians, are well known. Italy w^as reconquered. 
 Bonaparte, after the battle, addressing Bes^ieres, who 
 commanded the guard, said, " The Guard which you 
 command is covered with glory?'' The lesson he 
 learned that day was not lost upon him. He saw 
 what could be done with a body of picked men, bound 
 to him by affection, and borne up with the conscious- 
 ness of the high trust committed to their charge. Such 
 men were irresistible. 
 
 This was the first baptism of the Guard, and a 
 m.ore bloody one it could not well have had. 
 
 Lannes, as a reward for his bravery, was appointed 
 
S(> THE OLD GUAKI*. 
 
 commander of it. In November of the next year, 
 1801, however, it underwent a change, and four 
 general officers were appointed over it. General 
 Davoust for the Foot Grenadiers, General Soult for 
 the Foot Chasseurs, Bessieres for the Cavalry, and 
 Mortier for the Artillery and Matelots. 
 
 Lannes, of course, lost his command which he had 
 so nobly earned, some say because he managed the 
 chest of the Guard loosely, and rendered false ac- 
 counts of the money he received. This is doubtful, 
 still he lived in the most prodigal manner, and ex- 
 pended more than he was authorized to do, thus 
 setting an example which would not answer in the 
 commander of a Guard, whose character Bonaparte 
 had determined should be without reproach. Others 
 attributed his dismissal to his too great familiarity of 
 manner. The dignity of the First Consul could not 
 permit that freedom from his first lieutenants, which 
 the extravagant notions of equality then pervading 
 the army, sanctioned. Lannes and Augeraeu, blunt 
 and republican in their habits and thoughts, often 
 took unwarrantable liberties with Bonaparte, relying 
 on their great deeds to screen them from rebuke. It 
 is said that a short time previous to the new appoint- 
 ments in the Guard, as Bonaparte one day ordered 
 some Barbary horses, which had been sent to him 
 as a present, to be brought into the court at Malmaison, 
 Lannes, who wa? presen% proposed a game of bil- 
 
AN INCIDENT. 37 
 
 I'iards, the stake to be tlie price of one of the horses, 
 Bonaparte consented ; they played and Lannes won. 
 The former, no doubt, designed he should, making 
 use of the proposal of his brave lieutenant to bestow 
 on him a favor. 
 
 " I have beaten thee," said the latter, (for he was 
 accustomed to thee and thou Bonaparte like a quaker,) 
 and of course I have the right of choice," and with- 
 out waiting for permission, he ran out and examined 
 the horses, and having selected the most beautiful, 
 put on the saddle and bridle, and springing into the 
 seat, spurred away at a gallop saying, "Adieu, Bona- 
 parte, I will not dine here to-day, for if I remain thou 
 wilt succeed in getting back thy horse." ISTapoleon 
 did not esteem his Ajax any the less for this ; he knew 
 his brave heart too well, but he saw that the repeti- 
 tion of such scenes would weaken his authority and 
 prevent that absolute submission to his will which he 
 required of the Guard. Lannes was sent ambassador 
 to Lisbon. 
 
 1802, 1803, AND A PART OF 1804. 
 
 Bonaparte soon issued a new decree respecting the 
 Guard, augmenting it still more. Among other changes 
 he made soldiers of the drivers of the artillery wagons. 
 Upheld by n'^ feeling of honor and subject to no pro- 
 motion, however daring they might be in carrying 
 the guns into t1ie enemy's iire, they at the moment 
 
38 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 the action became hot, would cut the traces and gal 
 lop off. Bonaparte decreed that thej should weai 
 the unitunn of the soldiers and be incorporated into 
 the army, He decreed also that the whole military 
 force should be called upon to furnish recruits when- 
 ever needed to the Guard — their admission in it to 
 be the reward of bravery and good conduct. Several 
 qualifications were necessary to render a soldier a fit 
 candidate. He must be in active service, he must 
 have made at least four campaigns, obtained rewards 
 for deeds of arms or noble conduct, or been wounded. 
 The grenadiers must be at least five feet six inches 
 high, and the chasseurs five feet four inches, and 
 each one to have maintained an irreproachable char 
 acter. 
 
 An incident occurred at this time which shows how 
 sensitive Bonaparte was to the least demoralizing in- 
 fluence in his Guard. Two grenadiers having com- 
 mitted suicide, he added the following note to the 
 order of the day. " The grenadier Gaubin has com 
 mitted suicide from disappointment in love ; he was 
 in other respects a good subject. This is the second 
 event of the kind that has happened to the corps in 
 a month. The First Consul ordains that it shall bo 
 aftixed to the order of the Guard that a soldier ought 
 to know how to overcome the grief and melancholy 
 arising from his passions ; that to bear with constancy 
 the pains of the soul, shows as much true courage as 
 
CHANGE OF UNiroKM. 80 
 
 to rest fixed and immovable under the fire of a hat 
 terj. To abandon one's self to chagrin without resis- 
 tance, to slay one's self to get rid of it, is to desert 
 tlie battle-field before the victory." 
 
 It was by such means he taught those who were 
 in future to serve him with blind devotion, never ask- 
 ing or caring what were his orders, that self-endur- 
 ance and heroic resolution which, years after, in the 
 snows of Kussia, astonished the world. 
 
 THE IMPERIAL GUARD, 1804. 
 
 After various political changes, Bonaparte was at 
 length declared emperor. To the decree of the 10th 
 Thermidor, 29th of July, was simply added, " The 
 Consular Guard will take in future the name of the 
 Imperial Guard, and will continue to be specially 
 attached to my person." 
 
 Soon after he began to introduce changes in the 
 uniform of the Guard. The first innovation was a 
 bold push, laughable from its insignificance, but 
 withal, a serious matter; this was no less than to 
 compel not only his Guard, but the whole army to 
 dispense with their long queues and long hair of 
 which they were as proud and tenacious as the Ger- 
 mans and Gauls according to Tacitus, were in the 
 time of Caesar. 
 
 One day after a review^ of the troops, JSTapoleon 
 standing in the hall of the Mai-shals, surrounded by 
 
40 
 
 THK OLD (fUAKI). 
 
 the chiefs of the separate corps, broke out into one of 
 tliose biting sarcasms which so often made those wince 
 who heard them. lie began with the hats. " Decided- 
 ly, gentlemen," said he, " I do not wisli to see my troops 
 any more wear the chapeaux. It is always placed on 
 their head in such a manner as to make a gutter of 
 one corner. It is as disagreeable to the sight as inju- 
 rious to the health of the soldier. It is ridiculous in 
 a day of rain or great heat, or as to-day when we 
 have had both together ; to see a soldier with the 
 collar of his coat covered with a white paste, his haii 
 badly held together by an equivocal riband, his fore- 
 head and cheeks running with a milky water, and the 
 whole covered with a narrow hat, badly shaped, 
 which protects the face from neither rain nor sun ! 
 One needed only to see them in Italy and Egypt. 
 Poor devils, I suffered for them." One of the officers 
 hinted at an ordinance, when Napoleon broke out 
 again, winding up with an attack on " long tresses and 
 useless queues.'''^ " How, sire," exclaimed the same 
 officer, " would you shear all without distinction," 
 " Yes sir," he rej^lied, " like sheep." The former sug 
 gested that it would be impossible to obtain the con- 
 sent of the officers to such a change, so attached were 
 they to their locks. A glance of fire was the reply, 
 as he exclaimed, " I should like to see. Monsieur Col- 
 onel, the men who owe everything to me, my soldiers, 
 in a word, to reflect on the thing at all, is it not suffi- 
 
ATTACK ON QUEUE'S. 41 
 
 3ient that I wish it? Is it for my Guard to object 
 when I require that all should have their hair shorn ?" 
 Passing his hand quickly over his own head, he 
 added, " Do I wear a queue, is not my hair cut 
 close ?" " Yes," said Junot, " and the soldiers of the 
 Guard call you nothing but the "little shorn" — le 
 'petit tondu. 
 
 Napoleon smiled in spite of himself, and said, "very 
 well, the more reason — a soldier should always follow 
 the example of his chief. I am aware that some fop 
 or Adonis of an officer will not be very well sat- 
 isfied ; but those who will not be content * * * * " 
 He left the sentence unfinished, and crossing his 
 hands behind him, promenaded awhile in silence, 
 in the circle of ofiicers that surrounded him. At 
 length he said I will speak to Bessieres and Murat 
 about it, I will commence by demanding Murat to 
 sacrifice that head of hair a la Louis XIY., which, 
 with our habits and military costume is ridiculous. 
 The chiefs of the army must show examples of obe- 
 dience. I wish neither tresses nor queues nor pow- 
 der nor pomatum." Saying this he bowed and passed 
 out. 
 
 The same day Murat who had assisted at the review 
 of the morning, coming to receive the orders of the 
 Emperor, asked if he had been pleased with the re- 
 view. " Yes," said !N"apoleon, but (fixing his eyes on 
 the long hair of his beautiful brother-in-law) added, " J 
 
42 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 should have been better j^leased it* you liad cut oft'aL 
 the tresses and queues of your cavaliers." Murat said 
 nothing, but bowed and disappeared among the crowd 
 of officers that were assembling. He saw at once that 
 the reign of queues was over. At the extremity of the 
 gallery he met Bessieres, one of the four commanders 
 of the Guard, whose immense queue was a subject of 
 remark throughout the whole army. " Eh bien, my 
 dear fellow," said he in a tone half sorrowful and 
 half joking, " thou hast heard the words of the Em- 
 peror — no more queues ! Accept in advance my con- 
 dolence on the approaching fall of yours." " My 
 dear sir," replied the young marshal, " the roots of a 
 queue like mine reach near to the heart, and the Em- 
 peror with all his power cannot make me cut it off. I 
 hope our old comrades of Italy and Egypt will prove 
 refractory as myself in this matter." 
 
 The next day I^apoleon spoke again to Murat, who 
 although he sympathized with Bessieres, did not dare 
 to express his sentiments. At length turning towards 
 him, the Emperor said laconically, " My Guard alone 
 shall w^ear the queue, and it shall not be more thari 
 two inches long, such shall be the ordinance." 
 
 The reign of queues was over ; the young officers 
 adopted the change cheerfully, and on the day of the 
 publication of the ordinance, the barbers' shops near 
 the quarters of the troops were filled from morning 
 till night, and more than two thousand queues were 
 
LEGION OF HONOR. 4:3 
 
 sacrificed. But in the same evening tiiere were inore 
 than twenty duels. A quarrel commenced by one 
 calling another just sheared, a spaniel. Friends on 
 either side, took part in it, till the whole corps was 
 involved, and, for awhile, serious difficulty was threat- 
 ened. It required great tact to settle quietly the rage 
 caused by this onslaught against tresses and queues. 
 
 An appropriate uniform for every portion of the 
 Guard was adopted and it soon reached that eminence 
 and deserved the character given of it in the preced- 
 ing chapter. 
 
 Each of the corps of foot and mounted grenadiers 
 and chasseurs of the Guard furnished a battalion and 
 squadron to attend the emperor in his imperial resi- 
 dence. They were relieved every three months. 
 Each of the corps of infantry was on service alternate 
 weeks. 
 
 Soon after Bonaparte's elevation to supreme power, 
 he made a grand display in the distribution of the 
 cross of the Legion of Honor to those of his Guard 
 who wei-e selected as members. Sun'ounded by his 
 his magnificent- staff, escorted by his troops, met with 
 salvos of cannon, he proceeded to the place where the 
 distribution was to take place. The decorations were 
 taken from a basin of gold, and affixed to each one 
 pronounced worthy of the honor. No one at this day 
 can conceive the excitement and enthusiasm caused 
 by the distribution of this simple decoration. At 
 
44 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 Boulogne, shortly after, the same distribution was 
 made to the army, and, if possible, in a njore impos- 
 ing manner and causing greater enthusiasm. As Na- 
 poleon in the presence of the assembled thousands 
 called the scarred veterans of Italy and Egypt to him 
 and spoke of Montenotte, of Lodi, Areola, Maren 
 go, of the Pyramids, and of Egypt, tears rolled down 
 their cheeks, and when the ceremony was finished, 
 the very heavens rocked to the shouts of '' Vive I'Em- 
 pereur." 
 
 In addition to the more regular corps of the Impe- 
 rial Guard, there was a squadron of Mamelukes, a 
 memento, as it were, of the Pyramids and the battles 
 of the Nile. 
 
 It was formed from the corps of " Guides " which 
 Bonaparte had in Egypt, and had nothing of the 
 Mameluke about them but the oriental costume. 
 This squadron with its horse-tail standard, its white 
 heron plumes rising over the Asiatic turban, its tim- 
 brels and trumpets and all the trappings of the horses, a 
 la Turk — its elegant dresses covered with ^old lace 
 and silk — its bright Damascus blades, presented a 
 most singular yet picturesque appearance, amid the 
 bear skin caps and heavy armor of the cuirassiei's 
 There was also a small corps of Marines, with a blue 
 uniform. It had also two squadrons of gend'armes d'e- 
 lite, who performed the police duty at head quarters, 
 and a fine Italian battalion. Its artillery arm was at 
 
ADDITIONS TO IT. 45 
 
 this time strengthened, numbering in all, 24 piece? 
 of caonon. At the close ot the year 1804, the Guard 
 numbered 9,798 men, though nominally composed of 
 oat 7000. 
 
CHAPTER m. 
 
 Reoommencement of tho War— The Camp at Boulogne— The Old Guard at Auste?- 
 lltz — Meeting of the Imperial Guards of the Czar and Napoleon — The Guard at 
 Jena— The Velites— Young Desherbiers— Habits of Napoleon In Campaign— Hi» 
 Body Guard— Presentation of the Eagle to a New Regiment 
 
 After a few years of peace, England, bj her per- 
 fidious violation of the treaty of Amiens, brought 
 on a war between herself and France. ISTapoleon, no 
 longer shackled by divided power was now free as 
 Caesar. His vast and restless mind could sweep the 
 horizon of his dominions, and find nothing to inter- 
 fere with his great i^lans. Laying his hand on the 
 mighty empire, just passed into his keeping, he 
 wielded it with the ease he managed a single army. 
 
 With one of the best armies that ever stood on the soil 
 of France, possessing, at the same time, all the advan 
 tage of a long rest and thorough discipline, and the 
 experience of veterans, he resolved to punish England 
 for her perfidy, and teach her that while she stirred 
 up Europe to strife and bloodshed, she too might 
 reap the curse of war, carried to her own soil. 
 
BOULOGNE. 47 
 
 But while collecting hi? vast Flotillas and training 
 lis soldiers at Boulogne, preparatory to the invasion 
 of lier territory, he was informed that a powerfuj 
 eoalition was forming against him on the Continent. 
 Swedeu, Russia, Austria, and England had entered 
 into an alliance, and even Prussia was vacillating 
 between making common cause with the allies and 
 remaining neutral. Called at once from his designs 
 of invading England, the Emperor turned his eye 
 lorthward, and eastward, and southward, and lo, 
 armies in each direction were marching against him. 
 Four hundred thousand soldiers were making ready to 
 strike France and her territories from four different 
 Doints. He at once penetrated the designs of the allied 
 sovereigns, and with that marvellous power of combi- 
 nation, no other chieftain has ever possessed, he ni'irked 
 out the plan of the entire campaign at Boulogne, pre- 
 dicted th movements of the allied armies, the blunders 
 they wo'dd commit, chose his own routes, and accom- 
 plished what he proposed. IsTeverhad captain, either 
 in ancient or modern times conceived and executed 
 plans on such a scale. " E'ever indeed had a more 
 mighty mind, possessing greater freedom of will, 
 commanded means more prodigious to operate on 
 Buch an extent of country." From Calabria to the 
 Gulf of Finland, he had the whole Continent to look 
 after, for he was menaced on every side. 
 The allies prosecuted their plans leisurely, having 
 
48 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 littlo fear of an army encamped on the shores of tha 
 ocean. But there was a stir in that camp which por- 
 tended evil somewhere. 
 
 No one knew I^apoleon's plans. France even 
 remained in ignorance of them. The army itself wag 
 ignorant of its destination, but in twenty days, to the 
 astonishment and consternation of Europe, its terri 
 ble standards shook along the Mayn, the Neckar, and 
 the Rhine, and the shout of " Vive V Emjpereur^'^ 
 rolled over the plains of Germany. This army Na- 
 poleon called the "Grand Army," a name it ever 
 after bore ; and those who saw it sweeping on, column 
 after column of infantry, miles of artillery, long files 
 of cavalry, and last of all the Old Guard, with the 
 Emperor in its midst, in all 186,000 men, re-echoed 
 the appellation " The Grand Army." 
 
 The Old Guard had left Boulogne by post. Twenty 
 thousand carriages, loaded down with the troops 
 were whirled away towards Germany, whither the 
 army marched with unparalleled speed. 
 
 On the 27th of August, most of this immense force 
 lay at Boulogne ; on the 25th and 26th of September 
 it crossed the Rhine. On the 13th of October amid 
 a storm of snow, Napoleon harangued the weary troops 
 of Marmont, that had just arrived, and explained to 
 them his plans, and told them he had surrounded the 
 enemy. On the 18th, Mack agreed to surrender 
 Ulm with an army of 80,000 men to him as prisoners 
 
AUSTEKLITZ. 49 
 
 of war. By the 20th lie could look back on his 
 operations and behold an arnij of eighty thousand 
 men destroyed, sixty thousand of whom had been 
 taken prisoners with two hundred pieces of cannon, 
 and eighty stands of colors. All this had been done 
 in twenty days, with the loss of less than two thousand 
 men. 
 
 On the 13th of ITovember his banners waved over 
 the walls of Vienna. Twelve days after he recon- 
 noitred the field of Austerlitz, and selected it at once 
 as the battle-field where he would overthrow the com- 
 bined forces of Russia and Austria, led on by their 
 respective sovereigns. With 70,000 men he had re- 
 solved not to drive back the approaching army of 
 90,000, but to annihilate it. He refused to take posi- 
 tion where he could most effectually check it advance, 
 determined to win all or lose all. Matching his 
 single intellect in the pride of true genius, against 
 the two emperors with their superior army, he ca- 
 joled them into a battle when they should have de- 
 clined it ; in order to fiiiish the war with a " claj^ of 
 thunder P 
 
 In the midst of that terrible battle while Soult was 
 ascending the heights of Pratzen, pressing full on the 
 enemy's centre, Lannes thundering on the left with 
 artillery and cavalry, Oudinot on the right re-earning 
 his marshal's staff, Suchet forcing the reluctant ene- 
 my before him, a conflict took place in the presence of 
 3 
 
50 THE OLI> GUAKD. 
 
 Napoleon and the allied sovereigns wliicli gave a fin- 
 ishing blow to the battle. The Gtand Duke Constan 
 tine seeing that it was going against him, took the 
 whole Russian Imperial Guard and leading them in one 
 dark mass down the heights, moved midway into the 
 low grounds to charge the advancing French. Yan- 
 dame brought forward his division to meet the shock. 
 While he was thus engaged with this immense and 
 picked body of soldiers, the Grand Duke put himself 
 at the head of two thousand heavy armed cuirassiers 
 of the guards, and burst in resistless strength on 
 the flank of Yandame's division. The French col- 
 umn was rent asunder before it, and three battalions 
 trampled under foot. Napoleon who was advancing 
 to reinforce Soidt with the infantry of his guard saw, 
 from a height this overthrow, and exclaimed to 
 Eapp who was by his side, "they are in disorder 
 yonder, that must be set to rights." The latter 
 putting himself at the head of the Mamelukes 
 and chasseurs of the Guard, cried out, "soldiers, 
 you see what has happened below there, they 
 are sabreing our comrades ; let us fly to their res- 
 cue." Four pieces of horse artillery set off on a 
 gallop in advance. The next moment those flery 
 horsemen were sweeping with headlong speed upon 
 the Imperial Cavalry. A dischj\rge of grape-shot 
 swept through them thinning them sadly, but not for 
 a 'noment arresting the charge. The shock was irre- 
 
CAVALRY chakgp:. 5i 
 
 Bistible. Horse and liorsemaii roiled together on the 
 plain. The white heron plumes of the Mamelukes 
 and the shakos of the chasseurs swept like a vision 
 tln'ough the overthi-own ranks and they were still 
 pressing on even beyond the wreck of their own bat- 
 talions which had just fallen, when the fresh horse 
 guard of Alexander fell upon them. With their 
 horses blown from the severe conflict they had been 
 enduring, this new attack proved too much for them. 
 The brave Morland, Colonel of the Chasseurs, was 
 killed on the spot, and the two corps forced back. 
 Napoleon who had watched with the deepest anxiety 
 this terrific meeting of the Imperial Guards, no 
 sooner saw the check of Rapp and the overwhelming 
 force bearing down upon him from the re-formed 
 cuirassiers, than he ordered Bessieres with the horse 
 grenadiers, to charge. Kot a moment was to be lost, 
 the bugles rang forth the charge,^and like a single 
 man that living mass of disciplined valor went pour- 
 ing forward to the strife. The steady gallop of their 
 heavy horses shook the plain, and so accurate and 
 regular was their swift movement, that they appeared 
 like a dark and ponderous wave rolling onward. 
 But the crest it bore was composed of glittering steel. 
 Right gallantly was that tremendous onset received, 
 and those vast bodies of cavalry the elite of both 
 armies became mixed in a hand to hand fight. The 
 firing of the infantry ceased, for the shot told on friend 
 
63 THE (>LD GUARD. 
 
 and fo^ alike. Tlie soldiers rested on their arms and 
 gazed with astonishment on that rearing, phmging 
 mass from which was heard naught but fierce shouts 
 and ringing steel as blade crossed blade in the fierce 
 collision. The emperors of Russia and Germany on 
 one height and Napoleon on another, \vatched with 
 indescribable anxiety this strange encounter between 
 the flower of their troops. At length the Imperial 
 Guard of the enemy gave way. The bugles of the 
 Old Guard then rang cheerily out, and Yandame 
 charging anew, infantry and cavalry were driven in dis- 
 order almost to the walls of Austerlitz. Their artillery 
 and standards fell into the hands of the victors. Na- 
 poleon's joy was extreme on beholding this triumph 
 of his Guard over that of the Russian emperor. 
 
 The two sovereigns had tried their last and heaviest 
 blow, and had failed, and the battle though unended, 
 was already won. ^Napoleon had not merely defeated, 
 he had routed and nearly annihilated the combined 
 armies, and the two emperors were fugitives on the 
 field. This wonderful mind had thus in a few month'* 
 ended the war. Never did his genius shine out in 
 greater brilliancy. "The secrecy and rapidity of the 
 march of so vast a body of troops across France ; the 
 semicircular process by which they interposed between 
 Mack and the hereditary states and compelled the 
 Burrender of that iinha}>py chief with half his army ; 
 the precision with which nearly two hundred thou- 
 
SKILL OF NAPOIEON. 63 
 
 sand men converging from the shores of the channel, 
 the coasts of Brest, the marshes of Holland, and the 
 banks of the Elbe were made to arrive each at the 
 hour appointed around the ramparts of Ulm, the 
 swift advance on Yienna ; the subsequent fan-like 
 dispersion of the army to overawe the hereditary 
 states their sudden concentration for the decisive 
 fight at Australitz ; the skill displayed in that contest 
 itself and the admirable account to wdiich he turned 
 the fatal cross march of the allied sovereigns, are so 
 many proofs of military ability never exceeded even 
 in the annals of his previous triumphs." 
 
 It is not to be supposed that in this great battle the 
 action of the Imperial Guard was confined to a cavalry 
 charge. Napoleon found himself so inferior in 
 numerical force, that he did not husband his Guard, 
 as he afterwards did in Russia. He divided it up 
 among difierent corps of the army, where they 
 furnished an example during all that bloody day to 
 the other troops, which made them irresistible. 
 Pressing side by side with those bear-skin caps, they 
 knew no repulse. In the previous battles the Guard 
 had taken little part, and murmured grievously at 
 their idleness, but at Austerlitz they w^ere led into 
 the thickest of the fight. Soult had under him ten 
 battalions of the guard. Oudinot and Davoust had 
 ten battalions of the Grenadiers, and wild work did 
 they make under those chieftains, with the stub- 
 
64 THE OLD GUAKl). 
 
 born ranks of the enemy. Their iirtillery was served 
 tliroughout the battle, with terrible rapidity and pre- 
 cision. Forty guns were at the disposal of the Guard 
 and wherever immediate he'p was wanted, thither 
 they were hurried, sending desolation through the 
 hostile ranks. 
 
 At the commencement of the battle, Kapoleon 
 retained near him only the Cavalry of the Guard, the 
 mounted Chasseurs, the Grenadiers and Mamelukes. 
 These were for a reserve, and were massed together^ 
 ranged in two lines, and by squadrons, and under the 
 command of Bessieres and Bapp. Its light artillery, 
 however, did fearful execution. It was every where 
 belching forth iire. It was one of its batteries that 
 played upon the frozen lake over which a column was 
 endeavoring to pass, and breaking th§ ice with its 
 shot, sunk two thousand in the water. It deployed 
 with such rapidity, that its movements appeared 
 more like cavalry in motion, than artillery, and 
 the soldiers jokingly called it " Hussars on wheels." 
 
 THE OLD GUARD AT JENA. 
 
 These overwhelming victories made the allies 
 desirous of peace, which was soon after ratified at 
 Presbourg. But in the final settlement of tlie vexed 
 questions of territory, Prussia felt herself so aggrieved 
 and humbled, tuat she rashly flew to arms befo' e the 
 
AT JENA. 55 
 
 French armj' bad all left Germany. An immense 
 force was assembled, and sbe, single-banded, resolved 
 to overthrow the Conqueror of Europe, and that too 
 with the army of the latter not yet beyond the Rhine 
 Napoleon beheld with sorrow this new war thrown 
 upon his hands just as he had finished an arduous 
 campaign and completed a peace, and was at first 
 depressed. He saw only new dangers arise, as old 
 ones were removed. But in the excitement of pre- 
 paration these gloomy thoughts disappeared, and he 
 rapidly made ready to meet the evils that threatened 
 him. The Old Guard was immediately ordered to 
 return. Transported in carriages, of which there 
 were relays the whole route, they moved with the 
 speed of Cavalry, and in a few days were again be- 
 yond the Rhine. A hundred and eighty thousand 
 Germans composed the army of Prussia. I^apoleon 
 had a larger force under him, to say nothing of the 
 vast makeweight of his genius against the imbecility 
 of his adversary. 
 
 The battle of Jena, fought on the same day as thai 
 of Auerstadt, under Davoust, finished the Prussian 
 king. At Jena, Napoleon had before him a force 
 inferior to his own, although he supposed the whole 
 Prussian army was on the heights of Landgrafenberg, 
 Up the steep ascent that led to this plateau, already 
 occupied b}' the enemy, he resolved to lead his army. 
 At first the corps of Lannes and the Old Guard 
 
66 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 climbed through tlic ravines to the top. The Guard, 
 four thousand strong, were then ordered to encamp 
 in a square, and in the centre Napoleon pitched hie 
 tent. A pile of stones to this day marks the spo: 
 where he bivouacked, and the people of the vicinii}? 
 have changed the name of the height into N^apoleons 
 berg. It was found such a heavy task to drag the 
 artillery up the precipitous sides of the mountain, that 
 search was made for an easier ascent. A ravine was 
 discovered, but on examination it proved too narrow 
 to admit the carriasres. A detachment of eno-ineers 
 was immediately sent to cut away the rock, while to 
 cheer on the men, wearied with their day's march, 
 Kapoleon himself held a torch for them to work byv 
 Late at night he ascended the heights and passed into 
 the squares of the old Guard, to snatch a few hours 
 repose. But as he approached their dark and motion- 
 less ranks around which only a few fires were kin- 
 dled, he cast his eyes over the plateau and saw the 
 fires of the enemy covering its entire extent and far- 
 ther away to the right with the old castle of Eckarts- 
 berg above them, those of the Duke of Brunswick. 
 
 In the morning before daylight, he was up and the 
 soldiers stood to arms. It was cold and chilly and a 
 fog enveloped the heights. Escorted by torches 
 which shed a lurid light on his staff and on the 
 ranks, he went along their front haranguing the sol- 
 diers, bidding them receive the Prussian cavalry with 
 
AN INCIDENT. 57 
 
 firmness, and promising a glorious victory. The 
 shout " forward" which followed, was borne to the 
 enemy's camp. 
 
 The Old Guard, as usual, was ordered up to 
 close the battle. As it advanced the whole line 
 threw itself impetuously forward, and the field be- 
 came covered with fugitives. Out of the 70,000 who 
 had entered the battle, " not a corps remained en- 
 tire." 
 
 Advancing rapidly, the grand army entered Berlin 
 on the 28th. For the first time. Napoleon made a 
 triumphal entry into a conquered capital. Surrounded 
 by the Old Guard dressed in rich uniform, he passed 
 through the city. The dismounted chasseurs and 
 grenadiers were in front, the horse grenadiers and 
 chasseurs in the rear — in the middle rode Berthier, 
 Duroc, Davoust, and Augereau, while in the centre 
 of this last group in an open space left by himself, 
 rode Napoleon. He, and that Old Guard enfolding 
 him in triumph as it had done in danger, were the 
 centre of all eyes. 
 
 In a month he had overturned the Prussian mon- 
 archy and destroyed its boasted armies — the soldiers 
 of the great Frederic. The overthrow of an empire 
 was no longer the work of years. Napoleon dispatched 
 it in a few weeks. 
 
 Several changes liad passed over the Old Guard 
 during the last two years. Augmented as it had 
 3*. 
 
58 THE OLll GUARD. 
 
 been, the expense of keeping it up was found to ]>€ 
 too great. Neither would the mode of recruicing it by 
 drawing the best troops from tlie line answer in a long 
 and destructive wa.r. It took away too many good 
 soldiers and tended to demoralize the army. Tliere 
 had been previously created a corps of velites^ a sort 
 of enlisted volunteers to remedy the last evil by 
 drawing from them instead cf the army. But this 
 also was too expensive, and ]N"apoleon therefore formed 
 a new regiment called the "fusilliers of th^d Guard," 
 the soldiers of which should be selected from the 
 annual contingent, the officers alone to be taken from 
 the Guard. 
 
 The velites were required to be young men of fam- 
 ily. This was to obtain a certain amount of educa- 
 tion and character, with which is usually joined a 
 sense of honor, so important in a corps. Allured by 
 the splendid renown of this new conqueror, dazzled 
 by his amazing victories, young aspirants for fame 
 flocked to his standard. Among them were many 
 very young men. One of these, an only son of one 
 of the most opulent families of the province in which 
 he lived, enlisted at the age of eighteen. Yery fair 
 and delicate, he appeared much younger, yet he 
 cheerfully endured the fatigues of the march, and 
 stood firm under the fire of the enemy. After the 
 fall of Berlin, this young velite marcl ed with the 
 
deshj:rbieks. 59 
 
 army into Yarso-vie and nobly endured the hardshipa 
 of the dreadful whiter campaign that followed. 
 
 It was I^apoleon's custom in campaign to halt in 
 the open cujntry to take his meals. On these occa- 
 sions he always had a dozen or sovelites or chasseurs 
 in a circle close around his person, to prevent any one 
 from approaching. One day during a halt, as his 
 faithful Mameluke, Roustan, was preparing his coffee, 
 he saw a boyish velite posted opposite him. Struck 
 by his beauty and aristocratic air, he called him and 
 abruptly asked, " "Who put you in my Guard ?" 
 
 " Your majesty," replied the young Desherbiers. 
 
 " I do not understand you," said ITapoleon, " ex- 
 plain yourself" 
 
 " Sire, after the decree of your majesty which per- 
 mitted young men of family to serve in your Guard, 
 I fulfilled the requii 3d conditions, and am at my 
 post." 
 
 " Thou art a little fellow," said the Emperor, chuck- 
 ling him under the chin. 
 
 " Sire, I perform my duties the same as the largest 
 in the regiment." 
 
 " Have you ever been under fire ?" 
 
 " Yes, Sire, at the passage of Berg." 
 
 "That was warm work. AVere not you a little 
 ifraid. Ah, ah, you blush, I have hit the truth." 
 
 " Yes, Sire, I own it, but it lasted only a moment." 
 
 " Never mind, many others like thee have been 
 
60 TUPJ OLD (iUARD. 
 
 afraid and it lasted a much longer, time." After a 
 short silence, he resumed, " thou art a good young 
 man and like the rest of us, thou hast paid the tribute. 
 Thou shalt dine with me, will that please thee." 
 
 "Certainly, Sire I" cried the young velite, while his 
 eyes sparkled with joy at the honor shown him, and 
 placing his carbine near him he sat down opposite 
 the emperor. Koustan waited on liim with all the 
 deference he would have shown to a general officer. 
 Desherbiers took the slice of bacon which was handed 
 him on a silver plate and began to eat with the vora- 
 cious appetite his short allowance and hard duties 
 had given him. As the Mameluke turned the wine 
 into a silver goblet, l!^apoleon said smiling, " Ah, ah, 
 gar9on, thou likest well to be served in a goblet, so that 
 one cannot see how much thou drinkest. I wager that 
 thou hast it refilled." 
 
 " Even to the brim. Sire, the better to drink to the 
 health of your Majesty." 
 
 Napoleon joked him incessantly during the repast, 
 but the young velite's replies were full of spirit and 
 point. After it was over, he asked him his name, 
 " Guiyot Desherbiers, Sire," he replied. Kepeating 
 the name over after him, he asked him if he was re- 
 lative to a counsellor by that name in Paris, not long 
 since dead. Being answered in the negative, he 
 udded, "very well, conduct yourself properly and I 
 
61 
 
 will see to your advancement when the proper time 
 shall come," 
 
 The yomig velite made his military salute, took hin 
 carbine and was again at his post. 
 
 I have related this anecdote to show on what terms 
 Napoleon was with his guard, and also the means he 
 took to bind the brave to him. In the spirit and non- 
 chalance of this young velite, his military ambition 
 and education, he saw at a glance a future officer — 
 one of those granite pillars like Lannes, Ney, Mas 
 sena, Davoust, and others who were carrying his 
 victorious eagles over Europe. 
 
 After his return from this campaign, Napoleon 
 w^ent one day to see the velites, who, having been 
 separated from the chasseurs, were stationed at Ver- 
 sailles. As he approached the squadron, he re- 
 quested the commander to order young Desherbiers 
 from the ranks. The officer replied that he had been 
 passed into a regiment of hussars, and was now in 
 Spain. 
 
 " Why was he put there, he was but an infant?" 
 
 " On account of his gallant conduct at Friedland. 
 He slew two Russian grenadiers with his own hand 
 in sight of the whole squadron." 
 
 " That makes a difference," said Napoleon, " it is 
 all well." 
 
 The young velite, however, never returned, he was 
 taken by the guerillas, who put him to death with t}i<& 
 
62 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 most cruel tortures. He bore all with heroic cour- 
 age, and with his last breath pronounced the namea 
 of jN'apoleon and a fair cousin in Paris. 
 
 This incident illustrates forcibly the remarkable 
 memory of Kapoleon. The terrible scenes through 
 which lie had passed, the world of care that lay on 
 his shoulders — plunged as he was into the very vortex 
 of European politics and engaged with designs vast 
 as a hemisphere — did not make him forget the young 
 velite who had dined with him in Poland. This 
 memory of the commonest soldier if he had shown 
 any remarkable traits, or performed any deeds of 
 valor had a wonderful effect on the troops. Each 
 one felt that he was directly under the eyes of his 
 sovereign and commander. He saw and remembered 
 all that was done, and skill and daring would not go 
 unrewarded. Slight as it may seem, next to the 
 veneration his genius and deeds inspired, this was the 
 grand secret of the strange power he had over his 
 troops. 
 
 The chasseurs always surrounded Napoleon's per- 
 son during a campaign. It was necessary they should 
 be ready at a moment's warning, for the movements 
 of this ubiquitous being were sudden as lightning. 
 Wlien starting for the army he generally departed 
 from St. Cloud, in the middle of the night or at on€ 
 or two o'clock in the morning, and sometimes made 
 two hundred and fifty miles in twenty-four hours 
 
NAPOLEON IN CAMPAIGN. 63 
 
 Often he would stop for several hours, to dictate de- 
 spatches, but at the words " allons, the carriage, to 
 horse, gentlemen," there was "mounting in hot haste,'' 
 and away they dashed, in a headlong gallop. An 
 aid-de-camp was always stationed on horseback at the 
 left side of the door of the carriage and an ecuyer 
 at the right — the officers of ordinance, pages, piqueurs 
 holding the horses by the head. Roustan, the Mame- 
 luke, and the domestics followed close after the car- 
 riage. Twenty-four mounted chasseurs of the Guard 
 completed the cortege, which swept like a tempest 
 along the road. In this manner he would go twenty, 
 thirty, and sometimes nearly forty miles without halt- 
 ing. When he stopped all flung themselves from theii* 
 horses at once, except the chasseurs, who remained in 
 the saddle. But if he left the carriage, half of them 
 immediately dismounted, and fixing their bayonets to 
 their carbines presented arms, and stood facing out- 
 ward, around him. But none of the officers left their 
 places unless he permitted it. When he wished to 
 observe the enemy through his glass, the number of 
 the Guard was doubled and formed in a square about 
 him. This square adapted itself to his movements, 
 enlarging or contracting itself, but never coming 
 nearer than twenty-five or thirty steps to his person. 
 
 When he distributed favors to his Guard, such as 
 grades, titles, or decorations, unless it was immedi- 
 ately after a victory, every one knew that some serious 
 
64 'illK OLD GUARD. 
 
 affair was on hand. The review of the regiments of 
 the Guard recently arrived, or harangues to his troops 
 was a certain prehide to an approaching battle 
 These harangues always produced a magical effect: 
 but nothing perhai)S excited so wild enthusiasm as 
 the presentation of the eagle to a new regiment of 
 the Guard. On the day of the ceremony, the regiment 
 with its arms and uniforms in perfect order, marched 
 to the place appointed and formed into three close col- 
 umns, the three fronts turning towards the centre — ■ 
 the space for the fourth being reserved for the superior 
 officers and the suite of the emperor. As soon as the 
 latter appeared, the officers put themselves in advance 
 in a single rank, so that he approached alone. By the 
 simplicity of his dress he became more conspicuous, 
 and presented a striking contrast to the brilliant uni- 
 forms of his officers, which were sprinkled over w^ith 
 decorations and embi'oidered with silver and gold. Af- 
 ter receiving the orders of the emperor, the prince of 
 "VVagram, in his office of major-general, dismounted, 
 and caused the colors to be taken from their case and 
 unfolded before the troops. The drums then beat the 
 march, and Berthier advancing, took the eagle from 
 the hands of the officer and approached several steps 
 towards ISTapoleon. The latter uncovering himself 
 saluted the banner; and removing the glove frotn his 
 right hand, lifted it towards the eagle and in a solemn 
 juid distinct voice said, " Soldiers, I confide to you 
 
PRESENTATION OF THE EAGLK. 65 
 
 the French eagle ; I commit it to your valor and pa- 
 triotism. It will be your guide and rallying point. 
 You swear never to abandon it. You sw^ear to prefer 
 death to the dishonor of seeing it torn from your 
 hands. You swear it V* The last words were pro- 
 nounced with sudden energy, and in a moment the 
 swords of the officers shook in the air, and " Yes, yes 
 we swear it," rolled in one prolonged shout along the 
 lines. The bands of music then struck in and " Vive 
 V Eiiipereur^^ was repeated in frenzied accents over 
 the field. 
 
 Tn 1S06, the Guard was composed of 15,656 men-. 
 
CHAPTER lY. 
 
 Creadon of a regiment of Polish Liineere— Tiie Old Guard at Eylau— Caa> 
 paign of 1807 — ^Treaty of Tilsit — Tlie interview of Napoleon witli Alexander— 
 His influence over him — The Old Guard in Spain — Miraculous despatch of Na 
 poleon when he heai'd of the confederacy in Germany against liim — His rapid 
 ride. 
 
 TiiE utter overthrow of the Prussian armies at 
 Jena and Auerstadt did not wring a peace from the 
 king. Russia had formed an alliance with him, and 
 her troops were already on the march for the frontiers 
 of his kingdom. To meet this new enemy, Napoleon 
 pushed on into Poland, where he designed to take up 
 his winter quarters. This unhappy country received 
 him with open arms, hoping, through his instrumen- 
 tality, once more to have a national existence. At 
 the outset a Polish guard of honor was formed, which, 
 together with the squadron of the Imperial Guard, 
 w-as to look to the security of the emperor's person. 
 Its lidelity and zeal suggested to Napoleon the idea 
 of incorporating into the Old Guard a corps of light 
 cavalry, con: posed entirely of Poles. A decree tc 
 
ITS PAINFUL MAKCH. 67 
 
 that elFect was issued, and four squadrons of lancere 
 were joined to the cavalry. 
 
 Before the winter set in there was a short cam- 
 paign, in which the Russians were forced to retire, 
 but the roads were in such a horrible state that tlie 
 pursuit was slow and painful. The cavahy horses 
 sunk up to their knees, and could only move on a 
 walk. The artillery stuck in the mud and snow, and 
 could not be pushed forward. Kapoleon put forth 
 prodigious efforts with the Old Guard, to strike a de- 
 cisive blow. These veterans, covered. with sleet and 
 snow, waded knee deep through the mud, performing 
 the most painful marches with cheerfulness, because 
 their leader was in their midst. Alternate snow^ 
 freezing weather, and thaws, exhausted their strength 
 and benumbed their limbs. Their bivouacs at night 
 were either on frozen ground or in fields made soft by 
 the melted snow. 
 
 The pursuit ended at J^aiselle, which the enemy 
 suddenly evacuated. iNTapoleon entered a cabin to 
 pass the night, and as one was cleaning out the straw, 
 he uncovered a corpse which some faithful hand had 
 concealed. The next day he began to retrace his 
 steps to Yarsovie, and took up his winter quarters. 
 
 The two armies remained inactive till near the close 
 of December, w^hen the Russian general resolved to 
 surprise l!^apoleon by a winter march ; and, cutting 
 his line in two, separate the two wings. The latter 
 
68 THE OLD GUAKl). 
 
 penetrating his design, concentrated his troops and 
 advanced to give him battle. Thej met at Eylau. 
 
 I shall not attempt a new description of this great 
 butchery, in which the conquerors gained but a barren 
 victory. The Old Guard at the commencement was 
 placed in the cemetery of Eylau, into which the enemy's 
 balls w^ere soon crashing with murderous effect. 
 
 The attack of Angereau, and the terrible over- 
 throw of his division, brought on one of those crises 
 which compelled Kapoleon to launch his grand re- 
 serve, the Old Guard, upon the enemy. E"othing 
 could have been farther from his wishes than to com- 
 promise his reserve so early in the battle. But the 
 danger was imminent. A column of Kussian grena- 
 diers following up the flight of Angereau had pene- 
 trated into the cemetery where Napoleon stood, sur- 
 rounded only by a hundred of his personal guard. 
 Hour after hour he had stood unmoved while the 
 cannon balls were crashing on the steeple and walls 
 of the church above him. Without changing a fea- 
 ture he had seen the annihilation of Angereau's divi- 
 sion, and now with equal composure beheld three or 
 four thousand grenadiers almost at his feet. Order- 
 ing his personal Guard to advance and check them, 
 he called up a battalion of the foot-guard a little in 
 the rear. There were six battalions that had taken 
 no part in the contest except to stand and see theii 
 ranks rent by shot. With joy, therefore, they 8a\v 
 
CUARGE AT KYLAU. 69 
 
 a prospect of mingling in the strife Two battalions 
 disputed the honor of charging the Kussians. The fii'st 
 in order marched forwani, and without stopping to fire, 
 overthrew the victorious grenadiers with the bayonet. 
 In the meantime the terrible cavalry charge of 
 Murat was preparing. Seventy squadrons, or more 
 than fourteen thousand horse, in all the splendor 
 of battle array, swept full on the Russian centre, 
 stormed over their batteries and breaking the first 
 line of infantry pushed on to the second, driving it 
 back to the wood, where a battery of heavy artillery 
 at last checked their victorious advance. In tlie 
 meantime the broken first line rallied and began to 
 hem in Murat. It was then that General Lepee, a 
 brave and heroic officer, was ordered to charge with 
 the horse grenadiers of the Guard. The heavy and 
 iron clad squadrons galloped, shouting to the rescue 
 of their comrades. Riding through the groups of 
 infantry that had rallied, they smote down every- 
 thing in their passage. The close fire of the artillery 
 and charges of infantry made horrible gaps in their 
 ranks, and around them shook as wild and disordered 
 a field as the wintry heavens ever looked upon, but 
 nothing could arrest their strong gallop. Compact 
 as iron — and as the thunder cloud when rent by the 
 lightning closes swiftly again, so did those stern 
 squadrons close over every rent made by the destruc- 
 tive batteries, and in one black mass crossed and re* 
 
70 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 crossed the field in every direction. Thioiigli tlie 
 driving snow occasional glimpses of it was got hy 
 Napoleon, and with joy he saw it unbroken sweep the 
 field in tlie face of the enemy. 
 
 Murat was relieved and able to re-form his cavalry 
 and bring it off in good order, while the Russian centre 
 was dreadfully shattered. General Dohlman comman- 
 der of the mounted chasseurs of the Guard, fell not fif- 
 teen steps from the Russian line. One of the chasseurs 
 seeing his general under the bayonets of the enemy 
 spurred recklessly forward in the fire, and dismounting, 
 lifted him upon his horse. Surrounded by Russian 
 hussars, he in turn received several wounds, one of 
 which dislocated his arm. He was about to fall over- 
 powered by numbers, when one of his comrades, a 
 chasseur of his squadron, seeing his peril fought his 
 way up to him and relieved him. By the boldness of 
 these two chasseurs, their general was enabled to get 
 near the French lines before he died, and was thna 
 spared the mortification of seeing himself a prisoner 
 of the enemy. All the officers and soldiers of the 
 Guard on this murderous day sustained the reputa- 
 tion gained in a hundred battles, and Napoleon loaded 
 it with eulogiums. A Lieutenant Morlay, *a color 
 bearer of the 1st battalion of the 1st regiment of foot 
 grenadiers, had the staff of his colors broken above 
 and below his hand by the bursting of a shell which 
 killed an officer and wounded five of his guard. 
 
AFFKR THE BATTLE. 73 
 
 Hut instead of showing surprise, he coolly took uji 
 the colors and fixing the staft* to a musket, carried 
 them into the battle. A captain of the mounted 
 grenadiers of the Guard, mortally wounded lay ex- 
 tended on the snow, when some of his comrades com- 
 ing up, wished to remove him. "Leave me alone, 
 my friends," he said, " I am content since we have 
 the victory, and I die on the field of battle." 
 
 We will pass over the heart-rending scene the 
 snow-ccvered field presented next moi-ning. l^apo- 
 leon had never in his bloody career beheld such a 
 spectacle, and he was more unnerved than in the most 
 perilous crisis of the battle. One of his generals 
 seeing his agitation, endeavored to lessen the evil by 
 saying it was exaggerated, and spoke of the new 
 glory the victory would give him. " To a father," re- 
 plied IS'apoleon, " who loses his childi-en, victory has 
 no charms — when the heart speaks glory itself is an 
 illusion." The enemies of Bonaparte receive such 
 manifestations of feeling on his part, with a smile of 
 incredulity, declaring it impossible that a man whose 
 whole career was marked with blood, and to whom 
 the desolation and horrors of a battle-field were ac- 
 customed spectacles, could ever utter such a senti- 
 ment in sincerity. To other military chieftains they 
 award all the kindly and noble feelings belonging to 
 men in civic life. The scenes of slauo:hter throusrb 
 which they pass do not make wild beasts of them. 
 
72 'J'lIK OLD GUARD. 
 
 The English generals in carrying out the aggressive 
 policy of their government, and Russian and Austrian 
 commanders are endowed with the feelings common 
 to our race, and yet the terrible battle which had 
 heaped the snow plains of Eylau with dead bodies was 
 fought in a defensive war on the part of I^apoleon, 
 Prussia declared war against him, and Russia with- 
 out the shadow of a reason, became her ally, and yet 
 how few in this country ever think of blaming the 
 real criminals in the affair, but on the contrary, heap 
 on Napoleon the sin of it all. 
 
 But independent of this, such a sentiment was 
 natural to any man, even the most abandoned of our 
 race. No wretch is so hardened as not to love even 
 the beast that has carried him faithfully and nobly 
 through imminent perils, or the dog which has watched 
 and defended him. Much less could a commander 
 like Napoleon look on the bloody ranks, stiff in death, 
 that had stood like walls of iron around him the day be- 
 fore, without a heart full of grief. His brave Guard 
 too, that carried him in its arms, and which would 
 not see him taken while a single man remained aliv^e 
 to strike a blow for him, had left its dead everywhere. 
 He had lost his defenders, those who cherished him 
 in their hearts while living, and murmured his name 
 in dying, and he felt like one robbed of his treasures 
 that he had hoarded with so much care — of valiant 
 hearts that beat but for him. It required a heart of 
 
GRIEF OF NAPOLKoX. 73 
 
 itone to look on those gallant men, mangled and torn, 
 and heaped in thousands over the blood-stained snow 
 and not be profoundly moved. Napoleon was over- 
 cinne bj it. Tlie excitement of the battle was over, 
 the victory won, and the feelings of our common na- 
 ture triumphed over the stern will of the chieftain and 
 the pride of the conqueror. Re could not conceal 
 his emotion, it exhibited itself even in his bulletin. 
 
 The white uniform had been introduced into many 
 of the regiments, but the contrast it presented to the 
 blood stains of those who wore it, so shocked him 
 that he immediately ordered it to be lain aside by 
 the survivors, and blue to be used instead, cost what it 
 might. He rode over the field to look after the 
 wounded, and sent out all his domestics to relieve 
 them, while the chasseurs of the Guard took their 
 horses and helped bring them into camp. 
 
 The rest of the winter and spring passed in quiet- 
 ness, but in the beginning of June hostilities recom- 
 menced, and IS'apoleon started in pursuit of the ene- 
 my. At the bloody battles of Heilsberg, the Young 
 Guard astonished the army by its intrepidity and des- 
 perate courage. The battle of Friedland followed, 
 and the allied armies were rolled into the AUe. Na- 
 poleon spared his Guard in this battle and at night 
 bivouacked on the field amid its squares. The sol- 
 diers were angry that they had not been allowed to 
 take part in the victory, and one of its intrepid lead 
 4 
 
74 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 ere said, "the Guard was treated like beasts in being 
 compelled to remain with their arms crossed all day." 
 
 If Napoleon had shown himself a great general in 
 this campaign, he exhibited no less the skillfnl diplo- 
 matist in bringing about a peace. He first met 
 Alexander on a raft moored in the middle of the 
 Niemen, while the opposing banks were lined with 
 tlie hostile armies, w^hicli no sooner saw the two em- 
 perors embrace, than they rent the air with shouts. 
 In a few days Alexander was established in Napo 
 leon's household and ate at his table. The poor king 
 of Prussia was neglected and humbled. The two 
 monarchs rode together and sat hour after hour in 
 private tete-a-tete, until Alexander became completely 
 fascinated. He reviewed the Old Guard with Napo- 
 leon, and was struck with their martial bearing and 
 perfect discipline, and lavished on them high enco- 
 niums. The Guard in return shouted, " Yive Aleos- 
 ander^ Vive Napoleon?'' 
 
 Days passed away in this social intercourse and each 
 succeeding one found the Russian monarch more and 
 more captivated. On returning from these interviews 
 he would exclaim, " What a great man, what a genius, 
 what extensive views, what a captain, what a statesman J 
 Had I but known him sooner how many faults he might 
 have spared mte, what great things we might have 
 accomplished together." Alexander was ambitious 
 and Napoleon knew it. He therefore opened to him 
 
NAPOLEON AND ALEXANDER, 75 
 
 plans of empire, pointed where new realms and glory 
 could be won, and sketched plans so vast and yet so 
 feasible, that the young emperor seemed to have 
 opened his eyes on a new world. jN'apoleon convinced 
 him that alliance with England and Austria was ruin 
 ons, while should they two combine, they could dic- 
 tate terms to half the world. The clear and masterlj? 
 manner in which he sketched the perfidious policy 
 of his foes, the generous offers he made to him a con- 
 quered enemy, and the vast sphere he pointed out to 
 the young aspirant after glory soon brought about the 
 end he was after. A treaty was made with Prussia 
 which stripped that unfortunate monarch of a large 
 part of his kingdom. Another treaty was concluded 
 with Kussia. Lastly, a secret treaty or alliance offen- 
 sive and defensive, not to be published till both con- 
 sented to it, was signed, by which the two monarchs 
 ■were to make common cause, by sea and land, and 
 to declare war against England if she would not sub- 
 scribe to the conditions of the two open treaties. This 
 was the famous peace of Tilsit. 
 
 In 1801 the Guard counted 15,361 men. 
 
 On the conquest of Spain, in 1808, the Imperial 
 Guard was rarely called into action. It however per 
 formed some extraordinary marches. In a rash attack 
 by Lefebvre Desmouettes with the chasseurs of the 
 Guard, some sixty of the latter were taken prisoners, 
 which annoyed Napoleon much. They were his favor 
 
76 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 ite troops, and he could not bear to have them in 
 the hands of the enemy. He always wore their uni 
 form in battle, and at St. Helena, when about to die. 
 he put it on, and was laid in state in it after his death. 
 While prosecuting his march from Benavente, 
 pressing eagerly after the English, a courier arrived 
 from Paris bringing news of the union of Austria to 
 t?ie European confederacy against him, and the mus- 
 tering of her armies. On receiving the courier's 
 package, he ordered a bivouac fire to be kindled, and 
 sitting down, was soon lost in thought, while the snow 
 fell thick and fast about him. His plans were in- 
 stantly taken. On the spot he wrote an order for the 
 raising of 80,000 conscripts in France. He then pro- 
 ceeded thoughtfully to Astorga, where he remained two 
 days, writing despatches. Every hour was occupied, his 
 secretaries were put on one of those strains he in great 
 emergencies demanded. Momentous affairs claimed 
 his attention. His armies in Spain, France, and all 
 Europe, lay like a map in his mighty mind, and he 
 grasped the whole. To the different divisions of his 
 army in Spain he sent despatches to guide their 
 conduct, he sketched the course to be followed in 
 pursuing the English, issued directions for regulating 
 the internal affairs of the kingdom, and organized 
 his plan for the overthrow of the coalition against 
 him. He stopped five days longer at YalJadolid, em- 
 ployed in writing despatches to every part of Europe. 
 
A WILD RroE. 77 
 
 [n these five days h 3 accomplished the work of ? 
 year, and having finished all, he mounted his horso 
 and posted like a flash of lightning for Paris. In 
 the first five hours he rode the astonishing distance of 
 eighty-five iniles^ or seventeen miles an hour. He then 
 took carriage while the Imperial Guard marched 
 swiftly towards Germany to meet the army he was to 
 concentrate there. This wild gallop of eighty-five 
 miles was long remembei-ed by the inhabitants of the 
 towns through which the smoking cavalcade of the 
 emperor passed. Relays of horses had been provided 
 along the road, and no sooner did he arrive at one 
 post than he flung himself on a fresh horse, and sink- 
 ing the spurs in his flanks, dashed away in headlong 
 speed. Few who saw that short figure surmounted 
 with a plain chapeau, sweep by on that day, ever for- 
 got it. His pale face was calm as marble, but his lips 
 were compressed and his brow knit like iron, while 
 his flashing eye as he leaned forward, still jerking 
 impatiently at the bridle as if to accelerate his speed, 
 seemed to devour the distance. I^oone spoke, but the 
 whole suite strained forward in the breathless race. 
 The gallant chasseurs never had had so long and 
 wild a ride before. 
 
 It is not probable that N'apoleon kept up this loco- 
 motive speed for eighty-five miles in order to gain 
 two or three hours of time. No battle was pend- 
 ing which an hour's delay might lose ; and whether 
 
Y8 TirE OLD GUARD. 
 
 he reached Paris at five o'clock ov eight, C3iild 
 make no difference in his plans. The truth is, 
 it was the only outlet he had tu his stormy feelings. 
 While occupied with his army in Spain, he had been 
 suddenly told that a fearful coalition was arming 
 against him in the north of Europe. Colossus as he 
 was, he could not but be painfully excited at the mag- 
 nitude of the dano-ers that threatened him. He saw 
 the motive which prompted this sudden blow and felt 
 that it might prove decisive. He could not take his 
 veteran troops on which he relied, from Spain, and he 
 must raise a new army. The seven days he spent in 
 writing despatches, after the amval of the courier 
 from Paris, were seven days of such mental labor as 
 ordinary men never dream of. In that time he per- 
 formed the w^ork of a year to most men. The vast 
 field over which his mind labored, the complicated 
 and vital afl'airs that claimed his attention, the thou- 
 sand objects, each of which was sufficient to task the 
 strongest mind, taken up and disposed of in these few 
 days, and the plan of a great campaign marked out 
 for himself, caused a mental strain that brought his 
 physical system, firm and iron-like as it was, into such 
 a state of nervous excitement, that this fierce ride 
 relieved him. Physical exhaustion was medicine to 
 him, for it took the fire from his brain. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE YOUNG GUAKT). 
 
 Organization of the Young Guard — Campaign of 1809 — Extraordinary eserticns ol 
 Napoleon— His rapid successes— Bombarding of Vienna, and first courtship of 
 Maria Louisa — Disgrace of a surgeon — The Old Guard at Aspern — Its last cliarge 
 —Incident showing how Napoleon punished the least neglect of his Guard — The 
 Guard at Wagram — Sublime spectacle — Its artillery heads Macdonald's charge — 
 Difficulty of appreciating the conduct of the Guard. 
 
 Austria, as we have seen, with a perfidy that be- 
 longs to her national character, no sooner found 'Na- 
 poleon involved in the Spanish war, and the elite of 
 his army there, than she resolved to violate her sacred 
 treaty and drive the French troops that still remained 
 m Germany, over the Ehine. The court thought to 
 take its hated foe unawares, and so it had, forgetting 
 the celerity of his movements and the rapid develop- 
 ment of his plans. 
 
 No sooner had he arrived in Paris, than he des- 
 patched Berthier to Germany to take charge of and 
 concentrate his troops that were scattered from the 
 Alps to the Baltic. In the meantime he organized 
 eight new regiments to augment the infantry of hia 
 guard, two of tirailleurs grenadiers, two of tirailleurs 
 
80 THE OLD GUAKD. 
 
 chasseui-s, and two of conscrij^t chasseurs, in all 60iA» 
 men. 
 
 These were called the Young Guard, although in 
 corporated with the Old. Together they formed an 
 imposing body of troops. On almost every breast of 
 the Old Guard glittered the star of the Legion of 
 Honor, won by bravery on the field of battle. 
 
 Every thing being ready the troops were sent by 
 forced marches to the Rhine. On the 12th of April, 
 Napoleon set out from St. Cloud, and in six days ar- 
 rived at head-quarters. It was high time he had come, 
 for Berthier had done nothing but commit blunders, 
 and but for the tardiness of the allies, the French army 
 w^ould have been driven across the Rhine before hia 
 arrival. It was scattered over forty leagues — in forty- 
 eight hours it was concentrated in the space of ten 
 leagues and ready to deliver its terrible blows. The 
 continental armies opposed to N^apoleon have been 
 much blamed for their slow and cautious advances, 
 when the position of the French army was such that 
 by celerity of movement they could have inflicted 
 heavy disasters upon it. But military critics forget 
 that !N"apoleon's tactics completely baffled the oldest 
 generals of the continent. 'Nine tenths of the time their 
 combinations were broken up before the battle took 
 place. This wizard, by his rapid movements, auda- 
 cious advances, and bold and daring attacks, so con- 
 fused them, that they never knew when he was strong 
 
A.TTACK ON QUEUES. 81 
 
 or weak. Tlicy were afraid to compromise their 
 forces hy any bold push, for whenever they did, 
 he came thundering on their flanks. iSTo wonder 
 they became careful, for if they attempted a surprise 
 or skilful manoeuvre as at Austerlitz, they found it 
 was just what their imperial foe desired. In fact, 
 such was his eagle glance and far-reaching intellect, 
 that it was impossible for the Austrians or Prussians 
 to attempt a manoeuvre in his presence without getting 
 his victorious squadrons on their flanks. They had 
 so often suflered from these flank attacks, that the 
 precautions they took to avoid them were frequently 
 ludicrous, and crippled all their actions. 
 
 The Emperor arrived on the night of the ITth — on 
 the 19th the battle of Abensberg was fought which 
 broke the enemy's centre — the 21st, he attacked the 
 enemy at Landshut, and put him to flight. On the 
 22d he was victorious at Echmuhl, and pushed the 
 Austrians over the Danube, which they had to cross 
 under the tremendous fire of the batteries of the Old 
 Guard. 
 
 On the 23d, Ratisbon was carried by assault and 
 the enemy forced to make a rapid retreat. One hun- 
 dred pieces of cannon, forty standards, fifty thousand 
 prisoners, tliree thousand baggage Avagons, were the 
 extraordinary fruits of these five days' labor. It re- 
 quired, however, a constitution of iron to stand the 
 strain he put on himself at this time. Kiding six 
 4^ 
 
82 TllK OLD GUARD. 
 
 days in succession to reach the army, he immediately 
 eet to work concentrating it^ and preparing for battle, 
 It is said that the letters to his officers during the 
 next five days would have made a vohime. He was 
 on horseback or dictating letters eighteen hours out 
 of every twenty-four during the whole time. He out- 
 stripped his own saddle horses sent on as rehiys, and 
 broke down those of the king of Bavaria, his ally, and 
 yet when his staff and assistants were completely 
 knocked up, he would sit calmly down and dictate 
 despatches half the night. He seemed every where 
 during these five days, and his blows fell with the 
 rapidity and power of thunderbolts. 
 
 After the taking of Ratisbon he issued a proclama- 
 tion to his troops in which after recounting their vic- 
 tories he promised in one month to bring them under 
 the walls of Vienna. In just one month he was there, 
 although to accomplish it he had to wade through 
 tlie terrible slaughter of Ebersberg. 
 
 He was at Landshut the 26th of April, where he 
 found the Old Guard which had just arrived from 
 Spain. In the beginning of January it was at Astor- 
 ga at the foot of the Gallician mountains — on the 
 26th of April it was in the heart of the Austrian 
 empire, having performed one of the most extraordi- 
 nary marches on record. lN"apoleon's eye flashed with 
 delight when he saw once more his favorite corps of 
 old veterans, twenty thousand strong, fresh from the 
 
THE COLUMN OF GRANITE. 83 
 
 battle-fields of Spain, defile before liim. The Guard 
 was no less delighted to see its chieftain, and rent 
 the air witli shouts of " Vive V EmpereurP 
 
 Arriving before Vienna, he placed his batteries, 
 and in ten hours threw ten thousand shells into the 
 city. The crash of falling dwellings, the bursting of 
 shells, and the ascending flames streaking the hea- 
 vens in every quarter, made the night of May 12th 
 one long to be remembered by the Yiennese. 
 
 At this time the young princess, Maria Louisa, the 
 future bride of the Emperor, lay sick in the imperial 
 palace, and unable to be removed. This being com- 
 municated to INTapoleon, he ordered the direction of 
 the batteries to be changed ; and thus amid general 
 devastation and death, she remained unharmed. This 
 was the first introduction of himself to the princess, 
 and it must be confessed it was wild and stern enough. 
 " It was by the thunders of artillery and the flaming 
 light of bombs across the sky, that his first addresses 
 were made, the first accents of tenderness were from 
 the deep booming of mortars which but for his inter- 
 position would have consigned her father's palace to 
 destruction." 
 
 Vienna fell, and ISTapoleon with a part of his Guard 
 took up his quarters at Schoenbrun. 
 
 While here an incident occurred which showed 
 with what severity the least license on the part of his 
 Old Guard was visited. One of its chief surgeons 
 
84 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 was lodged in the suburbs of the city, at the house 
 of an aged canoness, and near rehitive of Prince 
 Lichtenstein. 
 
 One day having taken too much wine, he wrote 
 her an extravagant and impertinent letter in which 
 he introduced the name of Lefebvre in a disgraceful 
 manner. She immediately threw herself on the pro- 
 tection of General Aiidreossy, whom Kapoleon iiad 
 niade governor of the city, and to wliom she sent the 
 letter she had received. The governor forwarded 
 l)oth her letter and tlie surgeon's to the emperor. 
 The latter immediately sent an order for the snrgeon 
 to appear on parade the following morning. The 
 next morning as N^apoleon descended rapidly the 
 steps of the palace his countenance betokened an 
 explosion at hand, and without speaking to any one, 
 he advanced towards the ranks holding the letters in 
 
 his hand, and called out, " Let M advance." 
 
 The surgeon approached, when the emperor extend- 
 ing the letter towards him said, " Did you write this 
 infamous letter ?" 
 
 " Pardon, sire," cried the overwhelmed surgeon, " I 
 was drunk at the time, and did not know what I did." 
 
 " Miserable man, to outrage one of my brave lieu- 
 tenants and at the same time a canoness worthy of 
 respect, and sufficiently bowed down w^ith the mise 
 ries of war. I do not admit your excuse. I degrade 
 you from the Legion of Honor, you are unworthy to 
 
napoleon's SEVERTXy. 85 
 
 hear tliat venerated symbol. General iJorsenne,'^ 
 B-aid he, addressing the chief of the corps, " see that 
 this order is executed. Insult an aged woman ! I 
 respect an aged woman as if she were my mother." 
 
 The poor surgeon was a peaceable man, upright in 
 his conduct when sober, and esteemed in the Guard 
 as nnicli for his kindness as for his talents. They in- 
 terceded for him, but Napoleon refused to grant their 
 petition, nor did he yield until a paper signed by all 
 the generals of the Guard, asking his pardon, was 
 presented. Excesses are always committed by a vic- 
 torious army, but the inhabitants of a city conquered 
 by the French never complained of the conduct of 
 the Old Guard. At home and abroad they were the 
 fi-iends of the citizen jind exhibited an uprightness 
 of character rarely found in any body of troops. 
 
 Leaving Vienna, Kapoleon crossed the Danube at 
 Lobau, and concentrated the whole Austrian army 
 on the opposite side. The sudden rise of the river 
 after part of the army had crossed by which the 
 bridges were swept away leaving him with only a 
 portion of his troops and artillery, the bloody battle 
 of Aspern, the failure of ammunition, the defeat of 
 the French, and the death of Lannes are well known. 
 Napoleon was compelled to use his Guard severely 
 on both of these days to check the victorious advance 
 of the enemy. Bessieres closed the first day's battle 
 with one of those splendid charges of the cavalry of 
 
86 THE OU) Gl AKD. 
 
 tho Guard on the Aiistrians' centre. Hiding up to 
 the flaming batteries, he forced the in back into the 
 squares of the infantry. The reserve cavahy of the 
 Austrians were sent against them, but were swept 
 from their path like chaff, and with chittering armor and 
 deafening shouts, the terrible squadrons threw them- 
 selves on the solid Hungarian squares, and rode round 
 and r<^nnd them in search of an opening through 
 which they could dash, till nearl}^ half their number 
 was stretched on the plain, and they were compelled to 
 retire. 
 
 The next day after various successes on either 
 side, the battle at length turned decidedly in favor of 
 the Austrians. Night was approaching, and as a last 
 resort, lS"apoleon ordered Lannes to pierce the Aus- 
 trian centre. His terrible columns had well nigh 
 succeeded, when the ammunition gave way. Stopped 
 in his victorious advance, he at length was compelled 
 to retrace his steps and the whole army was ordered 
 to fall back towards the island of Lobau. Seeing 
 the retrograde movement the Archduke John pushed 
 his attack with greater vigor and under the tremen- 
 dous fire of his eighty guns the French soon began 
 to show signs of disorder. It was all important at 
 this crisis that the village of Essling should still be 
 held, for if taken by the enemy !N"apoleon saw that 
 his case would be desperate. The Archduke John 
 also perceived the vital importance of this post, for 
 
CHARGE AT ASPKRN. 87 
 
 it would eifectually cut off the retreat of the French 
 to the river ; and sent a tremendous force against it 
 which drove out its gallant defenders from every por- 
 tion but the great granary. ]S"apoleon calm and 
 unmoved, resolved at once to retake it, cost what it 
 might, and for that purpose immediately despatched 
 a portion of the Old Guard — his never failing hope 
 when evei'ything else gave w^ay. The drums beat a 
 hurried charge, and the dark column, in double quick 
 time, moved over the interval, and with fixed bayo- 
 nets and firm front entered the village. No shouts 
 or clatter of small arms heralded their approach 
 or marked their terrible course. With the unwa- 
 vering strength of the inrolling tide of the sea, they 
 swept forward, crushing every obstacle in their pas- 
 sage. Through the devouring fire, over the batteries, 
 they stormed on, and pushing steadily against the 
 darx and overwhelming naasses that opposed their 
 progress, they rolled the two Austrian columns in 
 affright and dismay before them. They knew the 
 mission they were to fulfil, and ten times their num- 
 ber could not have resisted their heavy onset. Ne 
 sudden alarms, no thoughts of retreat, no anxietj 
 weakened their high purpose. The crash of cannon 
 balls in their mid«t, the headlong charge of cavalry, 
 could not disturb their firm set ranks. They moved 
 resistlessly forward till the enemy was driven out of 
 the village, and then they established therap^lves in 
 
88 THK OLD GUARD. 
 
 the granary, iVoiu which the most determined efforts 
 were made to dislodge them. The Hungarian grena 
 diers, that Iiad stood so firm before the onset of 
 Lannes' columns, were sent against them, but w*erc 
 hurled back in confusion. Again did they return 
 with reinforcements, and pressed up to the very foot 
 of the walls and again fled before the murderous fire 
 that met them. Fvve times did they return with des- 
 perate courage to the assault, only to meet the same 
 fate. The upper part of the building took fire in the 
 tumult, but still " amid the roar of burning timbers" 
 and incessant rattle of musketry the Old Guard 
 fought on. The Austrian general seeing that nothing 
 but the utter annihilation of those iron men could 
 give him possession of the place, called off his troops. 
 
 It was on such occasions as this, that the Old Guard 
 showed its strength. Tried in a hundred battles, it 
 had never betrayed the confidence of its great leader, 
 and he knew when he sent them on that dreadful 
 errand that they would fulfil it 
 
 The Guard suffered heavily in these two conflicts, 
 and while the army was shut up in the island of Lo- 
 bau, the emperor took great care of it. When he 
 broke up his quarters at Schoenbrun and removed to 
 the island, his fir;3t visit was to them in their bivouacs 
 where he found them at their repast. " Well, my 
 friends," said he to a group before which he had 
 Btopjed, " how do yon find the wine?" 
 
THE GUARD AT ^VAGRAM. 89 
 
 ''It will not make us tipsy," replied an old grena- 
 dier, and pointing to the Danube, added, " behold our 
 wine cellar." 
 
 [N'apoleon, who had ordered the distribution of a 
 bottle of wine to each soldier of the Guard, was sur- 
 prised to find that his commands had not been obeyed, 
 and sending for Berthier, made him inquire into it. 
 It being ascertained that those employed to furnish 
 the wine had sold it for their own profit, they were 
 immediately arrested, tried by a military commission, 
 condemned, and executed. The punishment w^as 
 sudden and severe upon any one who dared to trifle 
 with his Old Guard. They might as well defraud or 
 injure him. 
 
 THE GUARD AT WAGRAM. 
 
 At the opening of this great battle on the second 
 day, the Old Guard, with the reserve cavalry, were 
 stationed in the rear of the centre. Flushed by the 
 successes of the day before, the Archduke had re- 
 sumed the offensive, and descending the plateau, 
 poured an enormous force on Napoleon's right. The 
 latter stood and listened awhile to the heavy cannon- 
 ading, but as the rapidly advancing roar of the ene- 
 my's artillery revealed that his right wing was forced 
 back, he put spurs to his horse, and swiftly crossing 
 the field with the Old Guard, was soon at the me- 
 naced point. The artillery, under the immortal 
 
90 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 Dronot, opened like a volcano on.tbe advancing col- 
 umns, smiting them in flank so terribly that they were 
 forced to retreat. The cuirassiers then charged, car- 
 rying disorder and destruction into their ranks. 
 
 But while this was passing, a more imminent peril 
 had overtaken the centre and left. Against both the 
 Austrians were successful. The lion-hearted Massena, 
 who commanded the left, was overturned in his car- 
 riage by his own panic-stricken troops. Unable to 
 mount on horseback, filled with rage at the discomfiture 
 of his men, he ordered the dragoons about his person 
 to charge his flying soldiers as if they were enemies. 
 But even this did not avail, and had not Napoleon's 
 eagle eye discovered the condition of his favorite 
 general, he would soon have been a prisoner in the 
 hands of the enemy. TJien passed one of those 
 scenes that make us for awhile forget the carnage 
 of a great battle field. From the extreme right, 
 at first like a slowly ascending thunder-cloud, and 
 then like a bolt from heaven, came Napoleon and 
 his guard to the rescue. Ordering Davoust to attack 
 Neusiedel, and the foot soldiers of the Guard to 
 traverse the entire field at the ''^pas de cJiarge^^ he 
 took with him the squadrons of the steel-clad cuiras- 
 fiiers and the artillery of the Guard, and striking into 
 a fierce gallop crossed the field in sight of both armies. 
 That dread artillery, with Drouot in the midst, and 
 those dark squadrons fringed with glittering steel, 
 
ITS ARTILLERY AT WAGRAM. 91 
 
 thundered after their great leader. The earth groaned 
 and trembled as they passed, and even the combat- 
 ants paused a moment as that apparition swept with 
 a deep dull roar along. The French army gave a 
 shout as they watched its headlong course. Soon 
 after came the bear-skin caps of the foot grenadiers 
 going almost on a run, though perfect in their forma- 
 tion as on parade. 
 
 Order was restored, and the shattered columns 
 under the impenetrable wall which the Old Guard 
 presented, rallied and executed the commands of Na- 
 poleon with the most perfect regularity, though rid- 
 dled by the cross fire of the Austrian artillery. It 
 w^as on this occasion that Napoleon on his white 
 Persian charger rode backwards and forwards before 
 his shrinking lines, to keep them steady while his other 
 manoeuvres could be executed. For a whole hour 
 he and his indomitable Guard stood the rock of that 
 battle-field. And when the crisis had come and 
 Macdonald was directed to make that last awful 
 charge on the Austrian centre, he took with him eight 
 battalions of the Young Guard, while on either flank 
 hovered the light horse, and at the head of his dread 
 column advanced a hundred pieces of cannon of the 
 Old Guard commanded by Drouot. Behind him, 
 as a reserve, was the emperor surrounded by the cav- 
 alry and infantry of the Old Guard. Thus, with the 
 Young Guard around him, and Napoleon and the 
 
»Ji THE OLD (iUAKI). 
 
 Old Guard behind him, Drouot and his deadly artil- 
 lery in front, Macdonald entered wich a bold step 
 the volcano before him. The particulars of that 
 charge I have given in another place. Napoleon's 
 throne and crown went with it. To sustain it J3e8- 
 sieres charged with the cavalry of the Old Guard and 
 was hurled from his horse by a cannon shot which 
 checked the enthusiasm of his troops and rendered 
 the onset weak and powerless. But the day was won, 
 thanks to the unconquerable Guard. In his bulletin 
 Napoleon said, " The artillery of the Guard has 
 covered itself with glory. * * * Our intrepid can- 
 noneers have shown all the power of their terrible 
 arm. The mounted chasseurs of the Guard have 
 charged three squares of infantry and broken them 
 in pieces. The Polish Lancers charged a regiment 
 of Austrian lancei-s and took prisoner its commander. 
 Prince D'Auesperg, and captured twelve pieces (-f 
 cannon." 
 
 The truth is, it is difficult to give a pro2:)er idea of 
 the conduct of the Old Guard. To the cursory reader 
 it seems sti-ange that it acquired such a reputation. 
 This arises from the fact that it always acted as a 
 resen^e, and had nothing to do with the main move- 
 ments of the army, which it is the duty of the histo- 
 rian to describe. To stem the torrent of defeat, to 
 give impulse to a great movement, to strengthen an 
 exhausted column, and by being here and there and 
 
ITS CHAKACTEB. 93 
 
 in every place where help was needed, and with iiit 
 broken front in the midst of disorder and calm j-e* 
 solute hearts in the midst '>f fear and panic, that it 
 gained its renown. The discomfited soldier gazed in 
 astonishment on the cool corn-age which triumphed 
 where he had failed, and broken ranks viewed with 
 wonder the steady march on batteries which had 
 shattered them to fragments. Called in only wdien 
 the other troops gave way, and manoeuvring and 
 charging with the same determined bravery in tne 
 midst of a panic as in the flush of victory, they were 
 looked upon as superior to the ordinary emotions and 
 fears of mortals. And nothing does show the sub- 
 lime elevation of this invincible body of men more 
 than their freedom from the contagion of example, 
 being always sufficient in themselves, and steadiest 
 and bravest in the moment of greatest disaster and 
 fear. It was this peculiarity that gave the Guard 
 influence over the soldiers and made its presence like 
 the shout of victory. The w^hole army came to re- 
 gard it as exempt from ordinary duty in a battle-field, 
 too great to be employed in ordinary fighting, and to 
 be called upon only when the bravest troops gave 
 way. Its charge was looked upon as an unalter- 
 able decree against the enemy written in the book of 
 fate. Its stern and measured tread never faltered, 
 against its adamantine sides cavalry thundered in 
 vain, while before its levelled bayonets the firmest 
 
94: THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 array went down. Napoleon knew- its power and in- 
 creased its strength to the greatest limit it could bear. 
 Any nation that could furnish two hundred thousand 
 men able to fullil the severe conditions annexed to ad- 
 mission in the Old Guard, might conquer the world. 
 
 The battle of Wagram settled the fate of Austria, 
 and not long after the " peace of Vienna" was con- 
 cluded. The war in the Tyrol and Spain was carried 
 on, but the majority of the Old Guard took no part 
 ID either. They were sent back to Paris to recruit. 
 
 In 1809, the Guard was composed of 31,203 meu 
 
C]i AFTER VI. 
 
 1810. 
 
 Iffairiage of Napoleon to Marie Louise — Augmentation of the Old Guard— Qitmd 
 review of the 01 1 Guard at Paris— Touching inciaent— The brave drummer and 
 General Gros — Napoleon's treatment of them — Secret of Napoleon's influence 
 over his troops, was in the afifectlon he inspired— His prodigious memory— Con- 
 versation \\ith the Russian Chamberlain. 
 
 In 1810 the star of Bonaparte culminated. It was 
 perhaps the most glorious year of his life. He had 
 compelled peace from the continental powers, and the 
 French empire had been extended on one side to the 
 mouth of the Elbe, and on the other to the shores of the 
 Tiber. Eome and Amsterdam wei*e both cities of the 
 Empire. Joseph Bonaparte was king of Spain, Je- 
 rome of Westphalia, and Murat of Naples. I^apo- 
 leon was king of Italy as well as Emperor of France, 
 and was looked up to with awe by a hundred million 
 men. Kings gazed with amazement and fear on 
 this strange man, who made such playthings of their 
 thrones, and dictated terms to them in their own pal 
 
96 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 aces, and whose victorious armies -trod the streets of 
 their capitals. 
 
 This plebeian soldier had changed the cttntempt with 
 which royal blood regarded him, into deadly fear; and 
 he whom they deemed fit only for the assassin's knife, 
 was now worthy of the haughtiest alliance, and- the 
 daughter of the Csesars became the wife of ]N"apo- 
 leon. 
 
 It is strange how slight an event will change the 
 features of the world. Napoleon first proposed to 
 marry one of the royal family of Kussia. The em- 
 peror was delighted with the project, but the queen- 
 mother suggested diflSculties, and demanded delay. 
 This did not suit the impetuous nature of Bona- 
 parte, and he immediately broke off negotiations with 
 Russia and offered himself to the house of Austria, 
 and was accepted. This latter alliance, from which 
 he hoped so much, proved of no benefit to him, ex- 
 cept to facilitate his operations against Russia, which 
 in the end proved his ruin. Austria regards fam- 
 ily ties no more than treaties or honor. Treach- 
 erous and base, no reliance can be placed on her 
 fidelity to any thing but her self interest. 
 
 Russia on the other hand, had the two dynasties 
 been united, would have proved a close ally to France. 
 That fearful invasion of her territories would have 
 been prevented, and the two emperors could have 
 
GKAND REVIEW. 97 
 
 divided Europe between them, if they chose, and 
 prostrated England in the dust. 
 
 The last war with Austria had impressed Napoleon 
 still more deeply with the value of the Old Guard 
 and he took advantage of the first interval of peace 
 to augment its strength. Holland had fallen into his 
 hands, and he incorporated into his Guard the grena- 
 diers of the Holland Guard. He created also musi- 
 cal corps for the eight regiments of the Young 
 Guard already in existence, and doubled the officers 
 of health attached to the chief hospital. In two 
 years he had more than doubled its number. 
 
 BEVIEW OF THE IMPERIAL GUARD. 
 
 J^apoleon frequently entertained the Parisians with 
 a grand review of his troops, especially of his Guard. 
 This always took place on the Sabbath, to give ail an 
 opportunity of witnessing it, just as that day has ever 
 been made a sort of fete day by the French. On the 3d 
 of June, of this year, he held one of these grand reviews 
 in presence of the dignitaries of the empire, and am- 
 bassadors from almost every court of Europe. A 
 chamberlain of the emperor of Kussia, the count of 
 Trawinsoff, was then at the French court, ostensibly 
 to enroll a troupe of comedians for the imperial thea- 
 tre of St. Petersburg. He was accredited simply as 
 a charge, but l^apoleon knew perfectly well that 
 graver matters than a troupe of comedians were en 
 5 
 
08 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 trusted to him. On the morning of the review jt 
 his Guard, he asked him to be present and g;V€ 
 his opinion of it. The count liaving no desire to see 
 the redoubtable corps which at Austerlitz and Eylau 
 had conquered the finest troops of his master, de- 
 clined on the ground that he had no horse. The em- 
 peror replied he would give him one of his own, and 
 the count was compelled to accept the invitation. 
 
 As the clock struck twelve, there arose from the 
 different corps of the Guard which some time before 
 liad taken position in the court of the Tuileries, a 
 loud murmur of expectation succeeded by a profound 
 silence. The rattling of a scabbard and the clicking 
 of spurs as the booted heel came dovm upon the mar- 
 ble floor of the peristyle was heard, and the next mo- 
 ment a little man in a green uniform, the modest 
 epaulettes of a colonel on his shoulders, a plain cha- 
 peau on his head, the signs of the Legion of Honor, 
 and the crown of iron, the only ornaments on his 
 breast, stepped forth. He paused and made a ges- 
 ture with his hand, and in a few seconds a group of 
 officers in splendid uniforms, with their hats in their 
 hands, surrounded him. The drums then beat the 
 salute, a single command like an echo rolled from ofii- 
 cer to officer the whole length of the line, and with a 
 clattering sound, the entire army as if it had been one 
 man, presented arms — the colors in one vast cloud 
 stooped towards that little man in green uniform, and 
 
napoleon's kindness. t«^ 
 
 then the cry of " Vive VEmfereur^^ rolled like thun- 
 der to the heavens. 
 
 l!^apoleon then mounted his favorite horse Marengo^ 
 whose head was always in motion as if impatient like 
 his master to be off on a gallop, and rode along the 
 lines. Just as he was about to pass into tiie ranks, a 
 young man seventeen or eighteen years of age, rushed 
 out of the multitude and ran towards him, shaking a 
 paper which he held in his hand above his head. 
 Paying no heed to the repeated order of " back, 
 back," he was pushing on, when a grenadier seized 
 him by the collar and forced him towards the specta- 
 tors. But lie still shook his paper and cried out over 
 the noise of the multitude, '' Sire, Sire," to the empe 
 ror. The latter said coldly, " Let the young man ap 
 p]-oach." The grenadier immediately released him, 
 and presenting arms stood like a statue. The young 
 man sprang forward and fell at the feet of Marengo. 
 " What do you want?" said [N'apoleon, as he stooped 
 in his saddle to take the paper. The poor petitioner 
 said nothing, but looked beseechingly at the emperor, 
 while the tears rolled down his cheeks. Kapoleon 
 tore off the envelope and casting his eye over the pe- 
 tition, said to the young man, '' Arise, to none but 
 God should you kneel ; from w^hat I see, your mother 
 has never left Paris." There was no reply and cast< 
 ing his eye again on the paper, he said in a low voice, 
 " I have been deceived respecting this woman w io I 
 
100 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 was told had emigrated and then mixed herself up in 
 political intrigues. There was nothing in it." Tlien 
 raising his voice, he added, "My young friend, tell 
 your mother tliat from this moment she has a pension 
 of twelve hundred francs from my own purse." Over- 
 whelmed by this sudden elevation from the depths of 
 despair, the poor youth stood a moment, while the 
 hue of death crept over his features, his eyes closed 
 and sinking on his knees he pitched forward, his 
 head striking heavily against the legs of Marengo as 
 he fell. The frighted steed reared bolt upright and 
 but for an aid-de-camp, who seized him by the bridle, 
 would doubtless have flung his imperial rider. A cry 
 of terror rose from the multitude, but the next mo- 
 ment as they saw him quietly dismount and advance 
 towards the young man, there went up a shout that 
 shook the field. 
 
 An officer immediately called aloud for a surgeon. 
 " Let him alone, sir," said Napoleon quietly, " a sur- 
 geon is useless, joy is never fatal at this age. He 
 needs only a little cool water." One of the specta- 
 tors ran and fetched some in his hat from a neighbor- 
 ing fountain. !Rapoleon threw a few drops on the 
 poor fellow's face when he opened his eyes. Seeing 
 the emperor stooping over him, he seized one of his 
 hands and kissed it in a transport of enthusiasm. 
 " Was not I right ?" said l^apoleon pleasantly. " To 
 horj^e, gentlemen." At evening that youth sent an- 
 
101 
 
 other petition, that lie might fight till death for the 
 emjyeror. He was enrolled in the foot chasseurs of 
 the Guard. 
 
 This to an ordinary general would be an unimpor- 
 tant affair, yet many a victory of Napoleon grew out 
 of just such incidents. This young chasseur would 
 be worth a whole company in a desperate charge. 
 With the eye of his benefactor on him, nothing but 
 death could arrest his progress, and his example in 
 battle would make heroes of all around him. 
 
 At the time this was transpiring, another incident 
 of a comic character, yet equally illustrative of Na- 
 poleon's love for the brave, and of his tact in winning 
 their unbounded devotion, occurred in another part 
 of the field. Gros, one of the generals of the chas- 
 seurs of the Old Guard, was a tall, powerful man, 
 with a voice like a trumpet. He was illiterate, but 
 high-minded, generous to a fault, and the very soul 
 of bravery. Napoleon once said of him, " Gros lives 
 in the smoke of cannon like a fish in water. It is his 
 element." The mode of his elevation to the rank he 
 held, was a farce in itself. One morning while he 
 was waiting in one of the little saloons of St. Cloud 
 to receive the orders of the Emperor, who had sent 
 for him, he became impatient at the long delay and 
 going up to a mirror, began to contemplate himself. 
 He pulled up his collar, adjusted his epaulettes, exam- 
 ined his uniform^ and casting hi^ eyes fron^ his head 
 
102 TIIK OLD GUARD. 
 
 to liis feet, could not repress his admiration of the 
 tout ensemble of his person and thinking aloud, said, 
 '^ Ah my cadet, there are few of these dandy officers 
 made up like you — what a misfortune you don't know 
 a little mathematics which the emperor requires, yoii 
 would then have been a general to-day." Napoleon 
 who had entered unperceived and overheard this queei 
 soliloquy, suddenly slapped him on the shoulder 
 exclaiming, " You are one." 
 
 On the day of the review, Gros with his regiment 
 was at one extremity of the line. A few days before 
 there had been incorporated into it unbeknown to him 
 an old friend named Castagnet. He was a drummer 
 and in the review was placed in the front rank. 
 Gros with great pomposity was slowly walking his 
 horse along the line, scrutinizing the appearance and 
 arms of each, when he was suddenly arrested by 
 " Good heavens ! it is you, my general, look at me, I 
 am that fool of a Castagnet with whom you have 
 drunk more Schnick than there is broth in the kettle 
 of the Invalids. How are you ? Don't you know me, 
 my general ?" 
 
 At the first words, Gros had reco2:nised his old 
 comrade, and yielding to the sudden generous im- 
 pulse, he leaped from his horse and embraced him, 
 shaking his hand with a grasp that made every bone 
 in it snap, exclaiming, " Yery well, very well, my old 
 Castagnet, and you?" 
 
A RECOGNITION. 103 
 
 " Always r-r-r-rat-a-tat tatting, as you see.*' 
 
 " Come to me to-morrow morning," said Gros as be 
 re-mounted liis liorse, " you shall see that I always 
 have something for my old friends." 
 
 Napoleon, who had just gone through the firet files 
 of the grenadiers, happened to cast his eye along the 
 line at this moment and thought he saw a soldier and 
 general embracing each other. The spurs sank in 
 the flanks of Marengo^ which sprang away like a 
 flash of lightning, and the next moment stood before 
 the astonished group. "What does this mean, Gen- 
 eral Gros," exclaimed Kapoleon, with his brow knit 
 in anger, " is this a theatrical exhibition ?" 
 
 The general raised his chapeau, and pointing to 
 the drummer, who stood immovable in his ranks, said 
 in his usual frank blunt manner, " There is a solid sol- 
 dier for you, one who never winks in presence of the 
 enemy. Such as you see him, sire, he has beat his 
 drum in Italy, Egypt, and through all Germany. Ilis 
 name is Castagnet. It was he who beat the charge 
 before St. Jean d'Acre with one hand because the 
 other had been shattered by a ball, at the commence- 
 ment of that earthquake." 
 
 As much as Napoleon loved discipline, he loved 
 bravery better, and he sat with his eyes fixed on Cas- 
 tagnet, whose heart went like the sticks of liis own 
 drum, while Gros was speaking; and as he finished 
 Baid, " All this is very well, but the time is ill chosen 
 
104 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 for such recognitions." Tlien turning to Castagnet, 
 be said in that wir.ning tone which so bewitched hia 
 soldiers, " You are he then, ray brave fellow, who 
 descended the third time into the fosse of St. Jean 
 d'Acre ; I am glad to see jou again." With this he 
 lifted his hand to his chapeau, slightly raising it from 
 his head. 
 
 These flattering words, and above all, the gesture 
 of resj^ect, completely upset the poor drummer. He 
 expected punishment, and lo, the emperor had touched 
 his chapeau to him. He turned white and red by 
 turns, and turning and twisting his head about, said, 
 in a half audible tone, " You flatter me, my empe- 
 ror." 
 
 " It was you," continued JMapoleon, " I have a good 
 memory, who showed such presence of mind and 
 admirable courage at the battle of "Wertingnen, and 
 saved the life of your captain." 
 
 The brave fellow whose nerves were steady as iron 
 in the deadly combat, was completely unmanned, and 
 with his head cast down, said in a voice lower than 
 before, '' A small affair, my emperor, always the same 
 old cask." 
 
 '' Gros," added Kapoleon, " if your protege con- 
 tinues to behave as well in future, he shall be ad- 
 vanced. He is worthy of a better po:.t," and nodding 
 pleasantly to the drummer, said, '^ Au revoir, my 
 brave fellow^," and gave the spur to Marengo. 
 
THE BRAVE DEUMMKK. 105 
 
 Such was the means by which lN"apoleon gained 
 the hearts of his Guard. The beat of that bia\e fel- 
 low's drum in the fosse of St. Jean d'Acre would not 
 hurry men to the deadly charge more fiercely than 
 that story told by the bivouac fire of the Old Guard 
 at night. The whole regiment witnessed the strange 
 scene, and there was not a man in it but felt a higher 
 resolution. He would cany the remembrance of it 
 into battle, it would nerve him to another effort when 
 about to give way, and rally him to another charge 
 at sight of his commander. Who would not per- 
 form great; deeds, when years after he was told of 
 them by his emperor, in presence of the whole army ? 
 The brave acts of even a poor druminer were trea- 
 sured up in the heart of him for whom he shed his 
 blood, and it recompensed him for all he had. suffered. 
 Ah, Bonaparte knew how to win the hearts of his sol- 
 diers, and that alone would give him unconquerable 
 troops. 
 
 After having passed in review the squadrons of the 
 Guard and the light cavalry, he returned to the court 
 of the Tuileries, and placed himself in front of a 
 email squadron of general officers, composed of his 
 staff. At a gesture of liis hand, an officer of ord- 
 nance approached with his head uncovered, and bow- 
 ing to Napoleon, parted on a gallop and riding rap- 
 idly along the whole front of battle returned to his 
 place. A moment after "Napoleon urg'd Marengo 
 5* 
 
lOS THE OLD GUAJID. 
 
 covered with foam, a few steps in advance, and lifb 
 ing bis hand sliook it above his head. From the ex- 
 trense end of the line the faint roll of drums was 
 heard, gradually swelling, till it swept like thunder 
 over the field. In an instant it ceased and the rat- 
 tling of musketry ran with the regularity of a w^ave, 
 from one end of the vast line to the other. At length 
 the impassible face of Napoleon kindled with ex- 
 citement ; and placing his right hand upon his thigh, 
 he half turned in his saddle, and gave the Kussian 
 ambassador, who was absorbed in the magnificent 
 tableau, a glance that could not be mistaken. He 
 had caught the undulations of the eagles of his Guard 
 as it put itself in motion, and from the farthest ex- 
 tremity, began to advance. The foot grenadiers and 
 chasseurs, who had swept the fields of Austerlitz, Jena^ 
 Eylau, and Wagram, first approached. As they began 
 to defile, Napoleon made a sign to the Russian cham- 
 berlain to take his place by his side. As the regiments 
 approached, he said, pointing to one, " That is my 
 45th, they are my brave children of Paris. Tf ever car- 
 tridges are burned between my brother, the emperor of 
 Russia, and me, I will show the efficiency of my 45th. 
 It was this regiment that precipitated itself upon the 
 Russian batteries at Austerlitz. That little corporal 
 you see running there with his fusil upon his shoulderj 
 finding himself about to be taken by an officer of the 
 cannoneers of Doctorow, sprang up behind him, stran 
 
107 
 
 gled liim with his hands, and made his escape." The 
 chamberlain expressing his admiration of the daring 
 deed, Kapoleon added, " There is not a regiment in 
 my Guard that cannot cite a hundred acts far more 
 admirable. Do you see that lieutenant covered with 
 dust? It is Kobaglia, n)y cousin, who lives but for me." 
 He thus went on particularizing one after another, 
 going back even to his first campaigns. 
 
 The cavalry then defiled in the same wonderful 
 order, though enveloped in a cloud of dust. The ter 
 rible grenadiers, whose heavy shocks few squares 
 could withstand, passed along, followed by the chas- 
 seurs with their green uniform and tall plumes waving- 
 like a field of grain in the wind. After them, the 
 mamelukes, with their white turbans surmounted with 
 a cross of gold, then the dragoons of the Guard, with 
 their light helmets flashing in the sun, commanded by 
 Arigha, a cousin of Napoleon, then the Polish lancers 
 in their gay and sparkling uniform, and last the artil- 
 lery of the Guard, followed by the equipages of the 
 train. Each regiment and squadron sent up their 
 loud ''Vive V Emyereur^'' as it passed. Napoleon 
 then dismounted and mixing with the chief officers 
 of the several corps, conversed a while familiarly with 
 then, and returned to the Tuileries. 
 
 The imposing pageant had passed. That army of 
 thirty thousand warriors — veterans every one, had 
 moved at the word of command, like a single man, and 
 
108 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 no one who saw their firm array and perfect discipline, 
 and knew their history, could be astonished at their 
 invincibility. When it was over, Napoleon asked the 
 Russian chamberlain what had struck him most at 
 the review. 
 
 "The prodigious memory of your majesty," he re- 
 plied, " and the ease with which you recalled, after 
 so long a time, the deeds of arms and the names of so 
 many soldiers." 
 
 " Monsieur Count," replied the emperor, " it is the 
 memory of the heart, it is that of the lover which re- 
 calls his first attachments, it is never lost." 
 . I have thus gone into a detailed account of this 
 single review, because such exhibitions formed a part 
 of the history of the Old Guard, and incidents like 
 these I have related lay at the foundation of the de- 
 voted attachment it showed to Napoleon. 
 
 At the close of 1810 the Guard numbered 33,500 
 men. 
 
CHAPTER VIL 
 1811. 
 
 Increase of the Guard— Birth of the king of Rome— The excitement and joy rf 
 the Parisians at the recent creation of the pupils of the Guard— Their reTiew ij 
 presence of the Old G uard — Napoleon's address to both —Anecdote of one of tha 
 pupils. The pupils in service to the young king of liome. 
 
 In March, 1811, the regiment of the Young Hol- 
 landers, formed by Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland, 
 at the abdication of the latter, were called, as before 
 stated, into France, and incorporated into the Young 
 Guard. At first it was composed of only two batta- 
 lions, but afterwards was increased to nine, and gave 
 an addition to the Guard of nine thousand men. 
 
 The birth of a son to ]N"apoleon, filled the nation 
 with joy, and removed from the statesman of France 
 a load of anxiety. The French empire and Napoleon 
 were one. He had made it, and he alone could pre- 
 eerve its integrity. 'No other statesman nor leader 
 in the army, even if elevated to his place, could sway 
 
110 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 his sceptre. Were he dead, France must look intc 
 the gulf of another revolution, or submit to the dic- 
 tation of tyrants. And yet this single man, on whoso 
 shoulders lay the interests of .so vast an empire, lived 
 on the battle-field, exposed to death on every side. 
 Wise men trembled when they saw so mighty a 
 structure resting on a single pedestal, and asked; 
 what would become of France if the shot that pierced 
 the breast of Turenne, or shattered Charles XII., 
 should pierce him. A son would confirm his dynasty 
 and the army would rally around his cradle, for the 
 father's sake. It was from such views sprung the 
 strong desire on the part of France, that ISTapoleon 
 should be divorced from Josephine and marry some 
 one who could give him an heir. One can, therefore, 
 easily imagine the intoxication of the French people 
 when that heir was actually born. 
 
 The confinement of the queen was known through- 
 out Paris, and the whole population was on the tip- 
 toe of expectation. At length the cannon of the 
 Invalides thundered forth the joyful event that a child 
 was born. It was announced beforehand that if it 
 were a princess, twenty-one guns should be fired — if 
 a prince, a hundred. As the first heavy explosion 
 rolled over the city, the vast population stood and 
 listened. They counted to the twenty-first discharge, 
 at which there was a pause. The excitement then 
 became intense, and when at length the twenty-second 
 
13IKTI1 OF THE KING OF KOME. Ill 
 
 gun, double charged, pealed over the Seine, a wild 
 shout of enthusiasm shook the capital to its centre, 
 telling to all Europe how deep-seated was the affec 
 tion of the people fo ; their Emperor, and how great 
 their joy at the prospect of the continuation of hi 
 dynasty. 
 
 The birth of this young " king of Eome," as he was 
 titled, was celebrated with extraordinary pomp. 
 
 To give greater eclat to the event, and at the same 
 time form the nucleus of a Guard which should be to 
 his son what the Old Guard had been to him, he 
 issued a decree, creating a regiment of two battalions 
 composed of six companies each, under the name of 
 pupils of the Guard, to be called " Guards of the 
 King of Rome." The young Bonaparte was to be 
 the commander when he became old enough to han- 
 dle a sword. Ko one could be admitted into this 
 guard under ten, or over sixteen years of age. He 
 also must be the son or nephew of a soldier who had 
 died on the field of battle. He must be able to read 
 and write, and bring proof that he had been vaccin- 
 ated. Most of the officers were chosen from the mil- 
 itary school of St. Cyr — and from the sub lieutenants, 
 up to the colonel commandant, they were nominated 
 by the emperor himself, after being proposed by the 
 minister of war. This corps of boys was organized 
 at Yersailles, and very soon numbered four thousand. 
 They were all orpharr, and Napoleon said. " their 
 
112 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 fatliers being dead, the army shall- be their father." 
 They had a standard of their own, but no eagle ; for 
 that was never given to a regiment unless earned on 
 the field of battle. 
 
 After they had been drilled awhile, the emperor 
 ordered them to be brought to Paris from Yersailles, 
 to figure in one of his grand reviews of the Old Guard. 
 The latter were drawn up in line of battle, when to 
 the surprise of every one, a new army in miniature 
 debouched by the bridge royal, and advanced in good 
 order in front of the troops. The martial air and erect 
 figures of these boys of ten to sixteen years of 
 age, astonished every one. There was a platoon of 
 sappers, little fair-haired urchins, with bear-skin caps, 
 whose beardless chins and lively faces contrasted 
 ludicrously with the terrible air they tried to give 
 themselves. The drum-major was five feet two inches 
 high, and as he passed the Old Guard, he made his 
 cane fly about his head with extraordinary rapidity, 
 as much as to say, " beat that if you can." He was 
 followed by the drummers, but without the larger bass 
 drums, for there were none big enough to beat 
 them. They played " la Favorite," a quick step com- 
 posed expressly for them. Then came the chief ofii- 
 cers on hoi-seback, followed hy the whole corps. As 
 they marched along, they looked for all the world like 
 the Old Guard seen through an inverted spy glass 
 They formed in front of the l&t regiment of grena 
 
PUPILS OF THE GUARD. 113 
 
 diers, and the old veterans at the sight of these hahy 
 soldiers laughed and chuckled in great delight. 
 
 Soon, however, the beat of drums announced the 
 arrival of the Emperor, who appeared on the field 
 and rode straight to the pupils. They opened their 
 ranks to receive him, and he dismounted, and, accom- 
 panied by the little staff officers, began his inspection. 
 All at once he stopped, and seizing a corporal by the 
 ear, pulled him towards him, and, in a stern voice, 
 asked his age. 
 
 " Thirteen years old, my Emperor, the 30th of last 
 March, the day of the birth of the King of Eome." 
 
 " Why did you smile just now when I spoke to 
 your captain ?" 
 
 "From pleasure in seeing you," replied the little 
 blond. 
 
 " And what, if on arriving at Yersailles, I should 
 have you put in the hall of police, to teach you that 
 an under officer never ought to smile in the ranks ?" 
 
 " My Emperor, it would make me very happy, for 
 it would show that you had thought of me." 
 
 Napoleon smiled at the na'ive reply, and passed on. 
 
 After he had finished his inspection, he ordered 
 the line of pupils to advance a few steps, then placing 
 himself between them and his grenadiers, he said : 
 
 " Soldiers of my Old Guard, behold your children I 
 Their fathers fell fighting by your sides, and you will 
 take their places to them. They will find in you. at 
 
114 TilK OLD GUAKD. 
 
 the same time, an example and a support. Be tlieii 
 tutors. In imitating you, they will be brave ; ic 
 listening to your counsel, they will become the first 
 Boldiers of the world. I confide to them the Guard 
 of my son. With them I will have no fear for him, 
 as with you I am without fear for myself. I ask for 
 them your friendship and protection." 
 
 " Vive PEmpereur ! Yive le Roi de Rome !" rolled 
 in deafening shouts through the ranks. 
 
 jN^apoleon, with a gesture of his hand, checked their 
 enthusiasm, and, turning to the pupils, said, in a sub- 
 dued tone, " And you, my children, in attaching you 
 to my Guard, I have given you a difiicult duty to 
 fulfill ; but I rely upon you, and I hope one day to 
 hear it said — ' These children are worthy of their 
 fathers.' " 
 
 As he finished, the most frantic acclamations rent 
 the air. 
 
 He little thought, that in less than three years he 
 would see those children crushing Russian grenadiers 
 beneath their impetuous charge, and leaving their 
 youthful forms on the soil of France in bravely 
 endeavoring to hurl back the invaders of her soil. 
 
 As the troops defiled before him, the pupils were 
 at the head of the Old Guard, and throughout the 
 parade marched in good order, like trained soldiers, 
 As the grenadiers came opposite Kapoleon, a child oi 
 ten years old quitted his comrades, and advancing 
 
YOUNG FRANCOIS 115 
 
 timidly towards liiin, presented, tit a distance, liia 
 little bonnet, on which was placed a petition. 
 
 '' Ah, ha !" said ISTapoleon, smiling, ' ambitious 
 already. He has commenced early." Then turning 
 to Lauriston, his aide, he bade him see w*hat the child 
 wanted. As the latter brought back the petition, he 
 said : " Sire, it is an orphan." 
 
 " An orphan !" interrupted the Emperor ; " then 1 
 must see to it. Give me the paper." 
 
 As he unrolled the petition, he saw it was ad- 
 dressed to his infant child. It began : " To his Ma- 
 jesty the King of Eome." — Sire : Pierre Muscadet, 
 eleven campaigns old, exclusive proprietor of ^^^ 
 wounds not mortal, and foot grenadier of the Old 
 Guard to your honored father, who has decorated 
 the petitioner with his own hands at Boulogne, 
 wishes to let you know that he has a nephew with 
 wdiom he knows not what to do, inasmuch as he 
 wishes to become a soldier. He is of blond com- 
 plexion ; has been vaccinated according to the rules. 
 The bearer will undoubtedly make a good soldier. 
 He knows how to read and write, and is aware ol 
 the j-espect due to his chiefs, and to the heir presump- 
 tive to the great ISTapoleon. The petitioner, there- 
 fore, prays that you will have the goodness to permit 
 his nephew, Francois Muscadet, bearer of the pre- 
 sent, to be incorporated as soon as possible into the 
 6orps of the pupils of the Guard, which is your own. 
 
116 THE OLD GUAEI). 
 
 I promise that he will never murmur in the service ol 
 your imperial person, roval and Roman." 
 
 The old soldier made his sign at the bottom of the 
 petition. 
 
 In reading it, Napoleon smiled again and again. 
 As he read the address, " To his Majesty the King of 
 Rome," he shrugged his shoulders and said, " But this 
 is not for me." 
 
 Having made a sign for the boy to approach, he 
 said, " Thou art called Francis, and art nephew of 
 Pierre Muscadet, grenadier of my Guard ?" 
 
 " Yes, my Emperor," he replied, timidly, rolling 
 his bonnet in his hands. 
 
 " Well, tell your uncle that he is a simpleton." 
 
 " Yes, my Emperor," replied the little fellow, with 
 liis eyes cast down. 
 
 Napoleon smiled at his naivete, and continued, 
 " Nevertheless, his commission shall be punctually 
 executed, for it would not be right to let you be the 
 victim of your uncle's foolishness." Then turning 
 to his aide-de-camp, he said, " Take the petitioner 
 with his petition to my son." 
 
 Lauriston introduced the little Francis into the 
 chamber of his Majesty, then five months old. He 
 w'as asleep, but just then waking up, began to cry 
 vociferously. Lauriston thinking his commission ful- 
 filled, returned, and found Napoleon occupied witij 
 the movements of the light artillery. 
 
PUPILS OF THE GUARD. 117 
 
 *' Well," said he, " have you done what I desired V 
 
 " Yes, sire." 
 
 " What response aid Lis Majesty the King of Rome 
 make ?" 
 
 " Sire, his Majesty made no reply." 
 
 IST-apoleon smiled and said, " They say silence gives 
 consent. J will see to it this evening." Then turn- 
 ing to Francis, he bade him rejoin his comrades, and 
 take care not to get under the horses' feet. He 
 watched him as he ran with all his might through the 
 ranks of the last battalion of grenadiers, and when 
 he lost sight of him he said, '^ Poor little fellow, I 
 wager that he will be no fool ; but his uncle, though 
 simple, is not less one of my braves, and I wish to 
 gratify him." 
 
 Afterwards when [N'apoleon was disputing inch by 
 inch the soil of France against an overwhelming 
 army, this Francis led his troops to the charge with 
 the sang-froid of a veteran, and equalled the Old 
 Guard in a murderous action on the plains of Cham- 
 pagne. Although wounded early in the battle, he 
 refused to quit the field, but lay bleeding and shout- 
 ing, " Vive V Empermi'/^^'^ till the Russians gave way. 
 The cross of the Legion of Honor was his reward. 
 
 Immediately after the review, the pupils of the 
 Guaixi commenced their service around the young 
 king of Rome. The ladies in waiting of the empress 
 amused themselves much with these miniature sol- 
 
lis THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 diei-s, teazing and consoling them by turns. Like the 
 Old Guard, in its service to the Emperor, a portion 
 only was on duty at a time, relieving the other every 
 day. In the morning when the new detachment 
 arrived, it found in its cartouch boxes, tops, toys, 
 balls filled with bon bons and confectionery of every 
 description. Such playthings did they make of these 
 unfledged soldiers whom Ney himself two years after 
 was to lead with astonishment against the veterans oi 
 Europe. 
 
 At the close of this year, 1811, the Guard numbered 
 61,960 men. 
 
iWAPTER VTII. 
 1812. 
 
 THE OLD GUARD IN RUSSIA. 
 
 AubUme spectacle of the army of invasion — The Old Guard at Borodino — Gftllul 
 Charge and death of Caulincourt— Strange conduct of Napoleon— The Old 
 Guard in the Kremlin— Anecdote illustrating its honesty— It saves the chest of 
 the army at Eussia. 
 
 The world never saw such a spectacle, and proba 
 bly never will behold one like it in the future, as 
 Europe presented in the spring of 1812. The vast 
 intellect of ITapoleon had not only triumphed over 
 the surrounding sovereigns so long banded against 
 him, but had compelled them to assist him in the 
 aecomplishment of his great plans, and Italy, Aus- 
 tria, Eussia, Bavaria, Poland, Holland, and Sweden, 
 sent up his war-cry. The flags that had so long 
 advanced against each other in deadly combat, waved 
 Bide by side in friendly greeting. Eegiments that 
 had last seen each other as they m^.t in mortal striff 
 
120 TIIK OLD OUARD. 
 
 and fierce hate at Marengo, Austerlitz, Jena, and 
 Wagrain, now swore to move shoulder to shoulder in 
 H common cause. The lion of the north was to be 
 bearded in his den, and Napoleon with 500,000 men 
 at his back, started for Moscow. The magnitude and 
 grandeur of the expedition filled the world with 
 amazement, and thousands of the wealthy and noble 
 eagerly sought a place in it to partake of the glory 
 that awaited it. From the Baltic to the Calabrian 
 mountains, and from the Atlantic to the Vistula, the 
 nations obeyed one imperious will and thronged at 
 his command to one banner. The gathering of troops 
 from every quarter to a common centre, the highways 
 of France and Germany crowded for months with 
 infantry, cavalry, and artillery, pouring in endless 
 thousands forward, imparted to every beholder the 
 feeling of invincible power. A half a million of 
 men, eighty thousand cavalry, thirteen hundred can- 
 non thundering heavily along, a hundred and eighty- 
 seven thousand horses, twenty thousand chariots and 
 wagons, these formed the spectacle on which the gaze 
 of nations was riveted. More than all, at the head 
 of this vast and imposing array, rode the greatest 
 chieftain of ancient or modern times, one who occu- 
 pied an elevation no monarch since Caesar had reached, 
 and under whose control in various parts of the 
 continent marched 1,400,000 men. But accustomed 
 as he was to vast undertakings, the magnitude of thif 
 
ADVANCE TO MOSCOW. 121 
 
 had filled him with serious misgivings. Besides, he 
 was acting directly contrary to the rule which he 
 himself had laid down, viz., to do one thing at a time, 
 and strike in a mass. But here he had Spain in his 
 hands where many of his best troops were engaged, 
 and at the same time was marching against the 
 extreme north, thus keeping two fires blazing at oppo- 
 site extremities, which always threaten to exhaust 
 and consume the centre. 
 
 J^apoleon, however, had a grand army under his 
 control. He had augmented his Guard to upwards of 
 fifty-six thousand men, a large army in itself. The Con- 
 sular Guard at Marengo, of eight Jiundred rrten^ pre- 
 sents a striking contrast to this immense host. But 
 the ^' column of granite" had not changed its charac- 
 ter, and as it first stood on the disordered battle-field 
 80 firm and immovable, it still stood, — the rock which 
 the sea lashes in vain. 
 
 In the advance to Moscow, I^apoleon spared hie 
 Guard. Battle after battle was fought, and these 
 brave troops were compelled to look on as idle spec- 
 tators. It was no better in the " battle of giants." 
 
 THE GTJAED AT BORODINO. 
 
 At Borodino the Guard had pitched their tents about 
 
 the Emperor, expecting in the morning they at least 
 
 might do something worthy of their old renown. But 
 
 in the most critical state of the battle that followed, he 
 
 6 
 
122 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 Iield tlioiii back. At noon, Murat and "Ney had opened 
 the road to victory, but were too exhausted to occupy 
 it without reinforcements, and sent to the Emperor for 
 them. But the fever whi«h wasted him had quenched 
 the life and fiery vigor he always exhibited on the field 
 of battle, and he remained listless, as if under a 
 spell, a great part of the time. He could not make 
 up his mind to grant Ney and Murat's request. He 
 pondered long witli himself, and after again and 
 again giving the order for the Young Guard to ad- 
 vance, he each time countermanded it and kept it 
 near his pereon. Those two fiery leaders who had 
 struggled so gloriously, and saw victory in their 
 grasp, were compelled by this strange delay to halt, 
 while the enemy reformed, and attacked them in turn. 
 After driving every thing before them, they found 
 themselves scarce able to make good their defence 
 against the heavy onsets to which they were exposed. 
 Again Murat sent an urgent demand for succor, and 
 Napoleon at length promised the Young Guard. But 
 it had scarcely begun to advance when lie ordered it 
 to halt. Count Lobau, however, under the pretence 
 of dressing the line, worked it gradually forward, 
 which the Emperor observing, repeated his order. 
 He did, however, let the arti.lery of the guard ad- 
 vance, which soon told with frightful effect on the 
 enemy. The generals had been amazed at the un- 
 wonted apathy of their great leader, and it was witb 
 
AT BOKODINO. 122 
 
 ioy, therefore, they saw eighty pieces of this ro 
 nowned artillery lining the summits, and opening 
 their heavy fire like a single gun. The Eussian 
 cavalry, shattered by it, were compelled to retire 
 behind the infantry. The latter then advanced in 
 black and heavy masses. Through these the cannon 
 balls made wide and fearful rents. But they were 
 closed up as fast as made, and stern and steady the 
 iron columns continued to advance until they came 
 within reach of grape shot, when the batteries smote 
 them like a sudden hail-storm. Whole companies fell 
 at every discharge. Every where throughout the ranka 
 portions were seen suddenly to sink away as if engulfed 
 in the earth. The soldiers, however, nobly endeavored 
 to maintain their formation, closing steadily over the 
 dead bodies, and trampling them under foot. But 
 they could not breast that frightful tempest, driving 
 its iron sleet in their very faces ; and they halted, 
 and either petrified at the awful destruction around 
 them, or from want of presence of mind and general- 
 ship on the part of their leaders, they stood for two 
 hours crushed by this deadly fire, making no effort tc 
 idvance or retreat. Not a single movement was 
 visible throughout the immense mass during the whole 
 time, except what was made by the falling ranks. 
 The brave artillerymen of the Guard at length got 
 tired of this horrible slaughter, and the French in- 
 fantry advanced and swept the field. Ney, Murat 
 
124 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 and Davoust, commanding the right wing, now 
 pushed steadily forward, and annihilated half of tho 
 Russian line, and came upon the uncovered flank ot 
 the remainder. Feeling themselves not strong 
 enough to meet the whole army, they called aloud 
 for the Young Guard. " The Young Guard !" they 
 exclaimed, " only let it follow them at a distance. 
 Let it show itself, and take its place upon the 
 heights. They themselves would then finish it." 
 
 General Belliard was again sent to ISTapoleon for it, 
 but the latter still hesitated. When Belliard re- 
 turned to Murat and reported the indecision of the 
 Emperor, saying that he "found him still seated in 
 the same place, with a sufiering and dejected air, 
 his features sunken, and gazing around him with a 
 dull look, and giving his orders languishingly in the 
 midst of these dreadful warlike noises, to which he 
 seemed completely a stranger," he was sad. He, 
 however, understood it, for he had seen him the day 
 before halt several times and dismount, and lean his 
 head upon a cannon, apparently in deep suffering. 
 Sickness had prostrated him. But Ney, who w^as igno- 
 rant of this, was thrown into a rage, and exclaimed. 
 '' Are we come so far, then, to be satisfied only with 
 afield of battle? "What business has the Emperor 
 in the rear of the army ? There he is only withir 
 reach of reverses, and not of victory."* 
 
 * Vide Segiar. 
 
CHARGE OF CAULINCOUNT. 125 
 
 Kot long after, Napoleon was told that tl e cry from 
 the whole army was for the Guard, to which he re- 
 plied, " And if there should be another battle to- 
 morrow, where will be my army to fight it ?" 
 
 Again, for the fourth time, Murat sent to him, 
 asking only for the cavalry of the Guard. With them 
 he would turn the intrenched heights, with their ter- 
 rible redoubt, which offered almost insuperable ob- 
 stacles in front, and against which Eugene was 
 endeavoring to advance under a most destructive fire 
 from the artillery. He still delayed till it was too 
 late to take advantage of the crisis into which affairs 
 had been thrown. That redoubt, however, which had 
 engulfed so many brave French soldiers, must be 
 carried, or the battle be lost ; and Murat ordered 
 Caulincourt, who succeeded Montbrun in the com- 
 mand of the first division of cavalry, after the latter 
 fell, to charge the Eussian line, and breaking through 
 it, dash into the great redoubt by the gorge in rear, 
 and storm the battery that was mowing down the 
 ranks of Eugene. This brave officer was general in 
 the Guard, and the whole night before the battle had 
 lain awake on the floor, wrapped in his cloak, gazing 
 on the miniature of his young wife, whom he had 
 married but a week previous to his departure from 
 Paris. He was sad and depressed, and seemed to 
 have a foreboding of the fate that awaited him. As 
 he put himself at the head of the cavalry, he found 
 
126 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 the aides-de-camp of Moiitbrun in tears at the loss of 
 their commander. " Follow me," said he : " weep 
 not for him, but come and avenge his death." In 
 reply to Murat's order to enter that redoubt right 
 through the Eussian line, he said, "You shall soon 
 see me there, dead or alive." The bugles sounded 
 the charge, and putting himself at the head of this 
 splendid corps of cavalry, he dashed forward in a 
 gallop. The Russians saw the coming tempest, and 
 advanced several regiments around the menaced 
 point to meet it, while the plunging fire from the 
 redoubt smote the swiftly-advancing column in flank. 
 Heedless of all, young Caulincourt pressed forward 
 with loud cheers, and fiercely riding down the Rus- 
 sian cavalry sent to meet him, stormed over the solid 
 masses of infantry, then suddenly wheeling to the 
 left, with the heavy-armed cuirassiers, while the light 
 cavalry was left to occupy the discomfited infantry, 
 began to ascend the slopes towards that terrible 
 redoubt. Eugene had just been driven out of it with 
 dreadful slaughter, and with re-formed columns was 
 again advancing to the attack. His bayonets were 
 already gleaming along the ascent, when the driving 
 column of the cuirassiei-s, enveloped in smoke, was 
 seen fiercely scaling the highest summit. The sides 
 of that hill were for a moment " clothed in glittering 
 steel," the next under a redoubled fire from all the 
 batteries, those fearless riders plunged straight into 
 
DEATH OF CAULINCOUNT. 12T 
 
 the volcano. Eugene, who had caught a glimpse of 
 the column as it glittered along the sides of the hillj 
 was filled with dread when he saw it disappear in 
 that gloomy redoubt which lay curtained in smoke. 
 But in a few seconds its thunder suddenly ceased, for 
 its " fires were quenched in blood," and as the smoke 
 Blowly rolled away, there flashed in the sun the shin- 
 ing helmets of the cuirassiers, while a shout long and 
 loud, arose from its top. But Caulinconrt found 
 there his grave — struck by a musket ball as he was 
 leading his men into the'entrance, he fell dead in the 
 very moment of victory. He was buried in the 
 redoubt he had so nobly won. 
 
 He was brother to the grand equerry of Napoleon. 
 When the victory, together with its loss, was reported 
 to the Emperor, he turned to Caulincourt and said, 
 " You have heard the news, do you wish to retire ?" 
 Overwhelmed with grief, the grand equerry made no 
 reply, but slightly raising his hat, as if to thank him, 
 he moved forward, while the big tears rolled silently 
 down his cheeks. Caulincourt's death was a great 
 loss to the Guard, and bitterly did they lament him. 
 
 At the close of the battle, Ney and Murat sent 
 again for the Guard to complete the victory, but it 
 was not given them, and the enemy retired in good 
 order, leaving I*Tapoleon a barren triumph. 
 
 At night, ]S"apoleon called Mortier to him, and 
 ordered him to advance with the Young Guard, but 
 
128 Tllh OLD GUARD. 
 
 on no account pass the ravine which divided the two 
 armies — he was simply to guard the field of battle. 
 He even called him back to make sure that he under 
 stood his orders. An hour after he sent again, com- 
 manding him neither to advance nor retreat, what- 
 ever might happen. 
 
 At ten o'clock, the impetuous Murat, whom twelve 
 hours of hard fighting could not exhaust, went him- 
 self to Napoleon saying that the enemy were crossing 
 the Moskwa in great disorder, and asked for the 
 cavalry of the Guard to finish it. The latter checked 
 the ardor of his brother-in-law, and sat down to dic- 
 tate the bulletin. The Old Guard encamped in 
 solemn silence around him, but being aroused by an 
 irruption of Cossacks, they were compelled to stand 
 to arms, thus showing how meagre the victory had 
 been. 
 
 In the morning ^N^apoleon rode over the wreck- 
 covered field. A cold fierce wind, a driving rain, 
 and a sombre sky, imparted still greater gloom and 
 desolation to the scene. The hills and valleys were 
 literally ploughed up, and the dead lay everywhere. 
 The wounded Russians were dragging themselves 
 wearily to the piles of the dead for shelter from the 
 storm, while low moans arose on every side. The 
 bivouacs of the French were silent, and officers and 
 soldiers were gathered in scattered groups around their 
 eagles, sad and sombre as the scene. As Napoleon 
 
THE FIELD OF BATTLE. 12c 
 
 passed gloomily along, he was compelled to trample 
 on heaps of dead men. His escort did the same — and 
 the hoofs of one of the horses coming down on a 
 soldier not quite dead, extorted a low cry of pain. 
 On hearing it Kapoleon gave a sudden shriek — the 
 first sound that had escaped his lips since he had 
 begun to traverse the field. 
 
 He has been much blamed for withholding his 
 Guard in the several crises of this battle. Segur has 
 drawn him as utterly indifferent to its progress, as 
 sitting with drooping head and stolid countenance 
 during the whole of it. This is doubtless exaggera- 
 tion. He evidently was not himself on that day — a 
 sick man never is. There are times when the body 
 will triumph over the soul, I care not what its capa- 
 city. Still Napoleon had reasons for what he did. 
 He was nearly 2,000 miles from Paris, in an inhos- 
 pitable country — far removed from his supplies, and 
 he dared not risk his last hope. If the Guard was 
 severely crippled, the army would be completely 
 hors du comhat. 
 
 Besides, he expected that the decisive battle would 
 take place on the plains of Moscow — that there by 
 the cradle of the Empire the army would make its 
 last great stand, and in such a contingency he wanted 
 at least the Guard intact, to meet any new reinforce- 
 ments Alexander might bring against him. On the 
 
 other hand, if by bringing up his resources b^ could 
 6^ 
 
13Q THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 have aniiihilated tlic army, the anticipated battle could 
 not have been fought, nor would the enemy have been 
 able to harass his retreat as it did. There were two 
 sides to the question, which Napoleon, no doubt, 
 weighed well. At all events, Bessieres, the com- 
 mander of the Guard, used all his influence to induce 
 the Emperor to spare it, and he would not have done 
 this without good reasons, for he was not one to stand 
 idle, and hear the murmurs of his officers and men 
 demanding to be led where honor and glory could be 
 won, without his judgment told him it was impe- 
 riously necessary. 
 
 The next day, [N^apoleon put Mortier with a part 
 of the Young Guard under Murat, who went in pur- 
 suit of the enemy. They overtook him near Kryms- 
 koie, established in a strong position. Murat was 
 for instantly attacking, but Mortier expostulated 
 with him, showing plainly that it would be madness. 
 But Murat, heedless of everything, plunged on, thus 
 compelling Mortier to second his eiforts, or see his 
 superior officer sacrificed. The result was as Mortier 
 had predicted — they were repulsed with heavy loss, 
 and two thousand of that reserve which had been 
 husbanded so carefully at Borodino, were uselessly 
 sacrificed. The same sacrifice on the field of battle, 
 would doubtless have annihilated the Russian 
 army. 
 
 But Moscow, the goal for which JS'apoleon had 
 
IN MOSCOW. I3i 
 
 toiled over so many battlefields, was at last won, and 
 he sat down in the Kremlin — the Old Guard occupy 
 ing another portion of the same magnificent edifice. 
 
 The conflagration of the city followed. Bat 
 after the fire had spread on every side, and finally 
 attacked the Kremlin itself, and w^hen a spark drop- 
 ping on a single powder wagon would have hurled 
 him and the Guard he had reared so carefully, into 
 eternity, and after he was told that the Kremlin 
 was undermined and ready to lift at the first touch 
 of fire and bury all beneath the ruins, he obstinately 
 clung to it for twenty -four hours. The Old Guard 
 were under arms the w^hole time, and when at last 
 the Emperor, convinced he must fly or be burned 
 alive, consented to abandon the palace, it closed 
 firmly around him, and passed into the tempest of 
 fire. Over burning timbers, amid suff'ocating clouds 
 of smoke and ashes, those bear-skin caps w^ere seen to 
 move steadily as on the field of battle. Hither and 
 thither the Conqueror of Europe turned in vain. 
 Every way was blocked up by fire, and it was only 
 at last by a postern gate that he could advance. But 
 this, too, led into nothing but flame. The streets 
 became indistinguishable in the smoke and ruins. 
 Only one winding street was left, and this seemed to 
 pierce the ocean, of fire rather than lead out of it. 
 But N'apoleon boldly entered it, while fragments of 
 red hot iron roofs and burning timbers tumbling at 
 
132 TllK OLD UU ARD. 
 
 his feet, and aiTesting his progress, and the crackling 
 of flames and crash of falling houses, conspired to 
 render the scene most appalling. At length the 
 guide halted, not knowing whither to proceed. Here, 
 probably, would have ended the history of Napoleon 
 and his Old Guard, had it not been for some pillagers 
 who happened to recognize the Emperor, and con- 
 ducted him to a part of the town wiiich had been 
 burned to ashes in the morning, and thus left an open 
 space where they could breathe again. 
 
 Still the danger was not over — to escape he was 
 compelled to pass a long train of powder wagons that 
 were slowly making their w^ay out of the fire. When 
 they at last reached the outskirts of the city, the Old 
 Guard looked as if it had been in a hard fought 
 battle. Their faces were blackened with smoke, their 
 clothes and caps singed almost to a crisp, and the 
 brave fellows themselves exhausted from being sc 
 long compelled to breathe hciited air, smoke, and 
 ashes. But calm, like their great leader, whom dan- 
 ger always tranquillized, they had met all with firm 
 presence and unshaken courage. 
 
 After the destruction of the city, Napoleon re- 
 turned to the Kremlin, which a battalion of the 
 Guard had succeeded in saving. Here he continued 
 to linger — almost every day reviewing his Guard — 
 until a month had passed away, and the last of Octo 
 ber, with its wintry premonitions, had come. 
 
IIS HONl!:STY. 133 
 
 At length, however, lie awoke from his strange in 
 fafcuatiou, and commenced his retreat. From that 
 moment his Guard became his stay, and ultimately 
 his salvation. 
 
 An incident occurred during the conflagration, 
 which illustrates the moral character of the Old 
 Guard. Bouvier-Destouches, a lieutenant of the 
 mounted grenadiers, had been able with some of his 
 squadron, to save a part of the wealth of Prince 
 Gagarin, wlien his palace was enveloped in flames. 
 As a token of gratitude, the prince oftered him a 
 wooden dish full of vessels of gold, telling him to 
 bury them till the fire was over, and then he could 
 carry them away. 
 
 The Lieutenant thanked him, but refused the pre- 
 sent, saying, " when one has the honor to belong to 
 the Old Guard, the only recompense which can please 
 him is the consciousness of having done his duty." 
 The prince still urging his acceptance of the gift, the 
 officer took the vessels, and hurling them through a 
 window of the pidace into the river, said gaily, 
 " Prince, mark the spot where they fiill, and when 
 order is re-established, you can fish them up again." 
 Strict honesty was one of the leading characteristice 
 of the Old Guard. General Dorsenne, who com- 
 manded a corps of grenadiers, once said, " If I had a 
 wagon load of gold, I would put it in the mess-roonj 
 of my grenadiers — it woiild be safer there than under 
 
134 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 lock and key." During the retreat, as the arm^ 
 approached the Beresina, the paymaster of the Guard 
 fearing the chest would fall into the hands of the Cos- 
 sacks, distributed the whole amount among the 
 soldiers of the Guard, who put it in their knapsacks. 
 When the army reached the other side of the river, 
 it was rendered up again, and the amount, 2,000,000 
 of francs, found entire, with the exception of some 
 two hundred francs, which had sunk with the grena- 
 dier who carried it in the waves of the Beresina. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1812. 
 
 THE OLD GUARD IN RUSSIA. 
 
 THE RETREAT. 
 
 Ssrrow escape of Napoleon— Disorder of the army on arriving at Smolensk'?— 
 Firmness of the Old Guard— The famine in the city — Gloomy departure — The 
 Guard passing a Russian hattery — The Old Guard at Krasnoi — The fall of Minsk, 
 and gloom of Napoleon — His appeal to the Old Guard — liis joy at Ney's safety — 
 The Old Guard at Beresina — Its frozen bivouacs — Anecdote of an officer — De« 
 parture of Napoleon for Paris, and the breaking up of the Guard — Last dreadful 
 days. 
 
 As I mentioned at the close of the last chapter, the 
 moment Napoleon commenced his disastrous retreat, 
 the Old Guard became his chief reliance. Not only 
 was the discipline of the soldiers so perfect that no dis- 
 order of the army of the line could affect it, their cour- 
 age so lofty that overwhelming numbers of the enemy, 
 storms, frost, and famine, could not shake it, but the 
 moral character they possessed was a guarantee 
 against all plunder, misrule, and desertion. Amid 
 
136 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 tlie motley crowd laden with booty tliat passed froiE 
 the gates of Moscow, the firm array and noble bear, 
 ing of that Guard gave a prestige of its future con- 
 duct. Two thousand miles lay between those brave 
 men and Paris — it mattered not, closing around their 
 beloved chieftain, tliey were prepared for any fate 
 that might befal. A few battalions were left behind, 
 under Mortier, to blow up the Kremlin, who, after 
 fighting four days with a hundred and eighty thou- 
 sand pounds of powder under their feet, set fire to it, 
 and then joined the main body. 
 
 A few days after the evacuation of Moscow, 'Nn- 
 poleon narrowly escaped being made prisoner by the 
 Cossacks. He had started early in the morning 'on 
 the Kaluga road with onl)' a few officers, leaving the 
 four squadrons of the Guard, his regular escort, to 
 overtake him. Before they arrived, as he was passing 
 along without dreaming of immediate danger, he 
 suddenly saw the crowds of men and women who 
 filled the road in advance with vehicles, hurrying 
 back in terror, overturning the wagons and creating 
 a scene of indescribable confusion. Supposing it a 
 groundless panic, he continued to move forward. At 
 length the long black lines which had remained 
 motionless in the distance, began to advance, and a 
 moment after, six thousand Cossacks came dashing 
 down in a wild gallop. Rapp cried out to the empe- 
 ror, '' It is the Cossacks, turn back." The latter dis- 
 
APPROACH TO SMOLENSKO. 137 
 
 oelieving it, or too proud to flj, stood still The 
 furious hordes were already surrounding him, when 
 Rapp seized the bridle of his horse, and turning him 
 round, exclaimed, " Indeed you must turn back." 
 Napoleon perceiving at length the full extent of his 
 danger, immediately _drew his sword and placing 
 himself with Berthier and Caulincourt on the side 
 of the road, calmly waited the attack of the barba- 
 rians. They approached to within fifty paces when 
 Rapp flung himself on the foremost. A lance pierced 
 his horse, and he fell. The aides-de-camp and a few 
 horsemen of the Guard, extricated him. A moment 
 after, however, Bessieres came thundering up with 
 the cavalry of the Guard, and swept the field. 
 
 Soon after, winter began to set in, and the snow 
 covering up concealed ditches and morasses, made 
 such uncertain footing for the soldiers and unsafe 
 ground for horses and artillery, that the loss of the 
 army became immense. Over the field of Borodino 
 laden with thirty thousand skeletons and wrecks of 
 every description, through desolated provinces, living 
 often on half raw horse flesh and rye water, the Old 
 Guard, firm and uncomplaining, bore its emperor on 
 ti.I at last they approached Smolensko, tlie place 
 where all their sorrows were to end, and plenty to 
 be exchanged for famine, and warm bivouacks take 
 the place of beds of snow and ice. The soldiers 
 could not resist the ailuring prospect, and broke their 
 
138 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 ranks and hurried forward, pell-mell towards the city 
 The commands of the officers were disregarded, even 
 threats of punishment produced no eifect. Food, 
 and fire, and clothing, and rest, were before them. 
 Thegnawings of hunger, pinching frost, and starvation 
 impelled them on, and they swept in one vast crowd 
 to the gates. The Old Guard alone showed no symp- 
 toms of disorganization. Half naked, and cold, and 
 hungry, they also were, but with steady step and 
 unalterable mien, they continued their march in 
 as perfect order as when they first crossed the Nie- 
 men. 
 
 The French troops in possession of^Smolensko, saw 
 this multitude of more than fifty thousand men 
 approaching with haggard looks and wild cries, and 
 fearing that such an irruption would end in a general 
 pillage, and also to show that the deaertion of theii 
 colore should never be rewarded, sternly shut the 
 gates upon them. Then arose the most doleful cries, 
 prayers and entreaties were mingled with threats 
 and curses, and mass after mass precipitated itself 
 against the gates to burst them open. Entreaties and 
 violence were alike in vain, and many fell down dead 
 from exhaustion. 
 
 Several hours after, the Guard came up, its ranks 
 unbroken, its eagles above them ; and moving steadilj^ 
 into the clamorous and excited throng, cleared a path 
 for themselves to the gates. Their entrance guaran- 
 
FAMESTE. 13S 
 
 teed the safety of the city. The poor wretches pressed 
 after, cursing the Guard, demanding if they were 
 always to be a " privileged class, fellows kept for 
 mere parade, who were never foremost but at reviews, 
 festivities, and distributions, if the army was always 
 to put up with their leavings." Despair and suffer- 
 ing had made them unjust. 
 
 Alas, this city which Kapoleon supposed to be well 
 supplied with provisions, proved barren as a desert. 
 To their horror, instead of finding abundance to eat, 
 the skeletons of horses, along the streets, from which 
 the flesh had been peeled, showed that famine had 
 been there before them. Around the scantily filled 
 magazines the soldiers crowded with agonizing cries, 
 and could scarcely be kept from murdering each 
 other to get a morsel of food. But this dreadful 
 example had no effect on the Guard. They knew 
 that more than a month of toil and suffering, of 
 combats w^ith the cold and the enemy, must be en- 
 dured, before they could reach a place of safety — 
 yet the same severity and order marked all their con- 
 duct. 
 
 After remaining here five days, IN^apoleon issued 
 orders to re-commence the retreat. The debris of the 
 cavalry had been collected together, *:he half-destroyed 
 battalions united into separate corps, w^hile eight or 
 nine thousand infantry, and some two thousand cav- 
 alry of the Guard, all that remained, were put in the 
 
140 TlIK OLD GUARD. 
 
 best conditions their straitened circumstances would 
 permit — and on the 14th of November, at five a'clock 
 in the morning, the whole marched out of Smolensky 
 Napoleon, with the Guard in a solid column, was in ad- 
 vance. Its march was firm as ever, but gloomy as the 
 grave. Daylight had not yet appeared, and that dark 
 column passed out upon the snow fields, silent as death. 
 Not a drum or a bugle cheered their march, and more 
 sombre and sterner than all, rode Napoleon in their 
 midst, his great soul wrung with silent agony. The 
 cracking of whips as the drivers lashed their horses, 
 or a smothered imprecation as horses, and men, and 
 cannon rolled down a declivity in the darkness 
 together, were the only sounds that broke the stillness 
 of the morning, as the doomed host lost itself in the 
 deepening gloom of a northern winter. It made but 
 thirteen miles the first day, a distance it took the 
 artillery of the Guard twentj^-two Inmrs to accom- 
 plish. Such was the fii^t day's march, making scarce 
 a mile an hour through the snow and frost, yet it 
 was the easiest they were to have for a month to 
 come. 
 
 While the imperial column was thus toiling for- 
 ward, the enemy had got in advance and occupied 
 the road between it and Ki-asnoi with a battery and 
 thirty squadrons of horse. The leading corps of the 
 French army was thrown into disorder by this sudden 
 appearance of the enemy, and would have brokfio 
 
DEVOTION TO NAPOLEON. 141 
 
 and fled, but for a wounded officer, the brave Excel- 
 mans, who, although having no command, immedi- 
 ately assumed it in the face of the proper leader, and 
 by his energy and daring, restored order. He thus 
 succeeded inputting on a bold front which inthni 
 dated the squadrons, and they dared not charge. The 
 battery, however, kept up an incessant fire, the balls 
 at every discharge crossing the road along which 
 the column was marching. When it came the turn 
 of the Old Guard to pass, they closed their ranks 
 in a solid wall of flesh around the emperor, and 
 moved steadily into the fire, while their band of 
 music struck up the air, " Ou peut-on etre mieux qiC 
 au sein de safamillef "Where can one be happier 
 than in the bosom of his family ?" I'Tapoleon stopped 
 them, exclaiming, " Play rather Veillons au salut de 
 VEmpire^'^ " Let us watch for the safety of the Em- 
 pire." 
 
 As soon as the Old Guard had passed, the Russian 
 commander, who had not dared even with his vastly 
 superior force to arrest this terrible corps, threw 
 twenty thousand men across the road on all the 
 heights around, thus dividing Kapoleon from Eugene, 
 Davoust, and ITey, who w^ere bringing up the rear. 
 Mortier had escaped, but Eugene was compelled to 
 fight his way through, with the loss of nearly his 
 whole division. Davoust was next in rear, Ney 
 
14:2 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 came last, thongli no news had been received fr'ona 
 him for a long time. 
 
 Although at Krasnoi Napoleon saw the enemj in 
 immense force surrounding him to take him prisoner, 
 he would not leave the place till assured of the safety 
 of his lieutenants. He had heard all day long the 
 cannonading which annihilated Eugene's corps, but 
 could not succor him. 
 
 After the prince had escaped, his anxiety for Da- 
 voust and ISTey was redoubled. He had determined, 
 before the arrival of Eugene, to face about, and with 
 his feeble force attack the enemy, and thus make a 
 great effort, but a still greater sacrifice for those noble 
 officers. Still holding to this determination, he sent 
 forward Eugene with the miserable wreck of his corps, 
 while he, with his Old Guard, prepared to march back 
 on the Russian army, and attempt to save Davoust and 
 Ney. The night before, however, the Young Guard, 
 under Roquet, crushed to atoms a vanguard of Rus- 
 sian infantry, which had taken position in front of 
 ISTapoleon, to cut off his retreat. The latter ordered 
 him to attack the enemy in the dark, and with the bay- 
 onet alone, saying that this was " the first time he had 
 exhibited so much audacity, and he would make him 
 repent it in such a way that he should never again 
 dare approach so near his head-quarters." The com- 
 plete success of the expedition detained the Russian 
 
SACRIFICE OF ITSPXF. 143 
 
 army twenty-four hours — a delay of vast importance 
 to the French. 
 
 In the morning, before daylight, Napoleon placed 
 himself on foot in the midst of the Old Guard and 
 issued from Krasnoi. As he grasped his sword, he 
 said, " I have sufficiently acted the Emperor — it is 
 time I became the General." Perhaps there is not a 
 more sublime exhibition of heroism in the whole of 
 his career than this effort to save Davoust and I^ey. 
 With only six thousand of his Guard, and some five 
 thousand under Mortier, composed chiefly of the 
 Young Guard, he turned to meet eighty thousand 
 victorious troops, entrenched on commanding heights 
 and protected by a powerful artillery. The enemy 
 was sweeping round him in a vast semi -circle and a 
 few hours of delay might cut off his retreat entirely, 
 yet he resolved to march back iucstead of forward, 
 and to lessen his force in a hopeless combat, instead 
 of preserving it for his own use. He well knew the 
 peril of the undertaking, but he had determined to 
 succor iiis brave marshals or perish in the attempt. 
 
 Silently and sternly this brave band retraced its steps 
 over the snow-covered field, uttering no complaint, 
 and ready as ever to be sacrificed at the will of theii 
 beloved leader. When daylight dawned, lo, on three 
 sides of them the Russian batteries crowned the 
 heights. Into the "centre of that terrible circle" 
 the old Guard moved witli an intrepid step and took 
 
144 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 np its position. A few yards in 'advance, Mortiei 
 deployed his five thousand in front of the whole army. 
 and the battle opened, if that can be called a battle 
 in which a small devoted band stands and is shot 
 down, solely to attract the enemy's force from another 
 quarter. The Russians needed only to advance, and 
 by the mere weight of its masses, crush that Old 
 Guard to atoms. But awed by its firm presence, and 
 more than all by the terrible renown it had won, and 
 by the still greater renown of its leader whom they 
 regarded almost as a supernatural being, they dared not 
 close with it. They, however, trained their cannon 
 on the ranks, through which the shot went tearing 
 with frightful effect — but without a movement of im- 
 patience, the living closed over the dead to be trod- 
 den under foot in turn. Thus girdled with fire, they 
 stood hour after hour, while Kapoleon strained hia 
 eager gaze to catch a glimpse of Davoust and Ney. 
 At length he saw Davoust alone, dragging his weary 
 columns through clouds of Cossacks and marching 
 straight on the Russian batteries. But as the soldiers 
 came in sight of Krasnoi, they disbanded, and mak- 
 ing a detour to escape the enemy's guns, rushed pell- 
 mell into the place. 
 
 Kapoleon having seen half his Guard shot down, 
 commenced his retreat, leaving Mortier with the 
 Young Guard to keep the enemy in check as long 
 as he could, telling him that he would send back Da- 
 
A REMNANT LEFT. 145 
 
 vonst with his rallied troops to his assistance. They 
 must, if possible, hold out till night and then 
 rejoin him. The enemy he said was overwhelming 
 him on every side, and soon his retreat would be entirely 
 cut off and he must push on and occupy the passage 
 of the Borysthenes, or all would be lost. He pressed 
 this brave marshal's hand sorrowfully as he parted 
 from him, and traversing Krasnoi, cleared the road 
 beyond it as he advanced. But Mortier could not 
 obey the orders he had received, for a part of the Young 
 Guard had lost an important post they had been 
 defending, and the Russians emboldened by Kapo- 
 leon's departure, began to close slowly around him. 
 Roquet endeavored to take the position that had been 
 lost, and from which a Russian battery was now vomit- 
 ing death on his ranks, but of the regiment which he 
 sent against it, only eleven officers and fifty soldiers 
 returned to tell how they fought and fell. It was 
 then that Mortier performed that admirable move- 
 ment which shed such glory on him and the Young 
 Guard. With the three thousand, all that was left 0/ 
 his five thousand, he wheeled and marched in ordi 
 nary time out of that concentrated fire. 
 
 'Nej was left behind abandoned of all, and appa 
 rently a doomed man, yet to exhibit still greater hero- 
 ism, and furnish a still more miraculous page in the 
 history of this unparalleled retreat. 
 
 I^apoleon continuing his retreat, came to Dom- 
 Y 
 
14:6 THK OLD GUARD. 
 
 browna, a town built of wood, where he encamped 
 for the night, and obtained some provisions. In the 
 night he was heard groaning — the name of 'Nej ever 
 and anon escaping his lips — and mourning over tho 
 Bufferings of his poor soldiers, and yet declaring that 
 it was impossible to help them without stopping, and 
 this he could not do with no ammunition, provisions, 
 or artillery. He had not force enough to make a 
 halt. " He must reach Minsk as quickly as possible." 
 Here were his magazines, his great hope, towards 
 which he was toiling with the energy of despair. 
 
 But scarcely had these words escaped him, when a 
 Polish officer arrived, stating that Minsk had been 
 taken by the enemy. Napoleon was struck dumb by 
 this new and overwhelming disaster ; then raising his 
 head, he said, " Well, there is nothing left now, but 
 to clear our passage with our bayonets." 
 
 Despatches were immediately sent to the different 
 portions of the army in advance, where they had 
 remained during the march of the grand army to 
 Moscow ; and then, dejected and worn out, he sunk 
 into a lethargy. It was not yet daylight when a sudder 
 tumult aroused him from his stupor. He sent Rapp 
 out to ascertain the cause. Bnt the uproar increas- 
 ing, he imagined that a nocturnal attack had been 
 made upon his head-quarters, and immediately in- 
 quired if the artillery had been placed behind a 
 ravine made by a stream that ran through the town. 
 
A PANIC. 141 
 
 Beino: told that it had not, he hastened thither hi in- 
 self and saw it brought over. He then came back to 
 his Old Guard who were standing to arms, and ad- 
 dressing each battalion in turn, said, " Grenadiers, 
 we are retreating without being conquered by the 
 enemy ; let us not be vanquished by ourselves ! Set 
 an example to the army. Several of you have already 
 deserted your eagles, and even thrown away your 
 arms. I have no wish to have recourse to military 
 laws to put a stop to this disorder, but appeal entirely 
 to your sense of duty. Do justice to yourselves. To 
 your own honor I commit the maintenance of your 
 discipline." 
 
 This was all that was needed to make the grena» 
 diers firm as iron. In fact it was rather whipping 
 the other troops over the Old Guard's shoulders, for 
 amid the general panic that prevailed in the dark- 
 ness, when all believed the enemy was upon them, N'a- 
 poleon on his return, found them standing in perfect 
 order, and ready to charge on ten or ten thousand alike. 
 
 It proved a false alarm; order was restored, but 
 only to be lost again a few hours after, among all but 
 the Guard and a few hundred men belonging to 
 Prince Eugene. The confused mass streamed along 
 the road towards Orclia, the Guard alone showing 
 the array of disciplined troops. 
 
 Six thousand were all that entered the place, out of 
 that magnificent and veteran corps. Here the dan- 
 
148 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 gers thickejied ; for two armies were cutting off tlieii 
 retreat, while the winter was deepening, and the cold 
 becoming more and more intense. Therti was nothing 
 before the fragments of the grand army, but deserts 
 of snow and ice over whose desolate bosom Cossacks 
 were streaming, and the artillery of the enemy thun- 
 dering. Napoleon resorted to threats to maintain 
 discipline among his troops, but they had lost all fear 
 of death — it was the slow torture that made them 
 wild with despair. Nothing but the firm presence 
 of the Old Guard and Eugene's few men prevented 
 them from pillaging Orcha, although situated on a 
 friendly frontier. The wonder is not that soldiers 
 under such sufferings should become disorganized, but 
 that the few thousand of the Old Guard could resist 
 the infectious example, especially as by their orderly 
 march they lost all the provisions by day and fuel by 
 night, which the stragglers were able to pick up ; and 
 Buffered dreadfully the want of both. Minsk, beyond 
 the Beresina, had kept alive their hopes, but now 
 nothing but frozen deserts lay beyond that inhospita- 
 ble river. 
 
 Still they stood firm. Napoleon had said to them, 
 " Grenadiers of my Guard, you are witnesses of the 
 disorganization of the army. The greater part of 
 your brethren have, by a deplorable fatality, thrown 
 away their arms. If you imitate this sad example, 
 all hope will be lost. The safety of the army is con- 
 
rrS EAGLES ARE BURNED. 149 
 
 fided to you. You will justify the good opinion 1 have 
 had of you. It is necessary not only that the officerB 
 among you maintain- a severe discipline, but also that 
 the soldiers should exercise a rigorous surveillance, 
 and themselves punish those who attempt to leave 
 their ranks." 
 
 This appeal to their honor was received in dead 
 silence — not in words but in deeds they were to prove 
 his confidence well placed ; and shivering. with cold 
 and reeling from exhaustion, they closed sternly 
 around him. 
 
 On the 20th of November, Napoleon quitted Orcha 
 with his Guard, leaving behind him Eugene, Mortier, 
 and Davoust to wait for Ney. The officers declared 
 it was impossible that he should escaj)e, but the empe- 
 ror would not abandon the last hope. He knew the 
 indomitable character of the man, and that he would 
 perform everything short of miracles before he would 
 surrender. 
 
 Four days after he heard that the heroic marshal 
 was safe. When the courier brought the news he 
 leaped into the air and shouted for joy, it was a sud- 
 den flash of light and hope on the night of his dark- 
 ness and dejection. 
 
 But the horrors of this march increased as he 
 advanced towards the Beresina, and when he arrived 
 near that fatal river, he ordered all his eagles to be 
 burned J together with half the wagons and carriages 
 
150 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 of the army, and the hoi'ses to be given to the artil 
 lery of the Guard. He commanded them also to laj 
 liands on all the draught cattl§ within their reach, 
 not sparing even his own horses, rather than leave i" 
 single cannon or ammunition wagon behind. Eigh- 
 teen hundred dismounted cavalry of the Guard were 
 rallied into two battalions, although but eleven hun- 
 dred of them could be supplied with muskets or car- 
 bines. All the officers of the cavalry of the army 
 that still had horses, formed themselves into a " sacred 
 squadron^^ for the protection of the person of the 
 emperor ; and with this and the Old Guard as a fixed 
 and central orb to retain the vast and straggling mul- 
 titude — Kapoleon, with a sack of poison on his breast 
 to take in the last extremity rather than fall into the 
 hands of the Cossacks, plunged into the gloomy forest 
 of Minsk, and pressed forward to the desperate con- 
 flict that awaited him on the banks of the Beresina. 
 Amid the double darkness of the night and the 
 forest, thousands perished, and i>rapoleon with knit 
 brow and compressed lip saw men in raging delirium 
 constantly falling at his feet wildly entreating for help. 
 The frightful disorder that arose among the multitude 
 during the awful passage of the Beresina, when the Old 
 Guard at last began to cross, shows with what feelings 
 the army regarded it. It was compelled to clear a 
 passage for the emperor with the bayonet, though one 
 corps of grenadiers, out of mere compassion, refused 
 
ITS SUFFERINGS. 151 
 
 to exercise force on the despairing, pleading wretches, 
 even to save themselves. 
 
 Having reached the opposite banks, they defended 
 them during the succeeding days of storm, and bat- 
 tle, and death that marked the passage. It encamped 
 near the ruins of Brelowa, in the open fields with 
 Napoleon, also unsheltered, in their midst. During 
 the day they were drawn up in order of battle, while 
 the driving snow covered them as with a shroud ; at 
 night they bivouacked in a square around their suf- 
 fering, yet intrepid leader. These veterans of a hun- 
 dred battles would sit on their knapsacks feeding 
 their feeble fires, their elbows j)lanted on their knees, 
 and their heads resting on their hands, doubling 
 themselves up for the twofold purpose of retaining 
 the little warmth they possessed, and of feeling less 
 acutely the gnawings of empty stomachs. The nights 
 were nearly sixteen hours long, and either filled with 
 clouds of snow, or so piercing cold that the thermome- 
 ter sunk to twenty, and sometimes to over thirty 
 degrees below zero. Painful marches, fierce battles, 
 tattered clothing, cold, and famine combined, were 
 too much for human endurance, and in a few days one 
 third of the Guard perished. 
 
 One who had seen that corps, on a review day in 
 Paris, would not have recognized its uniform in the 
 tattered vestments that half protected their persons. 
 But they never murmured, never broke their solid 
 
162 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 formation, but clenching firmly with frozen finger? 
 their muskets, struggled and died at their posts. 
 
 The following solitary incident illustrates the 
 <;haracter and suffering of all. One day a mounted 
 grenadier, or one who belonged to the corps of 
 mounted grenadiers, though no longer possessing a 
 horse, approached afire occupied by various soldiers of 
 the army. He was a tall, elegantly formed man, with a 
 face full of serenity and firmness. He was covered 
 with tatters of every color, having saved nothing of 
 his handsome uniform but his sabre and a few pieces 
 of the fur of his bear-skin cap, which he had wrapped 
 around his head to protect it from the frost. His 
 breath had congealed into icicles which hung from 
 his lips and beard. He had but one boot, the other 
 foot being enveloped in shreds of coarse cloth. As 
 he approached the fire, he unrolled a small piece of 
 linen cloth and held it out to dry, saying, " I will 
 finish my washing." When it was dry he rolled a 
 little tobacco in it, and said gaily, " We are used up, 
 but it is all the same, Vivs VEmpereur. We have 
 always thoroughly flogged these Russians, who are 
 nothing but schoolboys compared to us." 
 
 Such was the destitution and such the spirit of this 
 glorious old corps. It seems fabulous that any body 
 of men could be subjected to the extremes of cold 
 and hunger they underwent, and one be left alive t^ 
 tell the tale of their sufferings and courage. Ever 
 
NAPOLKON LEAVES IT. 153 
 
 Bince they left Smolensko they had lived on horse 
 flesh half roasted and rye water which in the absence 
 of salt they seasoned with gunpowder. 
 
 From the Beresina to Smorgoni, the grand army 
 exhibited nothing but a disordered mob, with the 
 exception of the Guard. At the latter place ISTapo- 
 leon gave a farewell and agonized look upon it, and set 
 out for Paris. Murat was left in command, but the 
 giant mind had gone, and the Old Guard, scorning 
 to take in its keeping an inferior person, voluntarily 
 broke its ranks, and dispersed with the other strag- 
 glers. Its solid squares were no longer seen at night, 
 nor its firm array by day, the trust and hope of all. 
 The disorder then became frightful, and the last 
 remaining days of the grand army presented the 
 accumulation of all horrors. The Guard still num- 
 bering three thousand men partook of these horrors 
 and sufferings. The weather suddenly became 
 intensely cold, the thermometer standing day after 
 day from twenty to thirty degrees below zero. 
 Floundering through snow drifts, piercing dark for- 
 ests, the frozen nmltitude dragged itself along, the 
 silence broken only by the crackling of ice under 
 their feet, or the low moan or shriek of despair, or 
 last faint cry of soldiers as they fell stiff and stark on 
 the icy earth. The living trod over the dead with- 
 out turning aside to avoid the corpses. They stopped 
 only to take the last morsel of food from the dying, 
 
154 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 and to pounce like wolves npon a fallen ]ior?e, and 
 quarrel over his emaciated carcass. The exhausted 
 wretches strained their bloody eyes on the pitilosg 
 heavens, and then with heart-rending sighs, fell to 
 rise no more. At night the strongest cut down fir 
 trees for fire, into which the frozen stragglers as they 
 arrived would often throw themselves, and be burned 
 to a cinder. The frost seemed to attack the brains of 
 many, causing the most frightful delirium. But the 
 details are too horrible — let them rest with the dead 
 who fattened with their corpses the deserts of Russia. 
 
 When the army arrived at Wilna, only a few pla- 
 toons of the Old Guard remained, and they no longer 
 obeyed the beat of the generale. Murat's shameful 
 desertion of the army here completed the wreck. 
 
 The remains of that splendid army which in June 
 had crossed the Niemen 500,000 strong, was now 
 chased back by a detachment of cavalry. The solid 
 squares of the Old Guard remained in Russia. Many 
 of their bivouacs could be traced in the spring by 
 the circle of skeletons that encompassed a heap of 
 ashes. That " column of granite" had melted away, 
 and nothing but its base was left on which another 
 was to be speedily reared. 
 
 Bat its fame lasts. The courage that nothing could 
 daunt, the patient endurance under unheard of hor« 
 rors, the sublime moral elevation of its character 
 its steadfast devotion to duty amid universal disorder 
 
IS LEFr IN RUSSIA. 15f) 
 
 and which no bad examphi nor the last pangs of mortal 
 agony could demoralize, its lofty sense of honor tri 
 umphingover famine and death, will claim the adrai 
 ration of the world till the end of time. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 1813. 
 
 iJeorganlzfttlon of the Army— Death of Bossicres— The Old Guard at Lutzen— 
 Its Last Charge— Drouot ; his Character— Death of Duroc— Mournful Scene 
 around the Tent of Napoleon— The Guard in Bohemia— Its Astonishing March to 
 Dresden— Its Bravery— Napoleon in its Squaras on the Battle-field— Tableau— 
 The Old Guard at Lelpzic- The Retreat— Battle of Hanau— It is won by th« 
 Guard — It leaves for ever the Scene of its Achievements. 
 
 The Russian Campaign had swallowed up the 
 French armj, and Prussia immediately took up arms 
 with Russia to complete the destruction of Napoleon. 
 False and treacherous, the former deemed that now 
 was the time to strike her unfortunate ally. But this 
 lofty intellect and unconquerable will scorned to yield 
 to the storm that was about to burst upon him in his 
 helpless state. He looked around him and saw only 
 the broken fragments of an army. The Old Guard, with 
 its artillery and cavalry, was gone. Still there was a 
 nucleus left. B e had but eight hundred at Marengo, 
 and yet he made it terrible to the enemy. It is true 
 ho was without cannon — nearly a thousand were 
 
CREATION OF A NEW AEMY. 157 
 
 strewed by the way in his retreat from Russia— he had 
 no trained horses, they had died or been eaten for 
 food, and there were disciplined and strong armies, 
 well supplied both with artillery and cavalry, to be 
 met. Already they were marching on the possessions 
 of France. 
 
 Yet from this desolation, I^apoleon determined to 
 create an army with both artillery and cavalry, and 
 roll back the presumptuous enemy who dared to 
 menace the soil of France, and assail his throne. 
 Four veteran res^iments of the Old Guard remained 
 in Spain — these were recalled. Cannon from the 
 arsenals, and artillerists from the ships of war were 
 collected, horses purchased, and a conscription set on 
 foot, which soon brought to his standard a vast army. 
 But such had been the drain on France to support 
 the formsr wars, that the conscription descended to 
 mere youths, seventeen years old, and the pupils of 
 the Guard were brought forward. The IN^ational 
 Guard of France, a hundred thousand well disci- 
 plined men, were also incorporated into the army, 
 while the Guards of Honor, as they were called, com- 
 posed of the sons of wealthy and distinguished fami- 
 lies, recruited the cavalry. These guards of honor 
 were mounted bodies of men in the various cities of 
 France — organized merely to receive and attend 
 Napoleon when he passed through their respective 
 places, and were wholly unfit for service. The eliU 
 
158 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 of the army of the line were taken to compose the 
 Old Guard, and it soon assumed its former ap 
 pearance. 
 
 The greate&t enthusiasm prevailed among the 
 soldiers, and soon this new army took up its line of 
 march for Germany, to join the relics of the different 
 corps that still remained there after the retreat from 
 Russia. 
 
 Although deficient in cavalry, Napoleon imme- 
 diately assumed the offensive, and pressed forward to 
 seek the allies near Leipzic. Poserna, on the way to 
 Lutzen, w^as defended, and in taking those heights, 
 Bessieres, the commander of the Old Guard, was 
 struck dead by a cannon-ball. This brave officer, 
 who had n'sen from the ranks to Marshal of the 
 empire, was dearly loved by the Guard. When it was 
 composed of but eight hundred men, and laid the 
 foundation of its fame at Marengo, he was at the head 
 of it. Through all the terrible campaigns of Napo- 
 leon in Italy and Spain, at Austerlitz, Wagram, and 
 Eylau, through all the disastrous retreat from Russia, 
 he had headed its invincible columns. Noble in 
 heart, heroic in courage, of great integrity of charac- 
 ter, his death was an irreparable loss to the Emperor 
 and to the Guard. His body was embalmed, and 
 sent to the Hotel des Invalides. 
 
 That night Naj^oleon encamped in the plain where 
 rose the tomb of Giistavus Adolphus. The next day 
 
BRAVERY OF THE CONSCRIPTS. 150 
 
 the battle of Lntzeii was fought. Early in the morn- 
 ing the heavy cannonading on the right, where l^ey 
 commanded, showed that there was to be the weight 
 of the battle. In a short time, the concentration of 
 heavy masses in that part of the field by the enemy, 
 had driven back the French a mile and a half. The 
 five villages, which formed their stronghold, were all 
 carried, after having been taken and retaken several 
 times. N'ey had exhibited his old valor, and the 
 young conscripts under him, who then for the first 
 time were under fire, behaved like veterans. " Five 
 times^'^ said he, " I led back those brave youths to 
 the charge." But their valor was vain, and the victo- 
 rious enemy was pushing them fiercely from their 
 positions. 
 
 When the news of this disaster reached Napoleon, 
 he turned to Berthier and Caulincourt, with the 
 exclamation " Ha !" accompanied by a look which 
 " froze every heart around him with horror." The 
 day was wellnigh lost, and he knew it. But instead 
 of yielding to discouragement, he rose with the 
 increasing danger, and set off on a gallop, followed by 
 his invincible Guard, to the scene of disaster. 
 
 Where the cannonading was heaviest, and the 
 clouds of smoke rose thickest, thither he directed his 
 course. The field was covered with fugitives ; while 
 the columns that were still unbroken, were slowly 
 retiring. Clouds of the enemy's cavalry were wait- 
 
160 THE OLD GUAKU. 
 
 iiig impatiently till the last village was cleared, and 
 the retreating troops should deploy in the open plain, 
 to sweep down on them, and complete their destruc- 
 tion. 
 
 But hope revived at Kapoleon's presence — the 
 conscripts rallied again, and shouts of " Vive VEni- 
 'percur^'' rolled along the lines. Placing himself 
 behind JS'ey's division, he rallied it, and sent it for- 
 ward to tlie attack. Intrepidly advancing, it drove 
 back the enemy, and retook a portion of the first vil- 
 lage. But the allies receiving reinforcements, returned 
 to the assault, and a bloody combat ensued around 
 the shattered houses. 
 
 ISTeither party, however, could win the victory, but 
 Kapoleon gained what he stood in desperate need of 
 — time for the foot soldiers and artillery of the Guard 
 to arrive. Soon the bear-skin caps appeared, and 
 infantry and artillery came thundering up to the 
 Emperor, who had hardly time to form its massive 
 columns of attack, when the French were again 
 driven out of the village, while the shouts of the 
 enemy were heard above the roar of the cannon. The 
 Emperor threw one glance upon his flying troops, 
 and then ordered Drouot, with sixty guns, to advance, 
 and ten battalions of the Guard to follow. This 
 dreadful artillerist cleared a way for his cannon 
 through the crowd of fugitives that covered the 
 plain, and opened his swift and deadly fire. Its etfect 
 
CHARGE AT LUTZEN. 161 
 
 was tremendous ! To the distant observer the guns 
 never seemed to stop, but to fire as they moved. 
 Pressing steadily after, the Guard enveloped in 
 smoke, pushed on, carrying village after village with 
 loud hurrahs. In the close and deadly combat, offi-- 
 cers were falling on every side, and the enemy strug- 
 gled nobly to retain some portion of their conquests 
 — flinging themselves, cavalry and infantry, in des- 
 perate valor, on those swiftly advancing columns. 
 But onsets of cavalry, the fire of the artillery, were 
 alike unheeded — in a solid mass those bear-skin caps 
 w^ere seen moving through the smoke, while the flash 
 of their guns kept receding farther and farther, in 
 the distance. Twilight gathered over the landscape, 
 yet the outlines of that resistless column were revealed 
 by the blaze of its guns, still advancing, till the field 
 was swept and the victory gained. 
 
 Kext morning the track of the Guard could be 
 followed by the heaps of the dead it had left in its 
 frightful passage. 
 
 The sight of the French conscripts who had fallen 
 round those villages was mournful in the extreme. 
 Mere youths — their forms not yet developed into 
 manhood, their boyish features covered with blood, 
 and stifiened in death — gave a still more horrid aspect 
 to the field, and uttered a new malediction on war. 
 
162 THE OLD GUAED. 
 
 CHARACTER OF DROUC P. 
 
 Drouot wsis perhaps the most remarkable artil 
 Icrist the world has ever produced. He commanded 
 •the artillery of the Guard to the last, and made it 
 the most terrible and deadly that ever swept a battle- 
 field. Napoleon always kept him for great emer- 
 gencies, and when this bold, stern man, received 
 an order in the midst of a battle to bring up his 
 guns, he knew it was not to defend a point, but to 
 recover a half-lost field, and move fiercely and stea- 
 dily on victorious and overpowering troops. At such 
 times he set ofi" on a gallop, w^iile the field shook 
 under the weight of his cannon, as they came thun- 
 dering after. He was perfectly aware of the danger- 
 ous. position he held, and when about to advance on 
 the enemy, he always dismounted, and placing him- 
 self on foot, in the midst of his guns, dressed in his 
 old uniform of general of artillery, walked firmly 
 into the hottest fi]*e. He was somewhat superstitious' 
 about this uniform — he had never been wounded 
 in it, and hence came to regard it as a sort of charm, 
 or at least believed that good luck went with it ; 
 and strange to say in all the bloody and fright- 
 ful combats he fought, neither he nor his horse was 
 ever wounded. He always carried a Bible with him 
 ■ — it was on his person in battle, and the reading of 
 it constituted his chief delight. He made no secret 
 
DKOLOT. 168 
 
 3f tins among the staff of the Emperor, which showed 
 more courage than to face a battery. He knew 
 everything belonging to his profession, and yet was 
 modest as the most humble. His character seemed 
 to be affected by the life he led, in a remarkable 
 degree. Its solidity, the absence of all show and the 
 presence of real strength, his quiet and grave de- 
 meanor, and the steadfastness of his affection and 
 purpose, reminded one of the solidity and strength of 
 his artillery. 
 
 In I^apoleon's advance to Dresden, and passage of 
 the Elbe at that place, an incident occurred that illus- 
 trates the characters of both. After bridges of rafts 
 had been constructed, and a small portion of the 
 troops got over during the night time, Kapoleon saw 
 fifty cannon of the enemy advance, and threaten a 
 determined resistance to the passage. He imme- 
 diately shouted to Drouot, " a hundred pieces of 
 cannon !" The artillery of the Guard was hurried up, 
 and Drouot posted them on the heights of 'Preisnitz. 
 Napoleon, who was a little distance in the rear, was 
 impatient, because the effect of the fire was not im- 
 mediately visible, and reproached the former bitterly 
 for not placing his pieces better, even pulling the old 
 soldier's ears in his pet. Drouot calmly replied, 
 " that the guns could not be better placed ;" and so it 
 proved, for under tlie tremendous fire which he kept 
 up, the Kussian batteries were soon silenced. 
 
164 TUIO OLD aUAUl). 
 
 At the battle of Bautzen, which soon followed, 
 Drouot's artillery scourged the enemy severely while 
 the Old Guard itself sustained the grand attack in the 
 centre, by which the victory was gained. Tts squares 
 surrounded the tent of Wapoleon that evening, while 
 its bands of music greeted liim with victorious airs. 
 
 By daybreak next morning the pursuit was com- 
 menced, and pushed with the utmost fierceness. The 
 allies had marched all night, but their rear-guard 
 was soon overtaken, posted on strong heights, with 
 forty pieces of cannon. IN'apoleon dared not attack 
 it till the cavalry of the Guard should arrive. This 
 body of men, six thousand strong, no sooner ap- 
 proached than it was put under Latour Maubourg, 
 and advancing, overthrew the Kussian cavalry in the 
 plains, and rushing with loud shouts up the slopes 
 of the heights, forced the enemy to retreat. 
 
 The defeated allies, however, retired in such good 
 order, that no decisive blow could be struck, and 
 !N^apoleon, enraged to see a great victory turn out so 
 barren of results, pushed forward with his escort to 
 give greater energy to the attacks, and was still 
 pressing on amid the cannon-balls that were whistling 
 about him, when one of his escort was struck at his 
 side. He turned to Duroc and said, " fortune is 
 resolved to have one of us to-day" — prophetic words 
 ' — a few moments after, as he was going along a nar 
 row way, followed by his escort four abreast on 
 
DKATll OF 1)U»(-*C'. 164 
 
 a rapid trot, a oaniioii-hall struck a tree near him, 
 glanced and killed Kugoner, and mirtally wounded 
 Diiroc. "When this was announced to Napoleon, he 
 dismounted, and gazed long and stendy on the bat- 
 tery from which the shot had been fired, then entered 
 the cottage into which the Grand Marshal had been 
 carried and where he lay dying. 
 
 This scene I have described in another work, 
 but I will quote from that description the portion 
 which illustrates the relation that existed between 
 Kapoleon and his Guard. " After the last afflicting 
 interview with the dying hero and friend, he ordered 
 his tent to be pitched near the cottage where he lay, 
 and entering it, passed the night all alone in incon- 
 solable grief. The Old Guard formed their pro- 
 tecting squares about him, and the fierce tumult of 
 battle gave way to one of the most touching scenes in 
 history. Twilight was deepening over the field, and 
 the heavy tread of the ranks going to tlieir bivouacs, 
 the low rumbling of artillery wagons in the dis- 
 tance, and all the subdued sounds of a mighty 
 liost about sinking to repose rose on the evening air, 
 imparting still greater solemnity to the hour. Napo- 
 leon with his grey coat wrapped al)out liim, his 
 elbows on his knees, and his forehead resting on hi? 
 hands, sat apart from all, buried in the profoundest 
 melancholy. His most intimate friends dared not 
 approach him, and his fayorite ofiicers stood in 
 
166 THIO OLD GUARD. 
 
 groups at a distance, gazing anxiously and sadly or, 
 that silent tent. But immense consequences were 
 hanging on the movements of the next morning — a 
 powerful enemy was near with its an-ay yet un- 
 broken — and they at length ventured to approach and 
 ask for orders. But he only shook his head, exclaim- 
 ing * everything to-morrow,' and still kept his mourn- 
 ful attitude. 'No sobs escaped him, but silent and 
 motionless he sat, his pallid face buried in his hands, 
 and his great heart wrung with agony. Darkness 
 drew her curtain over the scene, and the stars came 
 out one after another in the sky, and at length the 
 moon rose over the hills, bathing in her soft beams 
 the tented host, while the flames from burning villages 
 in the distance, shed a lurid light through the gloom, 
 and all was sad, mournful, and sublime. There was 
 the dark cottage in which Duroc lay dying, with the 
 sentinels at the door, and there, too, was the solitary 
 tent of ISTapoleon. Around it at a distance, stood the 
 squares of the Old Guard, and nearer by a silent group 
 of chieftains, and over all lay the moonlight. Those 
 brave soldiers, filled with grief to see their beloved 
 chief bowed down with such sorrow, stood for a long: 
 time tearful and silent, except as one would say to his 
 comrade, ' Our poor Emperor has lost one of his chil- 
 dren.' At length, to break the mournful silence, and to 
 express the sympathy they might not speak, the bands 
 struck up a requiem for the dying Marshal. The 
 
GRIEF OF NAPOLEON. 167 
 
 melancholy strains arose and fell in prolonged echoes 
 over the field, and swept in softened cadences on tho 
 ear of the fainting warrior — but still Kapoleon muNcd 
 not. The J then changed the measure to a trium- 
 phant strain, and the thrilling trumpets breathed forth 
 their most joyful notes, till the night rung with the 
 melody. "With such bursts of music had they been 
 used to welcome their chief after a day of battle and 
 of victory, till his eye kindled in exultation — but now 
 they fell on a dull and listless ear. It ceased, and 
 again the mournful requiem filled the air. But 
 nothing could arouse him from his agonizing reflec- 
 tions — his friend lay dying, and the heart he loved so 
 dearly was throbbing its last pulsations." 
 
 This scene exhibits in a touching manner the sym 
 pathy that existed between Kapoleon and his Guard, 
 — and how heroically, yet how tenderly, was it here 
 expressed. Enfolding him in their rock-fast squares, 
 their hearts melted at the sorrow of him they protected, 
 and the trumpets that but an hour before heralded 
 their desperate charge, strove to impart consolation by 
 expressing the grief they dare utter in no other way. 
 And then the thrilling blast upon blast, and loud 
 exultant greeting, to rouse that overwhelmed heart 
 from its stupor, and rekindle the emotions that were 
 wont to sway it— how simple, yet how grand. 
 
 At length ]N"apoleon entered Dresden, and an arm is* 
 tice was agreed upon. It ended, however, without any 
 
J 68 THE OLD QUAKl). 
 
 result, except to send Austria over to the side of the 
 allies. Napoleon now had Russia, Prussia, Austria. 
 Sweden, and Bohemia, combined against him, still he 
 evinced no discouragement. Looking calmly around 
 on the difficulties that environed him, he prepared to 
 meet them with that genius and iron will before 
 whicli the sovereigns who sought his life, had so often 
 humbled themselves. 
 
 But prior to his departure from Dresden, he had a 
 grand review of his army, which took place in a vast 
 plain near the city. Accompanied by the King of 
 Saxony and his suite and the Marshals of the Empire, 
 he galloped the whole length of the line. As the 
 Guard, twenty thousand strong, defiled before him, 
 it seemed to carry the j>restige of victory in its terri- 
 ble standards. He then ordered a great banquet for 
 the whole of the Guard. 
 
 At the commencement of hostilities, Marmont, 
 Macdonald, and Ney, who were in Bohemia, were 
 compelled to retire before the superior force of th« 
 enemy. When the news of the successive disasters 
 of these marshals reached Napoleon, he took with him 
 the Old Guard, and hastened to their relief. Infantry, 
 cavalry, and artillery, went thundering through the 
 Bohemian Mountains ; and pouring like a torrent on 
 the victorious enemy, rolled them back through tha 
 Silesian plains. In five days the Old Guard recovered 
 all that had been lost. 
 
EXTRAORDINARY MARCH. 169 
 
 But while the prospects were brightening around 
 liim in Bohemia, a dark and ominous storm was 
 gathering over Dresden. St. Cyr with only thirty 
 thousand men, had been left in possession of this city, 
 against which the emperor believed no attack would 
 be made. But suddenly a hundred and twenty thou 
 sand men and five hundred pieces of artillery dark- 
 ened the heights around it. Couriers were hur- 
 riedly despatched to Napoleon, announcing the 
 fact, who immediately put forth one of those pro- 
 digious efforts to save it, for which he was remark- 
 able. He took with him his conquering Guard, 
 and set out for the city. Although for four days it 
 had marched on an average, twenty-five miles a day, 
 fighting its passage besides, and slain six thousand 
 men, it cheerfully turned its steps towards Dresden. 
 Men gazed with astonishment on its swift movement. 
 Although it w^as the month of August and the soldiers 
 were worn out with their- previous marches and com- 
 bats, they swept forw^ard with alacrity. Daybreak 
 found them on the road, and night still in motion. 
 Napoleon in their midst was devoured with the most 
 painful anxiety. Knowing that the city could hold 
 out but a short time against the overwhelming force 
 gathered around it, he urged his faithful troops to 
 their utmost speed. He wanted to give that Guard 
 wings to transport it to Dresden. Breathless courier? 
 dashing in one after another, telling him that if he 
 
170 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 did not arrive soon all would be lost^ added to hig 
 impatience. 
 
 The troops had msirched forty leagues in four days, 
 and seemed about to break down. Napoleon saw 
 that he had overtasked them, and fearing they 
 would give out altogether, ordered twenty thousand 
 bottles of wine to be distributed among them 
 Three thousand, however, were all that could be 
 obtained. Refreshed by this scanty supply, they 
 pressed forward, and at length from the heights that 
 overlooked the city, gazed down on the thrilling 
 spectacle. The two hosts were engaged, and the 
 thunder of cannon roll'ed in heavy explosions over 
 the hills. Columns of attack were already forming, 
 and the innumerable array was swiftly closing around 
 their comrades who were bravely bearing up against 
 the shock. The Old Guard at once forgot their weari- 
 ness at the sight — they saw their presence had never 
 before been so urgently needed, and with proud hearts 
 they thought how soon their eagles would be soaring 
 over that tumultuous field, and their dread- standards 
 waving above a beaten foe. Like a resistless torrent 
 they passed down the slopes and crowded swiftly for- 
 ward over the bridges. The inhabitants, overjoyed at 
 the sight of these renowned troops, rushed toward tliem 
 with wine and bread — and though the wearied sol 
 diers were parched with thirst, each and all refused the 
 proffered refreshments, and marched steadily and 
 
ARRIVKS IN DRESDEN. 171 
 
 swiftly on to the point of danger. They were soon 
 standhig side by side with their comrades who had 
 combated so bravely, and with them breasting the 
 tremendous storm of shells and shot that now deluged 
 the city, they held that proud army in check till the 
 arrival of the Young Guard. 
 
 The Old Guard entered the city at ten in the morning, 
 and had fought all day w^ith desperate valor to arrest 
 the enemy, which, notwithstanding, made fearful 
 progress. Some parts of the city were already inun- 
 dated with their victorious troops ; and at six o'clock, 
 their cannon played within musket-shot of the 
 walls. The arrival of the Young Guard at that liour 
 drove the cloud from ISTapoleon's brow, and filled 
 every heart with joy. He immediately ordered an 
 attack. The gates were thrown open, and the Young 
 Guard, under ISTey, poured forth and rushing w^th 
 loud cheers on the enemy, drove them back over the 
 field. The Old Guard through another gate crushed 
 everything in its passage, while Murat's splendid 
 cavalry completed the discomfiture, and sent the 
 astonished enemy back to the heights from which 
 they had just descended in all the pride of victory, 
 shouting, " to Paris^ to Paris^^ as they came. The 
 commanders who supposed the emperor was in Silesia, 
 gazed with amazement at the Old Guard, and said 
 one to another, " l^apoleon is in Dresden." 
 The next morning at six o'clock, Napoleon wae 
 
172 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 stand ing by a huge fire built in tlie squares of the 
 Old Guard on the field they had won, while a cold 
 and drizzling rain and mist darkened the ghastly 
 Bcene. Behind, the cavalry of the Guard dismounted, 
 Btood beside their horses, ready at a moment's warn- 
 ing to da-sh to any part of the field. 
 
 !t>rapoleon standing on that ploughed and dead- 
 covered plain in the grey of the morning, in his plain 
 overcoat, the steam arising like a cloud around his 
 head as he dried himself beside the blazing fire, his 
 hands crossed behind him, and his head bowed in deep 
 thought, the Old Guard around him, the riders beside 
 their steeds ready at a gesture to mount and charge — 
 yet all quiet as a domestic scene — not a muscle on 
 that marble countenance moving, although the heavy 
 roll of cannon from one end of the line to the other, 
 announced that the work of death had commenced, 
 presents one of the most striking and sublime specta- 
 cles in history. 
 
 In the battle that followed, Ney had command of 
 the Young Guard, and again carried it in headlong 
 valor on the enemy. It was a battery of the Guard 
 that ^N'apoleon, during the day, ordered to fire on a 
 group which he took to be officers reconnoitring his 
 position, and at the firet discharge of which, Moreau 
 fell. 
 
 The effects of thi^ great victory, however, were 
 lost by the almost simultaneous disasters that befel 
 
AT LEIPSIC. 173 
 
 the divisions of Macdonald in Silesia, Oudinot at 
 Gros Eeeren, Marshal Ney at Dennewitz, and above 
 all, of Yandamine at Toeplitz. Napoleon, with the 
 Old Guard, could not be everywhere, and while with 
 inferior force he was dealing terrible blows on por- 
 tions of the allied army, his lieutenants lacking his 
 genius, were defeated on every side. At this time 
 too, Bavaria went over to the ranks of the allies. 
 Napoleon, however, did all that man can do. With 
 his tireless unconquerable Guard, he turned first on 
 one side and then on the other, scattering the enemy 
 fi'om his path. But no sooner did he withdraw from 
 the pursuit of one division to chastise another, than the 
 former closed fiercely on his retiring columns. Thus 
 in almost a circle of armies, he continued to battle 
 bravely for victory, but at last was forced to retire 
 to Leipsic, where, having concentrated liis troops, he 
 resolved to stake all on one great battle. 
 
 THE OLD GUARD AT LEIPSIC. 
 
 This was a hazardous move, for the allied powers 
 could bring into the field nearly three hundred thou- 
 sand men, and thirteen hundred cannon, while he 
 had but a little more than half that force with which 
 to meet them. The preparations for the battle were 
 on the grandest scale, and when the two armies 
 finally stood in array against each other, the most 
 
174 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 casua. observer could see that the day foreboded t 
 gloomy termination for Napoleon. 
 • At midnight the night before, rockets sent up to an 
 amazing lieight from the liead-quarters of the allied 
 army, and answered by others from Blucher on the 
 north, told that all was ready ; and early in the 
 morning the earthquake commenced, and nearly two 
 thousand cannon exploded on ranks of living men. 
 Notwithstanding his inferiority of force. Napoleon's 
 Btar seemed still in the ascendant, and his victorious 
 eagles soared as of old over the smoke and tumult of 
 the fight. Near the close of the day he deemed the 
 victory secure, and ordered up the Young Guard, 
 supported by the Old, to make his favorite attack on 
 the centre, and finish the battle. The stern Drouot, 
 with sixty cannon, moved in front, clearing a space 
 for the column pressing after, and their advancing 
 fire soon showed that the allied centre was shaken 
 to its overthrow. The enemy seeing their centre in 
 such extreme peril, brought up reserve after reserve, 
 and battery after battery, and thousands of cavalry, 
 and closed around those devoted troops. Yet the 
 batteries of Drouot blazed on like a volcano. The 
 heavy cuirassiers plunged boldly after, and the 
 advance columns approached so far that they came 
 near taking the Emperor Alexander and the king of 
 Prussia prisoners, who were forced to mount and 
 retire. But this invincible corps, after performing 
 
n-S EFFOKTS AT LEIPSIC. 175 
 
 prodigies of valor, was at length compelled to halt, 
 and night shut in the scene. 
 
 Napoleon pitched his tent in the bed of a dried 
 .fish-pond in the centre of the thinned squares of the 
 Old Guard. 
 
 The next day the battle opened gloomily for the 
 French, for a hundred thousand fresh troops had 
 ■joined the allies during the night, making an over- 
 whelming prepouvlerance of force. Still l^ajoo- 
 leon showed a bold front, and strove with almost 
 superhuman efforts to alter the decree written against 
 him. Early in the day the bi we Poniatowsky, after 
 struggling nobly to retain his position, was finally 
 driven back by superior numbers. ISTapoleon imme- ' 
 diately hastened to the spot with two divisions of the 
 Guard, and with one terrible blow stopped the ad- 
 vancing columns. 
 
 Soon after, new^s was brought that Victor and Lau- 
 riston, though fighting like lions, were on the point 
 of being annihilated. With the two remaining divi- 
 sions of the Guard he hastened to their relief. The 
 field was covered with fugitives, and the scene of 
 confusion that met his eye w^as enough to fill the 
 boldest heart with dismay. But amid the thunder of 
 artillery, the shouts of enraged men, and disorder 
 around him, his brow bore a calm and serene aspect 
 Taking two battalions of the Guard, he cleared a 
 path through the broken masses and hurled them 
 
176 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 with such awful violence on the advancing enemy, 
 that they were broken in turn, and compelled tc 
 relinquish the ground they had so gallantly won. 
 
 The superiority of the allies could not make head 
 against the obstinacy of Kapoleon, for wherever the 
 battle shook, there he plunged with his Guard and 
 dealt such blows as it only could deal. But at thia 
 critical state of affairs still more alarming news was 
 brought to him. His Saxon allies to the number of 
 twelve thousand, with forty pieces of cannon, suddenly 
 went over to the enemy. Thus not only in the crisis 
 of the battle was the important point they held 
 deserted, but a difference of twenty-four thousand 
 men and eighty pieces of cannon, made to the French. 
 Not content with their treason, no sooner did they 
 reach the enemy's lines than they turned their bat- 
 teries on the friends by whose side they had just 
 stood. 
 
 It seemed as if fate having no compassion for his 
 gallant bearing, was determined to push ]^apoleon 
 to the verge of despair. The news of this defection 
 startled him, for Schoenfield, lying close to the suburbs 
 of Leipsic, was now threatened, and thus his whole line 
 of retreat endangered. He instantly took a division 
 of the Young Guard and Nansouty's cuirassiers and 
 hastened to the spot, and arrested the further progress 
 of the enemy — but he saw a retreat was inevitable. 
 
 I will not describe this horrible retreat, nor the appeau 
 
BATTLE OF HANAU. 177 
 
 ance of a field on which a hundred and twenty thou- 
 sand men had fallen. The Old and Young Guard 
 had maintained their character on these two dreadful 
 days, and its dead lay on every part of that field 
 The infantry were exposed throughout to the most 
 tremendous fire. Its artillery, notwithstanding its 
 numerical inferiority, was worked with terrible power, 
 while the cavalry charged as only the cuirassiers of 
 the Guard could charge — but its bravery and devotion 
 only swelled the carnage — the defection of the Bava- 
 rians ruined every thing. 
 
 BATTLE OF HANAF. 
 
 Napoleon was now compelled to commence his dis- 
 astrous retreat towards the Ehine. Outstripping his 
 pursuers, he was approaching that river and the soil 
 of France, when he received the astonishing news 
 that General Wrede, his old ally, with fifty thou- 
 sand Bavarians, had crossed his line of march and 
 strongly posted at Hanau, was determined to finish 
 the wreck of Leipsic. The French army, with the 
 exception of the Guard, Old and Young, was a herd 
 of stragglers. For nearly two hundred miles they 
 had dragged their weary limbs towards the Rhine, 
 harassed at every step by the Cossacks, and now, 
 just as the soil of France was to welcome them, a fresh 
 and powerful army unexpectedly crossed their path. 
 
 When this was told Napoleon, he simply said, 
 
178 TIIK OLD GUARD. 
 
 *' Advance; since these Bavarian gentlemen pretend 
 to bar our passage, we must pass over their bellies." 
 The Bavarians were posted in front of Hanau, stretch- 
 ing across the road, along which the French army 
 was marching. Their centre was supported by sev- 
 enty pieces of cannon, while between them and the 
 approaching fugitives, stretched a forest several miles 
 in extent. This was filled with sharp-shooters to 
 retard the French, while the seventy cannon in bat- 
 tery were to receive them as they debouched on the 
 farther side. Macdonald's and Victor's corps reduced 
 to five thousand men, first entered the forest and 
 cleared it, but the moment they attempted to form 
 in the open field beyond, they were rent into frag- 
 ments by the balls of those seventy guns, all 
 trained on that devoted spot. Keinforcements kept 
 arriving, but every effort was powerless to cross the 
 plain in front of the forest. It was a wild hailstorm 
 of balls in point-blank range, and the soldiers melted 
 away before it like men of snow. It was then that 
 Napoleon galloping up to his Guard ordered two bat- 
 talions of foot chasseurs to clear the field, while at 
 the same time he directed Drouot to advance with 
 the artillery of the Guard. " Remember," said he, 
 " that on this very spot the French Guards under 
 Louis XIY., were defeated and thrown into the river. 
 Let the enemy to-day receive the same fate, and 
 France be avenged." 
 
deouot's guns. 17G ^ 
 
 For four hours Victor and Macdonald liad vainly 
 endeavored to bear up against the tremendous force 
 that opposed them, and now the weary troops shouted 
 for joy when they saw the bear skin caps of the old 
 grenadiers enter the forest. Those black caps swept 
 on like a wave through the green foliage — a line of 
 flame marking their passage. As in the retreat from 
 Moscow, no calamity however great, not even the 
 pangs of famine, could shake their constancy — so now, 
 after a weary flight of two hundred miles, they were 
 the same as in the flush of victory. The oaks rent 
 around them before the cannon balls that crashed on 
 every side — the huge limbs falling on their ranks, 
 striking down many a brave man — but they pressed 
 sternly on, cleared the wood, and soon won a part 
 of the plain Yictor and Macdonald had struggled for 
 so many hours to obtain. In the open space they 
 had thus snatched from the enemy, Drouot swiftly 
 advanced with his trusty guns. At first with fifteen 
 he opened his fire, then with fifteen more, then twenty, 
 and so on till fifty played with all the rapidity and 
 fearful accuracy which made the artillery of the Guard 
 BO formidable. He was in point-blank range, and the 
 seventy pieces of the enemy gave them a superiority 
 he must make up by rapidity of firing. It was terrific 
 to see those hundred and twenty cannon concen- 
 trated on so narrow a space, and in such close 
 range, exploding on each other. The guns of the 
 
180 THR OLD GUARD. 
 
 Guard seemed to move in fire, so rapidly were the;;? 
 discharged, while the accuracy of aim soon told with 
 fearful effect on the enemy. 
 
 In the midst of the volleys a large body of Bavarian 
 cavalry suddenly precipitated themselves on the bat- 
 teries of Drouot. The cannoneers seized their car- 
 bines — and now with the bayonet, and now with their 
 pieces clubbed, stretched them around their guns. 
 At this moment the cavalry of the Guard were seen 
 debouching in dark and imposing masses from the 
 forest. Wrede saw the gathering tempest that was 
 about to burst upon him, and rallying his cavalry, 
 and throwing his infantry into squares behind the 
 Russian dragoons, awaited the shock. The bugles 
 sounded the charge and breaking into a trot, then into 
 a gallop, those thundering squadrons fell on infantry, 
 cavalry, and artillery with such resistless violence 
 that the w^iole left wing of the army was swept from 
 the plain. Wrede then threw forward his right and 
 made a desperate effort to regain the ground he had 
 lost. The troops advanced gallantly, and the artillery 
 approached so near that the opposing gunners could 
 hear each other's voices. The scene then became 
 indescribably feaiful. It was one stream of light- 
 ning and peal of thunder through all the green alleys 
 of the forest. The huge tops of the oaks swung to 
 and fro and roared in the blast made by the balls as 
 though a storm was sweeping over them. Giant 
 
WINS THE BATTLE. 181 
 
 branches were hurled through the air, and all amid 
 the leafy recesses were seen charging columns and 
 exjiloding batteries, and crowds of carriages and 
 wagons, and a multitude of fugitives. In the centre 
 of this forest was ISTapoleon walking to and fro in the 
 road, listening with the deepest anxietj^ to the uproar 
 around him, and conversing at intervals with Caulin- 
 court. Defeat here he knew would be irretrievable 
 ruin, for he would be driven back upon his pursu- 
 ers, and crushed between two armies. "While such 
 painful thoughts were crowding his bosom a bomb 
 fell in the ditch beside him, the fuse still burn- 
 ing. He paid no attention to it, and Caulincourt 
 placing himself between it and the emperor, they 
 continued their conversation as before. The officei*s 
 of his staff looked on in amazement and held their 
 breath in terror, but the shell had sunk so deep in 
 the mire that it was extinguished before it had time 
 to burst. 
 
 The firing in the forest becoming still heavier. 
 Napoleon ordered two battalions of the Old Guard to 
 advance, which charging almost on a run, overthrew 
 everything in their passage, and forced the enemy 
 into a precipitate retreat. This brave corps never 
 behaved with greater intrepidity. A Captain Godau, 
 at the head of only two companies, charged and over- 
 threw several battalions of the Bavarians. Twc 
 
182 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 chasseui-s threw themselves in the tumult on the 
 ranks of the enemy, and bore away each a standard. 
 General Canibronne spurred all alone like Murat into 
 the midst of the fray. Three soldiers seeing him 
 dash forward, rushed after him — one of them snatch- 
 ing the banner of a guide from the very heart of a 
 Bavarian battalion. The gunners fought with unpa- 
 ralleled heroism, and this " Colunm of granite" again 
 showed itself woi-thy of the name it bore. It alone 
 opened the road to the army, and saved it from utter 
 annihilation. 
 
 That night, by the side of a blazing fire, in the 
 heart of the forest, !N"apoleon bivouacked in the midst 
 of his exhausted squares. He said afterwards that 
 at Hanau he had not merely won a victory, but had 
 carried a breach. 
 
 In this battle Wrede lost a fifth of his army, and 
 Europe learned for the hundredth time the danger 
 of attempting to stop the advance of the adamantine 
 columns of the Old Guard. 
 
 With saddened hearts they defiled over the Rhine, 
 and bid a final adieu to the scene of their achieve- 
 ments. Behind them lay Jena, Austerlitz, Wagram, 
 Eylau, and a host of fields where their iron ranks had 
 borne down everything that opposed them and theii 
 eagles soared in triumph — never to be revisited. On 
 the soil of beloved France — by their own hearthstones 
 
KETUKNS TO PARIS 183 
 
 they were now to show to the world examples of 
 heroism imeqiialled in the annals of war. 
 
 I^apoleon returned to Paris with a part of the 
 Guard, to prepare for the inundation of his empire by 
 nearly a million of men. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 1814. 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF THE GUARD. 
 
 Napoleon with Europe against liim— Care of his Guard— The Guard at Rothiere— 
 Captain Hauillet — Terrible cross inarch to attack Blucher— Victory of Champs 
 TAubert— The Old Guard at Montinirail— Its victory— Its protracted uiarcheg 
 and battles — Overthrow of Blucher — Return of the Guard to tlie help of Victor 
 and Oudinot — Its last battles and inarches— Desertion of Napoleon by his frienas 
 at his abdication— Faithfulness of the Guard— The parting scene at Fontainbieau 
 — ^The Guard by the side of its foes — Its bearing and aspect 
 
 At the close of the year 1813, Napoleon presented n 
 sad 3^et sublime spectacle. His first words on enter- 
 ing the senate, after his return from the disasters of 
 Leipsic, were, " A year ago all Europe marched with 
 us — to-day all Europe marches against us." From 
 the vast height of power to which he had reached, he 
 had descended step by step, battling bravely as he 
 went. Deserted by his allies, betrayed by the men 
 he had covered with honor, his dominions wrested 
 one by one from his grasp, his brothers dethroned, 
 and his own brother-in-law openly proclaiming liit- 
 
EUROPE AGAINST NAPOLEON. 185 
 
 treason, some of the heaviest blows he received com- 
 ino; from the hands of those whose fortunes he had 
 made, his army in fragments, his treasury exhausted, 
 while the bayonets of nearly a million of men were 
 pointing towards Paris, he yet showed no discourage- 
 ment, uttered no complaints, but calm and resolute 
 stood and surveyed the vast and dismaying prospect 
 as he was wont to do a doubtful battle-field. He was 
 grander in his great misfortunes than when with 
 Europe pressing after his standard, he two years 
 before crossed the Niemen in all the pomp and pride 
 of a conqueror. 
 
 To replenish the treasury, to create an army, to awe 
 the turbulent, and then stand up single-handed against 
 Europe in arms — these were the tasks before him. 
 He set the first example of self-sacrifice, by giving 
 into the public treasury six inilUons of dollars taken 
 from his private vaults in the Tuileries. 
 
 A decree ordering a levy of 300,000 soldiers wa^ 
 made, and another augmenting the Guard to 112,500 
 men. During January of this year he issued no less 
 than five decrees concerning his Guard, He seemed 
 to be more solicitous about it than ever before. In 
 the disasters of the last two years he had felt its value 
 more than in the full tide of victory. He had fallen 
 back on it again and again in the hour of utmost 
 peril, and always found it a " column of granite." 
 Though its charge on the enemy's centre at Leipsic 
 
186 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 was not successful as at Wagram and otlier fielda 
 of its fame, yet it never made a nobler charge or 
 showed more dauntless bravery. Treason and over- 
 whelming nmnbers wrested the victory from its 
 eagles. 
 
 The levy, however, was not successful. France 
 was exhausted not only of her men, but even of her 
 youth, and boys were now in his greatest need tc 
 form his battalions. To add to his trouble, as for- 
 tune always seems to delight in pushing down a fall- 
 ing favorite, the Typhus fever broke out among his 
 troops along the Rhine. They had caught it in the 
 plains of Germany, and these veterans who had 
 fallen back from the different fortresses and cities 
 which they held were swept off by thousands. 
 
 Thus he was deprived of a large number of the few 
 experienced soldiers the disasters of the -last year had 
 left him. Notwithstanding all this and the appalling 
 aspect of a million of men rising up and swearing to 
 complete his overthrow — seven hundred thousand of 
 them sweeping steadily down upon the soil of France, 
 their bayonets pointing towards his capital — h'e stood 
 nobly at bay. Having entrusted his wife and son to 
 the National Guard in a speech full of feeling, he bade 
 them adieu, little dreaming it was to be a final one, 
 and set out for head-quarters at Chalons. 
 
 It was in the latter part of January that ho reached 
 the shattered and discouraged army, falling back od 
 
ITS GEEAT CAMPAIGN. 187 
 
 every side before the enemy. Rallying it by bis 
 presence, he immediately took the offensive and sur- 
 prised Blucher with thirty thousand men near Brienne 
 The latter, however, made a stubborn resistance, and 
 the advance guard of the French was forced to retire, 
 when eight thousand of the Old Guard arrived and 
 cleared the field. Blucher, however, rallied his troops 
 behind his formidable artillery, and prepared to give 
 battle on the following morning. Mortier who had 
 made this bold irruption, fell back to wait the arrival 
 of the main body, toiling up through mud and snow 
 into which the artillery sank at every step, made 
 but slow progress. A Captain Hauillet, wnth a sin- 
 gle company of the foot chasseurs of the Old Guard, 
 was appointed to cover this retrograde movement. 
 But soon after he had taken his position, an over- 
 whelming force of Austrians suddenly came upon 
 him. There seemed no escape to this devoted little 
 band — but they were a part of the Old Guard, and 
 if they fell, it would be like the Spartan band in 
 Thermopylae. Their heroic officer immediately con- 
 centrated his few soldiers and callino^ too^ether the 
 drummers he ordered the chasseurs not to fire, but 
 to advance with the bayonet. The charge was then 
 beaten and at the head of only a hundred and fifty 
 men, he flung himself with such desperate energy 
 on the nve thousand Austrians advancing; against 
 
188 THE 01 D GUARD. 
 
 him, that he broke their ranks in pieces, and \nn them 
 to flight. 
 
 The battle of Brienne followed, and although the 
 columns of the Old and Young Guard pressed for- 
 ward amid the driving snow against the batteries, 
 and stood firm under repeated charges of cavalry and 
 infaiitr}^, yet they could not wring victory from the 
 enemy. The constantly increasing forces of the allies 
 rendered their numerical superiority so great that 
 jN^apoleon at night ordered a retreat. lie fell back 
 to Troyes, and three days after to IS^ogent. 
 
 In the meantime the allied army divided. The 
 Austrians following up !N"apoleon, were to march on 
 Paris by way of Montereau down the valley of the 
 Seine, while Blucher with the army of Silesia was to 
 move upon Chalons, and descend by the Marne to 
 the capital. The latter, full of energy and decision, 
 was the antagonist first to be disposed of — for sweep 
 ing over the country without opposition, driving the 
 affrighted peasants in crowds before him, he marched 
 so rapidly towards Paris that the inhabitants were 
 filled with terror. 
 
 Crippled for want of soldiers, lN"apoleon was una- 
 ble to resist both of these formidable arrays at once, 
 and resolved therefore to leave Yictor and Oudinot 
 with a small portion of the troops to check, as long 
 as possible, the slow and methodical advance of the 
 A-Ustrians, and with the elite of the army, dash 
 
A WINTER MAKCH. .189 
 
 across the country and inflict a sudden and terrible 
 blow on Blucher. The latter knew that IsTapoleon 
 was on his left, but this gave him no disquietude, for 
 the head-quarters of the emperor were thirty mi]*^^ 
 distant, and the cross-roads were nothing but beds of 
 mortar through which it would be impossible for him 
 to drag his artillery. Besides, he had on his hands 
 the allied army vastly superior to his own even undi- 
 vided, and he would not dare leave it an open road 
 to Paris, But a desperate condition requires despe- 
 rate measures, and the advantage to Napoleon of the 
 foolish dislocation of the invading army was too 
 great to be neglected. So on the 9th of February he 
 started from Nogent, and at night was half way to 
 Blucher. But such was the state of the roads, that 
 it required the most extraordinary exertions to com- 
 plete those fifteen miles. The artillery carriages 
 rolled along up to their axles in mud, the cavalry 
 floundered on, while the foot soldiers could scarcely 
 force their way. Next morning, after entering the 
 forest of Traconne the roads became still worse, the 
 cannon stuck fast in the clay, and the drivers declar- 
 ing it was impossible to extricate them, Marmont, 
 who commanded the advance, wheeled about. When 
 ti.e state of things was reported to Napoleon, he said, 
 " The passage must be made even though the cannon 
 are left behind." He would have been compelled to 
 xxidke this sacrifice of his guns, if the mayor of Bar- 
 
190 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 bonne liad not at liis command furnisiied five hundred 
 horses, by ^vliich they were at length pulled out. 
 
 Early on the morning of the 10th, the troops were 
 all reunited, with the exception of a division of 
 mounted grenadiers of the Guard which could not get 
 tlirough, the army in advance had so cut up and en- 
 cumbered the road. 
 
 In the meantime Marmont heading still the ad- 
 vance, ascended at nine o'clock the heights that over- 
 look the valley of Petit Morin, and saw with delight 
 a corps of 5000 Prussians below him ; the soldiers 
 unconscious of danger, quietly preparing their break- 
 fast. 'No sooner did the Emperor's eye take in the 
 welcome spectacle, than he ordered a general attack, 
 and a butchery and rout followed. The Prussian 
 General with nearly the whole corps was taken. By 
 this grand stroke he had cut the allied army in two, 
 and could turn on whichever he liked. 
 
 The next morning at five o'clock, E^apoleon was on 
 horseback, hurrying on his weary troops to Montmirai) 
 to intercept Sacken, another of Blucher's generals, 
 who, astounded at this sudden apparition of the 
 French Emperor on his flanks, was making all haste 
 to join his commander. But the Old Guard proved 
 too quick for him, the infantry had left the field of 
 battle where they had bivouacked an hour before 
 daylight, and preceded by the mounted chasseurs, 
 reached Montmirail, as Sacken was approacliing it 
 
THE YlKhl) OF BATTLPJ. 19l 
 
 The latter, to whom this town, lying as it did directly 
 in his path, was of vital importance, immediately 
 commenced an attack. Being superior in numbers, 
 ne was able to maintain the fight for five hours witli- 
 out losing ground. At length, as night approached, 
 sixteen battalions of the Old Guard arrived, under 
 Friant. ^ These were immediately formed into a sin- 
 gle column, each battalion a hundred steps from the 
 other, and ordered to advance full on the enemy's 
 centre. At the same time ^lortier arrived with six- 
 teen other battalions of the Young Guard, six of 
 which took their station on the right of Friant, to 
 sustain the attack of the Old Guard. Sacken had 
 forty cannon placed so as to command the approaches 
 to his central position, while a triple row of tirail- 
 leurs sustained by battalions of infantry, lined the 
 hedges on either side. On these murderous batteries 
 and over these formidable obstacles the Old Guard 
 led by 'Ney, advanced. Napoleon himself gave the 
 signal of attack, and those resolute veterans charged 
 on, a run over the farm of Haute Epine. The com- 
 bat was friojhtful — -Sacken was fio-htino^ for life — Na- 
 poleon for his empire. The Prussians were deter- 
 mined to be cut down to a man rather than yield, and 
 the Old Guard for once seemed to have charged a 
 rock — but at this moment Napoleon ordered the 
 lancers, dragoons, and mounted grenadiers, to gain 
 the rear and fall suddenly on the shattered masses 
 
192 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 of the enemy. As they defiled past him he said^ 
 " Brave young men, there is the enemy, will you allow 
 him to march to Paris ?" Shaking their sabres abovo 
 their heads, they exclaimed, " We will not," and 
 rending the air with shouts, broke into a gallop, and 
 falling with irresistible power on the hitherto steady 
 ranks, trampled them under their horses' hoofs. The 
 rout was complete, and but the mere debris of the 
 army escaped by a disorderly flight through the fields 
 
 Night had now arrived, and Napoleon commanded 
 the rally to be sounded in order to rest his exhausted 
 troops for the next day's efforts. He slept in a farm- 
 house on some straw from which the enemy's wounded 
 had just been removed, while four thousand men lay 
 dead or dying around him. The next morning the 
 reveille beat before daybreak, and Napoleon at the 
 head of his tireless Guard started in pursuit. Eight 
 Prussian battalions w^hich did not arrive till too late 
 to take part in the battle, covered Sacken's retreat. 
 As the French approached, these battalions advanced 
 to meet them, but a battalion of the Old Guard drove 
 in the tirailleurs, while six other battalions fell on 
 them in front. At the same time the dragoons of 
 the Guard came thundering on, breaking through the 
 first and second lines, and putting all to flight. 
 
 The enemy lost two thousand more during the re' 
 treat of this day. 
 
 In the meantime, Blucher, who was at Yirtus, had 
 
DEFEAT OF BLUCHEK. 19.^ 
 
 been informed of the sudden apparition of Kapoleon 
 among his divided corps by the disasters at Champ 
 Aubert; and while the fugitives from that fatal field 
 were pouring into the streets of the town where he 
 lay, he heard the heavy cannonading at Montmirail 
 and knew the danger in which Sacken was placed. 
 Still he could not march to his relief, for he had but 
 few troops with him, and Marmont was watching his 
 movements. Besides he was waiting for the arrival 
 of two corps, which were hastening to join him. At 
 length being reinforced, he set out for Montmirail, 
 driving Marmont before him. 
 
 Napoleon, as we have seen, had started on the 9th 
 across the country, making thirty miles of hoi-rible 
 road by the morning of the 10th — having marched all 
 night — the same day he gained the battle of Champ 
 Aubert, the next, the 11th, he fought and won that 
 of Montmirail, the 12th he kept up the pursuit, fight- 
 ing as. he went, and yet on the night of the 13th, 
 hearing that Blucher had advanced to Etoges, he set 
 out w^ith his Guard and a portion of his other forces, 
 and next morning was marching full on that place. 
 Marmont had just evacuated the little village of 
 Vaux Champ, fighting bravely as he retired, and was 
 retreating along the road to Montmirail, when the 
 bear-skin caps and eagles of the Old G-uard suddenly 
 appeared. The effect was electric. The retreating 
 troops halted, and rending the air with the most fran 
 9 
 
194 Tire OLD GUA^D. 
 
 tic hurrahs, demanded to be led against tlie enemy 
 The Emperor was in their midst, and amid the long 
 and deafening shouts of " Vive VEmpereur^''' the 
 cavah'j went hurrying forward, while the skirmishers 
 gave way to the heads of massive columns of in 
 fantry that went rolling on the foe. Marmont's 
 squadron of escort charged alone on tlie Prus- 
 sians. Four squadrons of service of JS'apoleon fol- 
 lowed them. Soon the whole French line was in 
 movement, and Blucher was compelled to retreat. 
 The road along which he passed was lined with lofty 
 elms — in this he placed his artillery, which fired as it 
 j'etired, while the infantry in solid squares moved 
 through the fields on either side. On these the cavalry 
 of the Guard charged incessantly, mowing them down 
 with terrible slaughter. Especially when tlie enemy 
 had passed Janvilliers and debouched into the vast 
 open country beyond, the carnage became frightful. 
 Drouotwith his artillery, strewed the plain wjth the 
 dead, while the cavalry thundered on the shaking 
 masses in repeated shocks, carrying away whole regi- 
 ments at a time. But for the miry soil in which the 
 horse artillery got fastened. Grouchy would have 
 taken Blucher with his whole army. As it was, out 
 of 20,000 men, he saved less than two thirds. The 
 cavaby of the Guard was in constant action during 
 this combat, and with Grouchy and his squadrons, 
 covered itself ^ith glory. 
 
ITS OinOAT ICFFORTS. 195 
 
 That niglit ^^apcleon, with the Old Guard, slept 
 at Montmirail. 
 
 But tho'igh the Guard had now travelled and 
 fought six days without intermission, I^apoleon 
 started with it in the morning to the help of Yictor 
 and Oudinot, whom the allies, after his departure, 
 had assailed and driven back almost to the gates of 
 Paris. 
 
 It is painful to witness his gigantic efforts at this 
 period, and remember they did not prove success- 
 ful. After having by unheard of exertion carried 
 his army and artillery across a country considered 
 impassable, and fought and beaten a superior enemy 
 five days in succession, he was overrun by couriers 
 announcing to him that N^ogent had been taken by 
 assault, Moret, Nemours, and Montargis had fallen, 
 that the advanced posts of the enemy were at the 
 gat^s of Orleans, and the Cossacks were swarming 
 through the forest and palace of Fontainbleau- —that 
 Auxerre had been captured and the garrison put 
 to the sword, and the light troops of the enemy 
 were covering the whole plain between the Seine and 
 Loire, and that the reserve artillery and heavy bag- 
 gage of the army had nearly reached the tages of 
 Paris in its flight, filling the inhabitants with con- 
 Bternation. Such were the tidings that from hour to 
 hour reached his ears, as he and his devoted Guard 
 were pressing so fiercely the army of Blucher. "Nq 
 
1^6 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 wonder lie could not rest. With one inferior arrn/;, 
 he must fight two, thirty or forty miles apart. No- 
 thing but winged troops could do this long. Still hiu 
 courage and will remained unshaken. Leaving Mar* 
 mont, Mortier, and Grouchy, to watch Blucher, as he 
 had left Yictor and Oudinot to resist the advance of 
 the allies, he took with him only his tireless Guard and 
 the cuirasseurs, and started to the help of his hard 
 pressed lieutenants. The roads were so bad that he 
 could not go directly across the country, and he there- 
 fore turned aside and plunged into the forest of Brie, 
 which he found filled with fugitives, fleeing before 
 the enemy. The infantry went by post while the 
 cavalry marched day and night for thirty-six Tiours. 
 No troops but the unconquerable Guard could have 
 undergone the exertions and labor they had endured 
 for six days, and then made this cross march of 
 thirty-six hours over almost impassable roads, for the 
 sole purpose of attacking a fresh and superior enemy. 
 
 Such deeds as these elevate it above the common 
 standard of mortals, and fill the mind with wonder 
 and admiration. 
 
 It was high time for Bonaparte to arrive. He had 
 sent a despatch to Yictor and Oudinot announcing 
 that he would come by the cross-road to Chalons, and 
 they were straining every nerve to preserve it open, 
 for if once closed by the enemy, it would be out 
 of the power of Napoleon to efiect a junction witb 
 
FATIGUING MARCH. ' 197 
 
 til em. As the post wagons and other vehicles, con- 
 taining the Old Guard, came on a furious gallop 
 along this road, preceded by the cavalry, the plain in 
 front of them was seen to be covered with clouds of 
 smoke, amid which were heard incessant explosions 
 of artillery. Oudinot and Yictor were struggling 
 nobly to preserve the road open, but pressed as they 
 were by superior numbers, another hour would have 
 found it closed and Napoleon been too late. 
 
 Ahead of all his troops, he dashed forward with 
 his escort to where the firing was heaviest, and lo, he 
 saw before him the whole French army in full re- 
 treat. Suddenly the standards of the cuirasseurs 
 announcing that the Emperor had come, were seen, 
 and then a shout went up like the cry of deMrious 
 joy. As these tired veterans swept onward, bearing 
 their stern chieftain in their midst, " Vive VEm^pe- 
 reur^^ rolled from rank to rank, till it died away amid 
 the explosions of cannon on the distant plain. The 
 retreat was at once stopped along the whole line, 
 columns of attack were formed, and the advancing 
 enemy checked at all points. 
 
 Napoleon, satisfied with having effected this, ordered 
 a halt, that his over-worked troops might get a little 
 rest. The poor fellows who, exhausted as they were, 
 would have charged the enemy's batteries without a 
 nmrmur, glad of a little respite, sunk to sleep on the 
 ground where they stood. 
 
198 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 The next day Napoleon drove the allies from tlie.i 
 position with great slaughter, and though the 01 ;j 
 Guard carried its eagles triumphantly as ever, it was 
 too exhausted to make a vigorous pursuit, by which 
 the Bavarians were saved from utter ruin. 
 
 Two days after, February 18th, the battle of Mon- 
 tereau was fought. From early in the morning till 
 late in the afternoon, Victor, and afterward Gerard, 
 strove gallantly to carry the heights of Surville ; the 
 latter again and again leading his men up to the very 
 mouths of forty pieces of artillery. But the sacrifice 
 and valor were alike in vain. At length as evening 
 approached, Napoleon came up on a gallop with the 
 artillery and cavalry of the Old Guard. Supported 
 by its guns, the Guard with loud shouts and resolute 
 step, pressed forward, and storming over those flam- 
 ing heights, swept them as with a single blow, of 
 artillery, infantry, and cavalry, which rolled together 
 down in wild confusion upon the bridge. Sixty 
 pieces of artillery of the Old Guard were then 
 placed where the enemy's batteries had been all day 
 long vomiting fire on the French columns of attack, 
 and concentrated their close and deadly volleys upon 
 the masses crowding frantically over the bridge. In 
 his eagerness. Napoleon took charge of a cannon, 
 pointing it himself. The cannoneers of the Old 
 Guard, covered with powder and smoke, gazed with 
 wonder on thei^ Emperor discharging the duties of ? 
 
AIXIKS KETRKAT, 
 
 19* 
 
 common gimner, and as the shot of the enemy whis- 
 tled around them, they besought him to retire from 
 the danger. They cared not for themselves, they 
 were accustomed to the crash of cannon balls, but 
 they were filled with alarm to see the messengers of 
 death filling the air around their beloved Emperor. 
 But he replied gaily, as the light of early days 
 flashed over his stern features, " Courage, my friends, 
 the bullet which is to kill me is not yet cast." 
 
 The allied army, shattered and bleeding, fled over 
 the Seine, and joy and hope filled the bosom of IS'a- 
 poleon. 
 
 But while these extraordinary successes were dis- 
 pelling the gloom that overhung the prospects of the 
 Emperor, a new cloud was gathering on another por- 
 tion of the French frontier. Bernadotte, whose for- 
 tunes Napoleon had made, and who, but for him, 
 would never have been king of Sweden, w^hose 
 crown the latter at any time could have crushed like 
 a shell in his hand ; — this weak-minded, selfish, un- 
 grateful Gascon taking it into his conceited head that 
 he might become Emperor of France, had entered 
 his native country by way of Cologne, and with a 
 powerful army was now moving tow^ards Paris. 
 
 ^Notwithstanding all this, the allied sovereigns wei*e 
 filled with terror and dismay at the rapid and terri- 
 ole blows ISTapoleon had inflicted on them, and were 
 anxious to come to terms with him before greater dis 
 
200 I'HE OLD GUARD. 
 
 asters should overtake them. With nearly two hun. 
 dred thousand men, they had been scourged and 
 humbled by seventy thousand ; Blucher had lost 
 twenty thousand, while Napoleon was weakened by 
 not more than four thousand men. The army undei 
 Schwartzenberg too, within a few days had lost twelve 
 thousand — in all nearly half as many men as the 
 French Emperor had at any time brought into the 
 field. The lion was awake again, and with his Old 
 Guard was storming over their batteries and treading 
 down their veteran troops as he had done at Jena, 
 Austerlitz, and Friedland. They were alarmed, for 
 they began to hear again his cannon thundering on 
 the gates of their capitals. A treaty was proposed, but 
 among other hard conditions which it contained, it re- 
 quired Kapoleon to abandon all his conquests and 
 restore France to the limits of the monarchy under" 
 Louis XIY. To the former part of the cond-itions he 
 would consent, but to the latter, never. At Frank- 
 fort they had offered to let the Rhine form the boun- 
 dary of France, and this he was now willing to grant, 
 great as the sacrifice was. 
 
 Many have blamed him for not accepting these 
 terms, and reposing himself, till vrith recruited 
 strength and means he might again take the field. 
 This was the course Austria and Prussia had repeat 
 edly pursued. When his armies were in their capi 
 tals, those monarchs would submit to any terms 
 
napoleon's resolution. 201 
 
 inwardly resolved to violate the most sacred treaties 
 the moment an opportunity occurred in which there 
 was a prospect of success. Though allies with him 
 in the invasion of Russia, they both turned against him 
 when the disastrous retreat from Moscow had weak- 
 ened his power. But Napoleon was as much above 
 these sovereigns in magnanimity as he was in genius. 
 He would consent to nothing but a solid peace and 
 one honorable to himself and the French people, and 
 when urged by his minister, Maret, to yield to neces- 
 sity, he made no reply, but taking up a volume of 
 Montesquieu, read aloud, " I know nothing more 
 magnanimous than the I'esolution which a monarch 
 took who has reigned in our times (Louis XI Y.) to 
 bury himself under the ruins of his throne rather 
 than accept conditions unworthy of a king. lie had 
 a mind too lofty to descend lower than his fortunes 
 had sunk him, he knew well that courage may 
 strengthen a crown, but infamy never." Sustained 
 by such a lofty resolution, he turned, sombre and stern 
 and with an undaunted heart, on his foes. 
 
 It was unfortunate for him that he did not carry 
 out his original plan of bringing Eugene from Italy 
 to his aid. After his repulse at Rothiere, he sent a 
 despatch to him to hasten across the Alps and threaten 
 the allies in rear. This would have brought 40,000 
 fresh troops into the field, and at a dangerous point to 
 the enemy. But his great successes gave him cour 
 9* 
 
202 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 age, and he countermanded the order. In fact Im 
 did not consider himself in so much peril as othei*s 
 did, for he had not lost a single battle, if we except 
 the repulse at the outset, at Rothiere. He had met 
 with but 07ie repulse, while he and his Guard had 
 swept every field on which they had struggled. 
 
 Having driven back the allies under Schwai-tzen- 
 berg, Napoleon again turned his attention to Blucher, 
 who having recovered from the severe chastisement 
 he had received, was marching rapidly on Paris. He 
 had reached Meaux, only three days' march from the 
 city, and the thunder of his cannon had been heard 
 there, striking terror into the hearts of its inhabi- 
 tants. 
 
 But this iron-willed Prussian, while exulting in the 
 near prospect of beholding the French capital, was 
 arrested with the stunning news that Napoleon with 
 his Old Guard, was thundering in his rear. He 
 immediately retreated in great haste toward Soissons, 
 around which Bernadotte's army lay, in the hope to 
 effect a junction with it and offer his pursuer battle. 
 Soissons was deemed impregnable and was in posses- 
 sion of the French. Napoleon had sent to General 
 Moreau, the commander, to defend it with his brave 
 Poles, the remnant of Poniatowski's corps, to the "last 
 drop of their blood." Instead of obeying this peremp- 
 tory order, the cowardly or traitorous comnaandei 
 gave up the place without striking a blow, and thai 
 
FALL OF SOISSONS. 2 OS 
 
 too just as Bluclier was approaching it with his tat- 
 tered, ragged, and exhausted army, feeling that he 
 was marching on certain destruction. But for this 
 Bhameful rendition, the army of Silesia would have 
 been annihilated, and the whole aspect of the cam- 
 paign changed. 
 
 [N'apoleon was thrown into a transport of rage at 
 this unexpected overthrow of his sagacious combina- 
 tion, exclaiming, " the name of Moreau always brings 
 misfortune." The weakness or crime of one com- 
 mander, had sufficed to render all his skilful plans 
 and wearisome marches fruitless. While he was 
 expecting to deal a death-blow to the army of Silesia, 
 and then turn back as before, and punish the tardy 
 army, under Schwartzenberg, he saw the former join 
 his troops to those of Bernadotte, swelling their 
 forces to over a hundred thousand men, while he had 
 not half that number under his command. It was 
 enough to break the heart of a strong man to see 
 genius and effort thus rendered useless, and such 
 splendid combinations overthrown by the fault of one 
 officer. It seemed as if Fate was detennined to 
 drive this great soul to madness. Kapoleon, how- 
 ever, with his exhausted army, moved forward and 
 attacked the enemy in their almost impregnable 
 position at Craonne. Prodigies of valor were per- 
 formed in this bloody attack. Drouot in the midst 
 of his guns, the Old Guard staggering under the fire 
 
204 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 of sixty cannon, wearied columns plunging with loud 
 cheers on positions that looked unassailable, un- 
 bounded devotion of officers and men, combined to 
 make it one of the most remarkable days of Napo- 
 leon's life. Still it was the Old Guard tliat wrought 
 the miracles that paralyzed the enemy, and finally 
 forced it to retire. In writing to Joseph, Napoleon 
 said, " The Old Guard alone stood firm — the rest 
 melted like %now?'' Alas, the Old Guard had also 
 melted away, but only under the tremendous fire of 
 the enemy's batteries, and on the spot where they 
 stood. 
 
 Napoleon now saw that from the perils which en- 
 vironed him, nothing short of a miracle could deliv- 
 er him, and while traversing this bloody battle-field 
 in gloom, said, " I see clearly that this war is an 
 abyss, hut I will he the last to hury myself in it. If 
 we must wear the fetters it is not I who will stretch 
 out my hands to receive them.'''* 
 
 Firm and calm he still stood at bay — nay, pushed 
 boldly on the enemy. Following up the retreating 
 armies of Blucher and Bernadotte to Laon, he re- 
 solved to give battle, though the enemy occupied an 
 exceedingly strong position with a force more than 
 double his own. It was a desperate resolution, but 
 nothing short of desperate means could save him. 
 
 Having taken up his position in front of the place. 
 
THE GUARD RETREATS. 205 
 
 he however waited the arrival of Marmont to whom he 
 had sent despatches to join him, before venturing an 
 attack. This marshal who, with great generalship, 
 was always committing egregious blunders, was fast 
 coming up, and on the 9th bivouacked within a few 
 miles of TTapoleon. The next day lie would have 
 effected a junction. Yet notwithstanding he was in 
 the neighborliood of the enemy, with whom he had 
 been engaged during the day, he allowed himself to 
 be surprised at night, and utterly annihilated. 
 
 This unexpected disaster compelled Kapoleon to 
 retreat. It was with gloomy forebodings that after 
 such prodigious efforts he took up his retrograde 
 march without having struck a decisive blow. 
 
 Before he left Laon, however, he made the enemy 
 feel the weight of his terrible Guard, which so daunted 
 them that no pursuit was attempted. 
 
 Overmatched and exhausted as IS'apoleon now was, 
 he still looked resolutely on the circle of fire that was 
 steadily growing narrower around him. His great 
 heart beat as firmly as in the hour of victory, and the 
 depth of his anguish could be seen only by the 
 increased sternness and gravity of his aspect. He 
 seemed to be gazing gloomily into the future, and as 
 he stood amid his unconquerable Guard, now nc 
 longer in complete uniform with burnished arms, but 
 ragged and wan, besmeared with smoke and powder, 
 
206 TUE OLD GUARD. 
 
 he seemed the embodiment of thought surrounded b;^ 
 the shattered instruments of power. Those scarred 
 veterans who had so often sent up the sliout of vic- 
 tory at his presence, gazed on him with greater awe 
 than ever. In the long and silent moods that came 
 over him, they saw the terrible future before them. 
 They were not accustomed to such constant fits of 
 abstraction, and they jocularly called him '-'- Father 
 ThouglitfulP, Still their secret convictions belied 
 their outward gaiety, for although they felt strong in 
 their resolution and valor, they could not but see that 
 the struggle was growing hopeless. To die for their 
 Emperor w^as an easy task, but would that save him ! 
 Forgetting themselves, they thouglit only of him, as 
 he, forgetting himself, thought only of France. 
 
 But though wearied and overtasked, his was a will 
 that nothing could break — a heart that no danger or 
 calamity could crush, and while Blucher was resting 
 idle atLaon, he fell suddenly on Rheims, occupied by 
 St. Priest with 14,000 men, and took it, relieving 
 the army of a third of its number, together with its 
 infamous commander. Here he had a last review of 
 his Old Guard, and a sad spectacle those scarred vet- 
 erans presented. For nearly two months they had 
 marched over the most impassable roads, fought two 
 armies each superior to their own, submitted to un.pa- 
 ralleled fatio^ue without a murmur: and now hairsiard 
 and wan, their uniform in tatters, their horses mere 
 
ITS APPEARANCE. 207 
 
 skeletons, their guns battered and black, all showing 
 what privations and toil and incessant conflicts they 
 had endured, they looked the mere wreck of their 
 former selves. Still their appearance was nothing 
 compared to that of the broken down young con- 
 scripts and other portions of the army. As Kapoleon 
 saw these last defile past him, a frown darkened his 
 features, for " coming events were casting their 
 shadows before," but when his glance fell on the 
 eagles of the Old Guard, and he beheld their firm set 
 ranks move by, a smile of triumph relaxed his stern 
 expression, for he felt that he might not despair so 
 long as that iron band closed around him. 
 
 'No sooner w^as Schwartzenberg apprised of ]^apo- 
 leon's departure to arrest Blucher, than he advanced 
 against the slight curtain of troops under Oudinot 
 and Macdonald, left to dispute his advance to Paris. 
 The French marshals were of course driven back, . 
 although obstinately contesting every inch of ground 
 as they retired. 
 
 The serious aspect of affairs in this quarter hur- 
 ried Napoleon back as before, but not victorious as 
 then over Blucher. 
 
 His junction with Oiidinot filled the allies with, 
 alarm, and Schwartzenberg hastily concentrated his 
 forces, fearing one of those sudden and desperate 
 blows the Emperor w^as accustomed to give with ^hig 
 Old Guard. The latter endeavored to manoeuvre ov 
 
208 THE OLD GUAiy). 
 
 the flank and rear of the enemy, but their rapid cou 
 centration prevented him, so that he was compelled to 
 attack a force double his own, and the battle of Arcis- 
 sLir-Aube was fought. On the first day iN^apoleon 
 was in the midst of the Guard, who stood firm as a 
 rock under one of the most terrific cannonades to 
 which they had ever been exposed. Nearly every 
 one of his staff was killed or wounded by his side. 
 A bomb fell in front of one of the battalions of con- 
 scripts, which caused a sudden confusion in their 
 ranks. Napoleon, conscious of his imminent peril 
 unless his troops stood firm, spurred fiercely up to 
 the shell and made his horse smell it. It burst, 
 overthrowing both him and his steed. With the same 
 impassible face, whose serenity no power on earth 
 seemed able to disturb, he arose from his mutilated 
 steed and calmly mounting another, stood with gloom 
 on his brow, but grand and resolute as ever, in the 
 vortex of the battle. Again and again he spurred 
 at the head of his Guard on the most deadly batteries, 
 and though all around him were struck, he seemed 
 to bear a charmed life. 
 
 At ten at night the batteries ceased playing, and 
 the two armies sunk to rest on the field they had piled 
 with the dead, 
 
 Tlie next day Napoleon seeing that it was useless 
 to contend in such a position against an army so 
 vastly superior to his own, commenced a retrent, 
 
THE MARCH TO PARIS. 209 
 
 which he eifected in perfect order, though a hundred 
 cannon were playing upon his retiring columns. The 
 loss was nearly equal in this bloody engagement, and 
 neither could claim the victory, but nothing now 
 could arrest the double movement of the allies on 
 Paris. JS^apoleon then saw the mistake he had made 
 in not having relinquished his hold on Holland, Italy, 
 and Spain, and brought up the veteran armies that 
 were there struggling to retain his possessions. Still 
 he did not despair, and hoped to divert the allies from 
 their onward movement by marching back towards 
 the Rhine, and falling on their communications. To 
 his surprise, however, they let him go, and moved 
 en masse upon Paris. When he at last discovered 
 their determination, he wheeled about, and taking 
 with him the Old Guard, strained every nerve to 
 reach the city before its downfall. Previous to start- 
 ing, however, he delivered another of his terrible 
 blows on the force left to watch his movements. 
 
 The devoted G-uard which had borne the weight of 
 this campaign, which was called " Campaign of the 
 Imperial Guard," and had made unparalleled marches 
 and endured privations that would have broken the 
 spirit and strength of any other soldiers in Europe, 
 were now called upon to put forth still greater efforts. 
 When Kapoleon announced to them that the enemy 
 was marching on Paris, and they must hasten to its 
 relief, they answered him with a shout, and soon 
 
210 THE OLD GUARD.^ 
 
 those brave men were seen moving like winged 
 •troops over the country. Although in the most fright- 
 ful condition, having been without bread for the last 
 six days, and for the most part barefoot, suffering 
 grievously for the mere necessaries of life, they cheer- 
 fully traversed the miry roads in the midst of pelting 
 storms, sternly crowding after their agitated, but still 
 indomitable chief. A little after midnight of the 
 30th, they arrived at Troyes, having marched twenty- 
 four hours without rest, making the astonishing dis- 
 tance oi forty miles. But no troops could long stand 
 such a strain, and Napoleon was compelled to leave 
 them behind to rest a short time; and proceeded 
 alone without any escort towards Paris. His agita- 
 tion, wild ride, and distress and anger when he heard 
 of the capitulation of the city, are well known. The 
 thunderbolt had fallen. 
 
 But dark as the prospect now grew around him, 
 he did not yield to despair. He had entered the 
 capitals of every sovereign whose troops now swarmed 
 through Paris. In their kingly palaces he had dic- 
 tated terms to them and treated them like kings still, 
 and they must reciprocate this treatment. But to' his 
 surprise those monarchs, who had not hesitated to 
 make treaties with him up to the last moment, no 
 sooner found themselves in possession of Paris, than 
 they refused to recognise him as a legitimate sove- 
 reign. Ah, how deeply he must have regretted tlien 
 
FALl OF PARIS. 211 
 
 the leniency he bad shown them in former years, and 
 bitterly remembered the hour when, with a single 
 blow, he could have dismembered faithless Austria, 
 but forbore. 
 
 Still his case was not hopeless — he had bivouacked 
 amid the ashes of Moscow, but the Russian army did 
 not die. He had bombarded Vienna, but the king 
 remained ; he had marched into Berlin, but the Prus- 
 sian columns were not extinct. True, Paris had 
 fallen and he looked round on a vast ruin ; but the 
 monarchs who spurned him now had looked upon as 
 great a ruin wrought by his hands, and with less 
 genius and resources than he possessed, had risen again, 
 and he would show them the lion was not yet dead. 
 He had not been beaten in a single battle — only once, 
 and that in the first engagement at Rothiere, had he 
 been even repulsed. With vastly inferior forces he 
 had been victorious in every engagement. Through 
 constant defeats the enemy had entered his capital. 
 He had been accustomed to march over routed armies 
 into their capitals, but over him and that Old Guard 
 they could not with their gathered millions go. They 
 had succeeded because with his few troops he could 
 not block every passage leading from the extended 
 frontiers of France to its heart. With one army he 
 could not spread himself the whole breadth of his 
 empire and arrest the march of three armies. Against 
 either one he was always successful, and but for acci- 
 
212 TUK OLD GUARD. 
 
 deuts no man could anticipate, instead of heathi^ 
 these separately, he would have annihilated them in 
 succession. But he had failed, and now he stood 
 amid perils that might well daunt the stoutest heart. 
 Still there was room for hope. Suchet had 20,000 
 veterans in Spain. Soult, who had retreated into 
 France, had over 30,000. Marmont and Mortier, who 
 had retired from Paris on its capture, had also a large 
 army. Augereau was at the head of another, Prince 
 Eugene of another, while his own forces numbered 
 50,000, among which, with spirits unbroken, was the 
 steadfast Old Guard. Besides all these, Davoust still 
 held Hamburg, and Camot Bergen op Zoom, which 
 places, together with Magdebourg, "Wesel, Mayence, 
 Barcelona, Antwerp, Mantua, and Alexandria, con- 
 tained over 90,000 men and twelve thousand cannon 
 all at his disposal. One of the last shouts in the bat- 
 tle around Paris, was " Yive V Einjpereur^'' from some 
 of the Old Guard who had fought like lions under 
 Curial. His marshals — veterans tried in a hundred 
 battles — also remained to him. Davoust, Suchet, 
 Soult, Yictor, Marmont, Mortier, Massena, Eugene, 
 and Ney — ^hosts in themselves, were left. !N"ot an 
 army had been dissipated, and he could look around 
 on a force vast enough, with him and his marshals at 
 its head, to cope with Europe in arms against him. 
 
 At all events he would strike for his empire, so 
 long as a blow could be given. Filled with this io 
 
REVIEW AT FONTAINBLEAU. 213 
 
 termination, he, at Fontainbleau, whither he had 
 retired, immediately began to put his Guard in a 
 proper condition for active service. Having made 
 several changes among the commanding officers, he 
 reviewed it. The infantry were ranged along two 
 sides ; fifteen deep, and after he had gone through their 
 ranks, he called around him the older officers and 
 soldiers of each company, and forming them in a 
 circle, said, " Soldiers, . the enemy has stolen three 
 marches on us, and entered Paris. We must drive 
 them out of it. The unworthy French emigrants whom 
 we have pardoned, have assumed tlie white cockade 
 and joined the enemy. The poltroons — they shall 
 receive the reward of this new attempt. Let us 
 swear to conquer or die, to make this tri-colored cock- 
 ade respected, which, for twenty years, has always 
 been found in the path of glory and honor." With 
 one voice they cried, " Yes, yes, we swear it, " Vive 
 VEmpereurP The infantry then defiled rapidly by 
 and gave place to the cavalry which shook their sa- 
 bres as they passed, crying, " Vive VEmjpereurP This 
 unconquerable corps had derived from its intrepid 
 leader the indomitable will and heroic bearing in the 
 midst of adversity. Though just relieved from un- 
 paralleled efforts and sufferings, worn down by fatigue, 
 and needing repose, they were ready at his command 
 to encounter still greater hardships and undergo still 
 heavier privations. Over many a doubtful battlo 
 
214 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 field, through the snow and frosts of Russia, pasl 
 flaming batteries, with their brave arms around him^ 
 tliej had carried him all steadily forward, and were 
 ready again to enfold him in their solid squares, 
 and bid defiance to the world in arms. Rising in 
 moral grandeur above the most disheartening circum- 
 stances, above every selfish gratification and fear of 
 peril or death, they stood there by their wrecked Em- 
 peror, the same " column of granite " to which again 
 and again he had riveted his fortunes and his emj)ire 
 in safety. 
 
 Immediately after the review, the Guard took up 
 their march for Essonnes, where Marmontlay with his 
 army. They reached it late at night and encamped 
 outside. 
 
 But when Marmont discovered that Napoleon, 
 instead of bending to the storm was determined to 
 breast it boldly, and again take the field, he opened 
 secret negotiations with the allies, the result of which 
 was, he, with his army, were to abandon the important 
 position of Essonnes and join them. He accordingly 
 at four o'clock in the morning of the 5th of April, 
 having previously ordered that profound silence 
 should be maintained in the ranks, took up his line of 
 march. This early departure and silent march was 
 taken to deceive the troops, who supposed they were 
 about to be led against the enemy. They did not 
 discover their error till they saw the Bavarian army 
 
MARMONTS I'RKASON. 219 
 
 i'liarching by their side, ready to arrest anj' movement 
 which might be made against their commander. The 
 Polish cavah-y, however, no sooner saw liow they had 
 been betrayed, than they struck tlielr spurs into their 
 horses and bursting away, came in a fierce gallop to 
 Fontainbleau, and reported the treason. AVhen Na- 
 poleon heard it, he exclaimed, "Who could have 
 believed Marmont capable of such an act, a man with 
 whom I have divided my bread, whom I drew from 
 obscurity, whose fortune and reputation I made. The 
 lot of sovereigns is to make ingrates. Ah, surely his 
 troops did not 'know whither he was leading them, 
 and yet he has always before this given me the most 
 lively proofs of attachment." Soon after, Ney began to 
 vacillate — declaring it was useless to prosecute the war. 
 The young generals wxre eager to march against the 
 eneirv. but the marshals and older officers were tired 
 of the protracted conflict. Besides, the defection of 
 Marmont had thrown a gloom over the whole army. 
 His example was contagious, and a sudden revulsion 
 of feeling and enthusiasm followed, and ]N"apoleon 
 saw that his veteran generals could not be relied 
 upon. The allies took advantage of this state of 
 things and immediately rose in their demands. At 
 first they had stipulated that Kapoleon should abdi- 
 cate in favor of his son — ^now they required him to 
 abdicate unconditionally. The senate taking courage, 
 dethroned him. When this decision was brought 
 
216 THE OLD JUARD. 
 
 him, he gave way to a torrent of indignation, and 
 refused in the most peremptory manner to sign hig 
 abdication. With light flashing from his eyes, and 
 his iron will written on every feature of his pale 
 countenance, he declared he would put himself again 
 at the head of his armies, and fall on the field of bat- 
 tle, rather than submit to such humiliation ; and it 
 was not till his marshals gave him to understand that 
 they would not go with him, that he consented to 
 yield. 
 
 In his formal abdication, which followed, he said, 
 " The powerful allies having proclaimed that the 
 Emperor Kapoleon is the only obstacle in the way of 
 the peace of Europe, The Emperor Napoleon, faith- 
 ful to his oath, declares that he renounces for himself 
 and his heirs, the thrones of France and Italy, since it 
 is not merely any personal sacrifice, but that of his 
 life he would make for the interests of France." He 
 then conversed with the generals of his Guard, say- 
 ing, " Kow that all is ended, and I can no longer re- 
 main here, your interest is with the Bourbon family. 
 It will rally all parties. The king, they say, has 
 judgment and discretion. He will not wish, I think, 
 to attach his name to a bad reign. If he is wise, in 
 occupying my bed at the Tuilleries, he will only 
 change the drapery. If his family are wise, you will 
 be happy, but he must treat the army well, and not 
 attempt to bring back the past, otherwise, his reign 
 
NAPOLEON DESERTED. 217 
 
 will be short." Thus he went on uttering truths that 
 a Bourbon could never understand, till driven from 
 his throne. 
 
 His abdication was followed by the most shameful 
 desertion, which broke his spirit more than all the 
 disasters which for the last two years had accumu- 
 lated upon him, or the loss of his throne. " After it," 
 says Caulincourt, his grand equery, " every hour was 
 marked by fresh voids in the Emperor's household. 
 The universal object was how to get first to Paris. 
 All persons in office quitted their places without 
 leave, or even asking permission ; one after another 
 they all slipped away, totally forgetting him to whom 
 they owed everything, but who no longer had any- 
 thing to give. The universal complaint was, that he 
 so long delayed the fonnal announcement of his 
 abdication. " It was high time," every one said, " for 
 all this to come to an end ; it is absolute childishness 
 to remain any longer in the anti-chambers of Fon- 
 tainbleau when favors are showering down at Paris," 
 and with that they all set off for the capitol. Such 
 was their anxiety to hear of his abdication, that they 
 pursued misfortune even into its last asylum ; and 
 every time the door of the cabinet opened, a crowd 
 of heads was seen peeping in to gain the first hint of 
 the much longed-for news." His household was de- 
 serted of men of distinction, with the exception of 
 Maret and Caulincourt. Even his valet Constant, 
 
218 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 who had served him fourteen years, stole a hundred 
 thousand francs and ran away, and the Mameluke 
 Roustan, with him. The defection reached the army. 
 Berthier left him without even a formal adieu. When 
 Napoleon heard of his departure, he said scornfully, 
 " He was born a courtier ; you will see my vice-con- 
 stable mendicating employment from the Bourbons. 
 I feel mortified that men whom I have raised so high 
 in the eyes of Europe should sink so low. What 
 have they made of that halo of glory through which 
 they have hitherto been seen by the stranger. What 
 must the sovereigns think of such a termination to 
 those who have illustrated my reign." The old gen- 
 erals whom he had covered with glory hastened to 
 offer their swords to their new master, and in the 
 struggle on every side for place and preferment, Na- 
 poleon was abandoned. This was an unexpected 
 blow, and it broke him down. That will of iron and 
 soul of indomitable courage that no misfortune or dan- 
 ger could shake, and he who, when alone, could bend 
 his haughty brow on the sovereigns of Europe, greater 
 in his isolation than they in their triumphs, sunk 
 under the desertion of his followers. It was the only 
 time in his life that he ever exhibited weakness, and 
 he resolved to take his own life. Those around him 
 observed a strangeness of demeanor, as if the present 
 was forgotten, and something remote and mysterious 
 absorbed his thoughts. He spoke of the heroes of 
 
NAPOLEON TAKES POISON. 219 
 
 antiquity who would not survive theii misfortunes, 
 and on the night of the 12tli, on taking leave of Cau- 
 lincourt, he said with a look of settled melancholy, 
 " My resolution is taken ; we must end, I feel it." A 
 few hours after, Caulincourt was awakened by Kapo- 
 leon's valet, who rushing in, said that the Emperoi 
 was in convulsions and dying. As he reached the 
 apartment, he saw Maret and Bertrand standing over 
 the bed, from which arose stifled groans wrung by 
 agony from the breast of the royal sufferer. Soon 
 after Ivan, his surgeon, ran in greatly terrified ; for 
 he had seen Napoleon shortly after retiring, rise and 
 pour some liquid from a vial and drink it. This 
 liquid he had just discovered to be a subtle poison he 
 himself mixed for the Emperor when in Russia, to be 
 taken in the last emergency, if captured by the Cos- 
 sacks. Caulincourt leaned over him and took his 
 hand and found it already cold. The Emperor opened 
 his eyes and said in a feeble voice, " Caulincourt, I 
 am about to die. I recommend to you my wife and 
 son — defend my memory. I could no longer endure 
 life. The desertion of my old companions in arms had 
 hrohen my heartP The bolt had come from his brave 
 "companions in arms" with whom he had toiled 
 over so many battle-fields, shared so many hardships, 
 and triumphed together in so many victories, and 
 whose renown was a part of his own. 
 The dose, however, probably from being kept sc 
 
220 THE OLD GUARD., 
 
 long proved too weak, and after the most excmciating 
 agony for two hours, he was relieved by violent vom- 
 iting. The spasms gradually became less severe, and 
 at length he fell asleep. On awaking he said, "Ivan,, 
 the dose was not strong enough — God did not will it;" 
 and from that moment his wonted serenity returned, 
 and he began to make preparations for his departure. 
 But amid this general abandonment, there was an 
 exhibition of •attachment and fidelity which more 
 than compensated for all the disgrace in which the 
 mighty drama was closing, and threw a halo of 
 glory around the closing scene, worthy of !N^apoleon 
 and his career. The Old Guard to a man stood firm. 
 Not one in that vast body would leave him. Rock- 
 fast in its afiection, as in its courage, it was above the 
 contagion of selfish example as it had ever been above 
 that of fear. Those stern veterans saw with scorn the 
 base abandonment of their chief, and closed around 
 him more devotedly than ever. True, he had nothing 
 more to give them. A banished and powerless man, 
 they could gain nothing by adhering to his fallen 
 fortunes but disgrace and suspicion. It mattered not ; 
 in their frozen bivouacks, on the field of carnage, in 
 the midst of famine, and in the triumph of victory, 
 they had enfolded him in their protecting squares, 
 and they would not desert him now. Grand like 
 their chief, they scorned to stoop to meanness for 
 self-preservation. They all, with one accord, de 
 
jfTS FAITHFULNESS. 221 
 
 manded permission to accompany him in his exile. 
 This the allies would not grant ; only four hundred 
 were permitted to go as a body-guard, while fifteen 
 hundred might escort him to the sea-side, where he 
 was to embark. 
 
 The 20th of April was fixed for his departure, and 
 after one more struggle, the great drama would close — 
 he was yet to bid farewell to his faithful Guard, his 
 companions by night and day for so many years, and 
 through so many trying scenes. These veterans, 
 with tears in their eyes, stood in the court of Cheval- 
 blanc, drawn up in two ranks, waiting to take fare™ 
 well forever of their beloved commander. At noon 
 he descended the stairs of the palace, and walking 
 through the throng of carriages waiting at the door, 
 stepped into the midst of the Old Guard, which im- 
 mediately closed in a circle around him. Casting his 
 eye over the familiar ranks, he said, in a calm but 
 subdued voice, " Ofiicers and soldiers of my Guard, 1 
 bid you adieu. For twenty years I have led you in 
 the path of victory — for twenty years you have served 
 me with honor and fidelity — receive my thanks. My 
 ami has always been the happiness and glory of 
 France. To-day circumstances are changed. When 
 all Europe is armed against me, when all the princes 
 and powers have leagued together, when a great por- 
 tion of my empire is seized, and a part of France * * 
 * * *." He paused a moment at these words, rn 1 
 
222 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 then in an altered voice continued, "When anothei 
 order of things is established, I ought to yield. 
 
 "With you and the brave men who remained 
 devoted to me, I could have resisted all the efforts of 
 my enemies, but I should have kindled a civil war in 
 our beautiful France — in the bosom of our beloved 
 country. 
 
 " Do not abandon your unhappy country ; submit 
 to your chiefs, and continue to march in the road of 
 honor where you have always been found. Grieve 
 not over my lot, great remembrances remain with me. 
 I shall occupy my time nobly in writing my history 
 and yours. 
 
 " Officers and soldiers, 1 am content with you. I am 
 not able to embrace you all, but I will embrace your 
 general. Adieu, my children, adieu, my friends, pre- 
 serve me in your memory. I shall be happy when I 
 hear that you are so." Then turning to General 
 Petit, he said, " Come, General." Petit approached, 
 and Napoleon pressed him to his overburdened breast. 
 He then asked for the eagle that he might embrace 
 that also. The standard-bearer inclined the eagle; 
 Napoleon kissed it three times, every feature working 
 with the intensity of his feelings. " Ah, dear eagle," 
 said he, and after a pause in which it seemed for a 
 moment that his firmness would give wav before the 
 swelling tide of enJotion that struggled for utterance, 
 he added tenderly, " Adieu, my children, adian, my 
 
PARTING SCENE WITH NAPOLEON. 223 
 
 braves, surro'ind me once again." Those scarred vet- 
 erans had never seen their chief so moved before, 
 and as they stood and gazed in mournful silence on 
 him whom they were to see no more, great tears 
 rolled down their scarred visages, and their lion hearts 
 were broken with grief. Napoleon threw one glance 
 apon them and their eagle, then tore himself away, 
 and flinging himself into a carriage, drove off toward 
 the place where he was to embark. 
 
 The silence that reigned in the ranks after his dis- 
 appearance, the mournful aspects of the men, the 
 utter loneliness which every one felt, showed what a 
 place Napoleon held in their affections. It was the 
 love the brave always bear the brave who have com- 
 bated by their sides. The scene was worthy of the 
 actors in it, and Napoleon could not have had a more 
 glorious termination to his great career. 
 
 The world never witnessed any thing more indom- 
 itable than Napoleon and that Old Guard ; the earth 
 never shook under any thing more terrible than their 
 tread, and the eye of man never gazed on more ter- 
 rific scenes than they had moved amid imappalled, 
 yet here at the last they were melted to tears. It was 
 a scene to touch the hardest heart, and the allied offi- 
 cers who had been sent to accompany Napoleon at 
 his departure, could not repress their emotion in wit- 
 nessing it. A hundred fields of fame seemed to look 
 down on them there — great remembrances clustered 
 
THE OLD guard; 
 
 around them. From tlie dazzling splendor of the 
 pyramids — from the Alps, the Pyrenees, from Italy, 
 from tl\e Khine, the Danube, and the Niemen, ihe 
 eye turned to that last adieu, scarcely convinced that 
 that was the end of it all. 
 
 Fontainbleau was deserted, and the Old Guard took 
 up its march for Paris. In the imposing pageants the 
 allied sovereigns kept up in the capital, it too was com- 
 pelled to make a part, and was seen side by side with 
 the Russian, Prussian, and Austrian Guards. Yet even 
 here the veterans bore the same undaunted aspect, and 
 looked more like conquerors than conquered. Their 
 masters, but not their victors, were about them. They 
 might assume the relation of conquerors, but never 
 on the field of battle had they earned the right to do 
 so. In the very last stiniggle which ended in the 
 overthrow of the empire, not once had they been 
 beaten, while before their charge the firmest ranks 
 of their foes had been shivered into fragments. The 
 very last time they had moved with levelled bayonets 
 on the enemy, they had trampled them under foot, 
 and why should they feel like vanquished men ! 
 
 It was this very consciousness of never having been 
 beaten, and the firm belief they could not be, that 
 made the position they were compelled to occupy so 
 hateful, and gave them a sternness of expression and 
 haughtiness of bearing that attracted every beholder. 
 With the same steady step that had made Europe 
 
ITS BEARING. 22 G 
 
 tremble, they defiled before their new masters, while 
 their sullen aspects and scornful looks gave rise to 
 many dark suspicions and secret fears. Fields of 
 slaughter rose one after another in dark succession 
 as they passed, telling of deeds of valor undreamed 
 of before. 
 
 So sullen was their humor, and so irritable did they 
 become in their humiliating position, that they con 
 stantly sought quarrels with their enemies. 
 
 "When Louis XYIII. entered Paris, the grenadiers 
 of the Guard maintained a gloomy silence, none but 
 the dragoons and guards of honor could be prevailed 
 upon to cry " Vive le JRoiP These old veterans refused 
 to obey their officers in this respect, and when the re- 
 view was past, they shouted, " Yive V EmnpereurP 
 
 Usually distinguished for their peaceable deport- 
 ment, the soldiers now became intractable, and duels 
 with the troops of the allied army were of daily occur 
 rence. 
 
 One day tne Austrian grenadiers appeared with 
 green sprigs in their caps. This, the Old Guard took 
 as a sign of triumph, and immediately insulted them, 
 daring them to battle. Such was its rage at their 
 presuming to wear publicly a badge of triumph 
 when they had been beaten on every field of Europe, 
 that Schwartzenberg had to write the French minis- 
 ter of war on the subject, and caused to be put in the 
 Paris journals an article stating that these " green 
 
226 TJIE OLD GUARD.^ 
 
 brandies were not designed as a mark of triumph 
 but a simple rallying sign, prescribed from time im- 
 memorial by military rules both in peace and war." 
 
 Savage and morose, the Old Guard trod the streets 
 of Paris on review in silence, but when in their bar 
 racks their indignation found open vent, and their 
 " Yive V Empereur^^ was often heard. 
 
 So grievously did they take the altered state of 
 things. 
 
CHAPTER Xn. 
 
 1815. 
 
 THE DLD GIJAKD UNDER THE RESTORATION. 
 
 Its bearing lowa\ Is its foes— Its anger at losing its colors— The Old Guard at Elb*— 
 Napoleon's habits— Anecdotes illustrating the discontent of the troops in thetf 
 exile— Their return to France and march to Paris— Eeception of the Guard— Las* 
 charge at Waterloo. 
 
 The aspect of affairs did not improve much after the 
 allied troops left Paris. The Old Guard on the one 
 hand was an object of suspicion and fear — on the 
 other it scorned the new system of things. As for 
 Marmont, its contempt for him was open and undis- 
 guised. For the traitor who had brought abont their 
 humiliation they had nothing but maledictions. Louis 
 XYIII. would gladly have disbanded the corps but he 
 dared not. 
 
 There was no bond of sympathy between it and a 
 Bourbon, and to serve him after being the prop and 
 
228 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 pride of* Napoleon was as mortifying as to be taunted 
 by the stranger. In fact there was sometliing twice 
 as regal about the bearing and aspect of the Guard, 
 as there was in the king himself. Still Louis com- 
 menced by flattering and caressing it. He eulogized 
 it and was prodigal of promises. He told the mar- 
 shals that he wished to look upon the Guard as his 
 stay and defence, and went so far as to toast it at a 
 public dinner. But he could make no advance in its 
 affections — proud of its old renown, sore from recent 
 humiliations, nothing seemed able to satisfy it. To 
 complete and make permanent the breach, the king 
 ordered the tri-color to be thrown aside. It was 
 decreed that the mere wearing of it should be con- 
 sidered open rebellion. This was accusing those who 
 composed the Old Guard of crime, when under these 
 colors they were shedding their blood on the soil of 
 France to keep it from being defiled by the foot of the 
 stranger. But it was to them a cherished symbol re 
 minding them of their deeds of renown. In many a 
 deadly encounter they had clung to the tri-colored 
 standard with a tenacity nothing could shake. They 
 had pressed after it through fire and blood, and over 
 ranks of living men. From the vortex of the battle, 
 whither they had earned it, they had seen it emerge 
 riddled with ^alls and singed with flame, but still tri 
 umphautly streaming in the wind. They had swonj 
 to defend it, and die rather than surrender it, and no 
 
THE TKI-COLORED FLAG. 22£ 
 
 mortal power had ever been able to wrench it from 
 their grasp. They had seen it wave by the pyramids 
 and droop along the glaciers of the Alps. Over count- 
 less fortresses and cities they had lifted it in triumph. 
 They had watched it flutteriug amid the flames of Mos- 
 cow, and closed firmlj^ around it when beat upon by the 
 storms of a Russian winter. It had watched with thein 
 around their frozen bivouacs, and had become endear- 
 ed to them by a thousand struggles to preserve it untar- 
 nished ; they had baptized it in their own blood, and 
 it had been their companion through years of toil 
 and safl*ering, and now to surrender it at the com- 
 mand of a Bourbon — to let it drop ignobly from their 
 hands when through such perils and death struggles, 
 they had held it with a firm grasp, filled them with 
 indignation and grief. That tri- color flag had made 
 the tour of Europe with them, and was at once 
 the symbol of their glory and the history of their 
 needs. Enraged at the command to exchange it for 
 the white flag, many of the regiments burned their 
 colors father than part with them, and preserved the 
 ashes as a sacred relic. Most of the soldiers wore the 
 tri-colored cockade underneath the white one, and the 
 eagles were hidden away to preserve them. They 
 were changed into " the royal corps of France," but 
 they had some mementoes left to show they were still 
 the Old Guard of K'apoleon. 
 
 But the old order of things was to be re-established. 
 
THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 and not only were the national colors changed but 
 the Guard itself underwent modifications so as to 
 efface, as much as possible, the remembrance of the 
 deeds that had immortalized it. Its officers were left 
 in penury and want, and nobles of the old regime 
 filled all places of honor and emolument. 
 
 This ridiculous conduct on the part of the king, 
 completed the alienation of the Guard, and its bear- 
 ing became so. fierce and threatening that it was sent 
 from Paris. 
 
 But the injustice and oppression under which it 
 sufiered did not produce such open indignation as the 
 taunts and insults the officers and their wives received 
 — the former from courtiers and the latter from even 
 courtezans, who were in the favor of Louis, and the 
 contemptible attacks in the newspapers on Napoleon. 
 These latter called him a fool — declared that he had 
 become an object of pity and derision, that all his 
 •a-oops had abandoned him gladly and returned to 
 France to range themselves under the untarnished 
 flag of the Bourbons. These things were discussed 
 by officers and men in their quarters, and deep though 
 smothered threats of vengeance uttered. 
 
 Soon after, a conspiracy was set on foot to bring 
 
 back Napoleon. The officers of the Old Guard were 
 
 deeply implicated in it, and occasional intimations 
 
 cached the soldiers filling them with joy, for they 
 
 burned to see their emperor once more in their midst 
 
THE GUARD IN ELBA. 231 
 
 They were heard to say, " he will reappear tu chase 
 away with a look these emigrants who have insulted 
 our ancient glory. 
 
 THE OLD GUARD IN ELBA. 
 
 The Island of Elba was erected by the allies into a 
 sovereignty for ^N^apoleon, of which he took posses- 
 sion. May 4th. He who had swayed an empire that 
 reached from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, and at 
 whose imperial voice nearly a million and a half of 
 men stood up in order of battle, now had a kingdom 
 eight miles long and two miles broad, and an army 
 of four hundred men to protect it. It was one of 
 those terrible reverses of fortune it seems strange the 
 human mind can endure without the overthrow of 
 reason. To be hurled from the throne of such a vast 
 empire and such heights of grandeur and power to 
 the dominion of a little island, was a mockery more 
 bitter to bear than death. ISTapoleon, however, met 
 his fate with the dignity and serenity of a great 
 mind. His first care on his arrival was his Old 
 Guard. He organized it into six companies with a 
 staff, and added a company of marines, and also a com- 
 pany of Polish lancers to which he gave the name of 
 the " Squadron NajpoleonP He provided clean and 
 comfortable barracks, and all the necessaries of life 
 for this little army, and then turned his attention to 
 his new kingdom. Instead of sitting down in sullen 
 
282 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 gloom or devoting himself solely to pleasure in order 
 to prevent time from banging heavy on his hands, he 
 went to work with the same zeal and cheerfulness he 
 did, when an empire was under his control. Ho 
 developed the resources of the island, and gave a new 
 impulse to industry and commerce. He ordered new 
 mines to be opened, grounds drained, and everything 
 done to advance the interests or ameliorate the condi- 
 tion of his subjects. 
 
 He rose early in the morning, and accompanied by 
 Bertrand or Drouot, rode over diiferent parts of the 
 island to see how his little kingdom was getting on. 
 After breakfast he reviewed his miniature army, as 
 he was accustomed to review the Old Guard in the 
 court of the Tuileries. He would manoeuvre tliese 
 sometimes, for several hours. It seemed to amuse 
 him and bring back those scenes of grandeur with 
 which he had astonished the world. He devoted 
 himself also to literature, and by his cheerfulness and 
 urbanity, made all happy about him. 
 
 Sometimes he would go on foot to diiferent points 
 of the island, enter the stores and make purchases 
 or leave orders, and terminate his tour at the barracks 
 of the Guard, by which he was always received with 
 loud acclamations. 
 
 But the old veterans, accustomed to a life of activ- 
 ity, and when in barracks to the variety and pleasure 
 of a city, grew weary of this isolation, and togethet 
 
LIFE IN ELBA. 23S 
 
 with the officers, pined for a different sphere of 
 action. In order to drive away these feelings IS^apo- 
 leon obtained a company of comedians from Trieste 
 and l^aples, and set up a little theatre for their enter 
 tainment. The soldiers beheld again the Yaude- 
 villes which had delighted them in Paris, and soon 
 they were heard at all hours of the day humming 
 some familiar song wiiich these exhibitions recalled 
 to mind. 
 
 Still the prospect of a life of idleness and exile 
 was not very cheering, and [N'apoleon saw with regret 
 the growing desire among officers and men to change 
 their residence for one more congenial to their tastes. 
 One day on entering the barracks of his Guard, while 
 they were preparing dinner, he said pleasantly to a 
 group standing near him, "Well, my grumblers, is 
 the soup good to day ?" 
 
 "Yes, my Emperor," said one of the old scarred 
 veterans, " but it would be better if ," 
 
 "If what," replied Kapoleon, "is not the meat 
 good, and the vegetables, are they tough ?" 
 
 " On the contrary," responded the grenadier, " the 
 meat and vegetables are excellent, but one thing is 
 wanting which it is not in your power to give." 
 
 "What's that, speak, let us see?" demanded Na- 
 poleon impatiently. 
 
 " Water of the Seine to hoil them in^^^ said the 
 
234 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 veteran coolly, and without changing a muscle of his 
 countenance. 
 
 Napoleon smiled bitterly at the hit, exclaiming, as 
 he walked away, " Bah ! bah ! one can eat a partridge 
 very well without an orange. You are too much of a 
 gouraiet." 
 
 At another time as he was walking at evening, as 
 he was accustomed to do, backwards and forwards 
 through the long avenues of sycamores that bordered 
 the grounds of his palace toward the sea, he came 
 suddenly upon an old grenadier sitting at the foot of 
 a tree looking very melancholy. 
 
 " What are you doing here alone ?" he demanded 
 brusquely ; " what are you thinking about ?" 
 
 The soldier sprang to his feet with the military 
 salute, and seeing a smile on the Emperor's face 
 replied frankly, " I was thinking, my Emperor, of my 
 country, and I said to myself, this is the close of the 
 harvest time there." 
 
 " From what country are you ?" 
 
 " From Antram, four little leagues from Kennes, in 
 Brittany." 
 
 " Brittany," exclaimed INapoleon, " is a very good 
 countrj^, a country of brave men, but a villanous 
 heaven, it always rains there, while here the climate 
 is sweet, the days are superb, and the sky resplendent. 
 The isle of Elba is a much better place to live in thar 
 Brittany." 
 
DROUOT. 235 
 
 " My Emperor," replied the home-sick old soldier, 
 " I am too honest to deceive you, but saving your 
 majesty, I love the rain which falls at Antram better 
 than the beautiful days of Elba, it is my idea, and I 
 may say it without offending your majesty." 
 
 " But," continued E'apoleon, " why don't you amuse 
 yourself like your comrades ? You have leisure, the 
 wine is good, and you have the theatre to divert you ; 
 go to the theatre." 
 
 " That's true, my Emperor, but the pieces at the 
 theatre do not equal those punchinellos of the boule- 
 vards of the Temple — that's something amusing." 
 
 " Ah, well," said ISTapoleon, as he walked away, 
 " have patience ; perhaps some day you will see again 
 the boulevards of the Temple and its punchinellos." 
 
 He repeated this conversation at evening and smiled 
 at the simplicity and frankness of the old grenadier. 
 The story soon got wind, and " I love better the pun- 
 chinellos," w^as in every one's mouth. It had struck 
 a responsive chord in the heart of each, and it was 
 soon apparent how universal the grenadier's sentiment 
 had become, for it gave them a way of expressing 
 their feelings without offence. 
 
 Speaking of it one day, Drouot said to IS^apoleon, 
 " We make poor Robinson Crusoes, and we do not 
 resemble much Telemachus, in the isle of Calypso, for 
 I presume if Minerva should appear among us in the 
 shape of Mentor, she would net find it necessary tc 
 
236 THF^ OlD GUARD. 
 
 throw us into the sea in order to drive us from the 
 island.'' 
 
 " Ah ! that is it," said I^apoleon, rubbing his hands, 
 " if there now were a Calypso here, one would have 
 to pull you by the ears to get you, like the son of 
 Ulysses, back to Ithaca. The truth is, I have spoiled 
 the whole of you. I have let you see too many coun- 
 tries and have accustomed you to such a moving exis- 
 tence, that you are not able to enjoy a philosophic 
 repose." Then turning to some officers who stood by, 
 he said, " Allons, Messieurs, if you are wise, per- 
 haps I will let 3'ou make some time a tour in 
 France." But perceiving he had said too much, he 
 pressed his lips together, and forcing a pinch of snuff 
 violently up his nose, abruptly changed the conver- 
 sation. 
 
 EETURN OF NAPOLEON AND HIS GUARD TO FRANCE. 
 
 On the 26th of February, 1815, Col. Laborde re- 
 ceived orders from Drouot to let all the laborers in 
 the gardens of the officers continue their work till 
 three o'clock — at four to give the troops soup, and im- 
 mediately after assemble them. At five they were 
 to embark in ships prepared for their reception. The 
 Colonel enquired where they were going. 
 
 " I can tell you nothing," he replied, " execute the 
 orders I have given you." 
 
 This being accomplished, Napoleon, after bidding 
 
napoleon's return. 237 
 
 his mother and sister Pauline adien, went on board the 
 brig of war Inconstant, and with three hundred of 
 his Guard, put to sea. The rest of the Guard and 
 troops, in all some six or seven hundred men, fol- 
 lowed in several transports. When fairly out to sea, 
 IS'apoleon walked into the midst of his Guard, and 
 said, " Soldiers and officers of my Gicard^ we are going 
 to Francey Loud shouts of " Vive VEr)ijpereuT^'' 
 answered him, and all was enthusiasm and joy. 
 
 Only one vessel hailed them on the way, the cap- 
 tain of which asked if they had come from Elba. 
 Being answered in the affirmative, he inquired how 
 Napoleon was. The Emperor having ordered the 
 Guard to lie flat on deck so as to prevent discovery, 
 himself replied, " il se porte a raerveilleP The brig 
 suspecting nothing passed along, and on the first of 
 March , Kapoleon reached the coast of France. Drouot 
 immediately landed with the Old Guard and des- 
 patched a captain with a company of chasseurs to a 
 garrison at Antibes to feel the pulse of the soldiers. 
 The latter was taken prisoner with all his company, 
 and two officers sent to demand their release shared 
 the same fate. 
 
 Tliat night ISTapoleon bivouacked in an olive field 
 with his Old Guard around him. But at eleven 
 o'clock he took up his march for Grasse, where he 
 arrived at eleven in the morning. The soldiers 
 were in a state of the highest enthusiasm. Na 
 
238 THE OLD GUAKDi 
 
 poleon had promoted every one of them, and now, ab 
 they saw him marching in their midst again, they 
 thought of the glory of the past, and belield new 
 fields of fame in the future. 
 
 The triumphal march of ITapoleon with that little 
 band of less than a thousand men from Cannes to 
 Paris is well known. Fortified towns and cities opened 
 their gates to him ; troops sent forward to capture 
 him, shouted " Vive V Emperev/r^^'' as they caught 
 sight again of the form of their old commander ; 
 ofiicers and generals were swept away in the wild 
 enthusiasm that increased as he advanced towards 
 Paris, and borne along on the swelling heart of the 
 nation, he entered his capital, and without firing a 
 shot sat down on his recovered throne. The city was 
 delirious with joy, and never in the height of his 
 power did Kapoleon receive such marks of unbounded 
 devotion. 
 
 In his proclamation issued at Grenoble, calling on 
 the soldiers to rally to his standard, who, he said, 
 " had elevated him on their bucklers to the throne,'^ 
 he declared that " victory would march at the pas 
 de charge^ the eagle fly with the national colors from 
 steeple to steeple till it lighted on the towers of Notre 
 Dame." His prediction proved true. Victory had 
 gone at the charge step, and the eagle flown from 
 steeple to steeple in triumph. 
 
 The next day after his triumphal entrance into the 
 
ITS AKRIVAL IN PARIS. 239 
 
 city, the Old Guard arrived by post from Lyons. As 
 the Emperor approached Paris, the news of the recep 
 tion tliat waited him, made him precipitate his ad- 
 vance, and the Old Guard was left behind. But now 
 as these few hundred veterans, whose worn shoes and 
 tattered garments testified to their rapid and fatiguing 
 march across France, came thundering into the city 
 in carriages, long and deafening shouts rent the air. 
 They had been the companions of their Emperor in 
 his exile ; the iron band on which he had relied in 
 his daring descent on France ; they seemed a part 
 of him, and hence were objects of almost equal 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 During the day, Napoleon had a grand review of 
 all the troops in Paris. After it was over, he formed 
 them into a square and addressed them. The accla- 
 mations tl^t succeeded had scarcely died away, when 
 a column of strange troops were seen advancing up 
 the Place du Carrousel. As they approached with their 
 standard in tatters, but carrying the eagles of the Old 
 Guard, the army saw it was the sacred battalion 
 that had accompanied Napoleon from Elba, and had 
 just arrived by post from Lyons. As these veterans 
 drew near, the drums throuo^hout rolled forth a thun- 
 dering salute, and banners waved, and swords shook 
 in the air, and frantic hurrahs ai'ose on every side. 
 
 Napoleon with a gesture of the hand having silenced 
 the tumult, exclaimed, " Behold the battalion which 
 
240 THE OLD GUARQ. 
 
 accompanied me in my misfortune. They are all m^ 
 friends, and they have been dear to my heart. Every 
 time that I saw them they reminded me of the differ- 
 ent regiments of the army, for among these six hun- 
 dred braves there are men from all the regiments. 
 They recalled to me the grand achievements, the mem- 
 or}'^ of which is so dear, for they are all covered with 
 honorable scars received in those memorable battles. 
 In loving them, I love you all, soldiers of the French 
 army. They bring back to you the eagles. In giv- 
 ing them to the Guai'd, 1 give them to the whole 
 array. Ti-eason and misfortune had covered them 
 with a mournful veil, but they now reappear resplen- 
 dent in their old glory. Swear to me that these eagles 
 shall always be found where the welfare of the coun- 
 try calls them, and then those who would invade our 
 soil will not be able to meet their glance." " We 
 swear it, we swear it," was repeated in prolonged 
 echoes on every side. 
 
 On the very day of his arrival !N"apoleon reorgan- 
 ized the Old Guard by a decree in which it was speci- 
 fied that no one should be admitted in it but " those 
 who had served in the French army." Among the 
 officers that were appointed to command it, Droupt 
 took his old place, the brave Friant commanded the 
 foot grenadiers, Morand the foot chasseurs, Guyot 
 the mounted grenadiers, and Lefebvre Desnouettes 
 the mounted chasseurs. These had been tried on 
 
THE GUARD REORGANIZED. 2il 
 
 maii}^ a field of fire and blood, and could be trusted. 
 Still the Guard was formed in great haste, and though 
 it had been augmented to 40,000, only a part of them 
 possessed the character of the troops that formerly com- 
 posed it. This was soon seen in the lax discipline 
 that was maintained. 
 
 The allies knowing that every day given to Napo- 
 leon multiplied his resources, began immediately to 
 pour vast armies towards the French borders. 'Not 
 willing to let the French people choose their own 
 ruler, they, without ofiering any terms of peace, de- 
 liberately resolved to deluge Europe in blood again, 
 to keep a Bourbon on the throne. 
 
 The history of the " hundred days," in which Ka- 
 poleon raised an army of nearly 400,000 men ana 
 took the field in the almost hopeless struggle against 
 such immense forces as were pledged to his over- 
 throw, is well known. In a letter to the allies, he 
 begged them earnestly not to disturb the peace of 
 Europe. After defending his course in ascending 
 the throne of France on the ground that the Bour- 
 bons were not fitted for the French people, and stating 
 how he had been borne on their hearts to the caj^ital, 
 he used the following noble language, " The first 
 wish of my heart is to repay so much affection by an 
 honorable tranquillity. My sweetest hope is to render 
 the re-estaWishment of the Imperial throne a guaran- 
 tee for the peace of Europe. Enough of glory has 
 11 
 
242 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 illustrated in their turn the standards of all nations , 
 the vicissitudes of fate have sufficiently often made 
 great reverses follow the most glorious success. A 
 nobler arena is now opened to sovereigns. I will be 
 the first to descend into it. After having exhibited 
 to the world the spectacle of great combating, it will 
 now be sweeter to exhibit henceforth no other rivalry 
 but that of the advantage of peace — no other strife 
 but that of the felicity of nations." To this appeal 
 the allied sovereigns deigned not even a reply. This 
 plebeian who had covered them with confusion, 
 should not rule the people that loved him, so they 
 struck hands together, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and 
 agreed to furnish a hundred and eighty thousand 
 men each, to carry on the war. Over seven hundred 
 thousand men were to be banded against ISTapoleon. 
 The contest, of course, was desperate, for France could 
 not always keep at bay the whole of Europe in arms. 
 And yet writers never tire of putting on Napoleon 
 the crime of the carnage of Waterloo — a battle he 
 did not wish to fight. He was not prepared for hos- 
 tilities, but was forced into them by those who after 
 the field was heaped with the dead and Europe filled 
 with mourning, turned round and pointed at him, 
 exclaiming, what a monster ! A monster for strug- 
 gling with almost superhuman energy to prevent the 
 invasion of his country by enemies whose only excuse 
 was, they did not wish I^apoleon to occupy the throne 
 
LIGNY. 
 
 243 
 
 of France. Against Russia, Prussia, Austria, and 
 England, does the blood from Waterloo cj-j out for 
 vengeance.'^ Nay, more, the slaughter that soon fol- 
 lowed in the streets of Paris in the effort to get rid 
 of this very sovereign they forced on France, lies 
 at their doors. Already is Europe reaping the reward 
 of her deeds, but the day of final reckoning has not 
 yet come. 
 
 The old officers of the army and even the soldiers 
 of the Guard looked upon the contest with dismay, 
 but the younger officers and men, dreaming of 
 Austerlitz, Friedland, and Wagram, were filled with 
 enthusiasm. But though the old veterans looked 
 grave and thoughtful, they determined to battle 
 bravely for victory, and if it could not be won, to die 
 on the field of honor. 
 
 On the 7th of June Napoleon set out for head- 
 quarters, and a few days after, at the head of a hun- 
 dred and fifty thousand men, boldly threw himself 
 between Blucher and Wellington. He fell on the 
 former at Ligny, and defeated him with the loss of 
 fifteen thousand men. Drouot's artillery, with the 
 columns of the Old Guard, moved against the centre 
 of the Prussian army as of old, and pressing on over 
 
 * These nations marched on France for precisely the same reasons 
 Russia invaded Hungary and prostrated its government. No nation 
 m Europe can advance a step in civil freedom, without bringing down 
 npon itself the banded armies of the despotisms that surround it. 
 
244 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 batteries and through clouds of cavahy, swept the 
 iield. 
 
 This admirable piece of strategy by which Napo- 
 leon separated the Prussian and English army, under 
 ordinary circumstances would have secured him the 
 campaign. Wellington had been completely ou^gen- 
 eralled, and Napoleon never was more sure of victory 
 than when he heard that his antagonist had retreated 
 to Waterloo. There is no doubt there were traitors in 
 his staff, for the despatch he sent Grouchy during the 
 night, never reached him, while, in all probability, it 
 fell into the hands of Blucher. But, notwithstanding 
 all this, had it not been for the heavy rain the night 
 before rendering the ground too soft for artillery and 
 cavalry to manoeuvre, so that the attack was necessa- 
 rily delayed, Napoleon would inevitably have beaten 
 Wellington before Blucher could have arrived. 
 
 CHARGE OF THE OLD GUARD AT WATERLOO. 
 
 Although 1 have this charge in an .tlier work yet 
 being the last act in its history, the closing up of its 
 long and brilliant career, I will venture here to repeat 
 it, giving some additional details. 
 
 During the day the • artillery of the Guard, under 
 Drouot, maintained its old renown, and the Guard 
 itself had frequently been used to restore the battle 
 in various parts of the field, and always with success 
 The English were fast becoming exhausted, and in 
 
CHARGE AT WATERLOO. 345 
 
 an hour more would doubtless have been forced into 
 a disastrous retreat, but for the timely arrival of 
 Blucher. But when they saw him with his 30,000 
 Prussians approaching, their courage revived, while 
 Napoleon was filled with amazement. A beaten 
 enemy was about to form a junction with the allies, 
 while Grouchy, who had been sent to keep him in 
 check, was nowhere to be seen. Alas, what great 
 plans a single inefficient commander <i;an overthrow. 
 
 In a moment Napoleon saw that he could not sus- 
 tain the attack of so many fresh troops if once 
 allowed to form a junction with the allied forces, and 
 he determined to stake his fate on one bold cast and 
 endeavor to pierce the allied centre with a grand 
 charge of the Old Guard, and thus throw himself 
 between the two armies. For this purpose the Impe- 
 rial Guard was called up and divided into two im- 
 mense columns, which were to meet in the British 
 centre. Those under Reille no sooner entered the 
 fire than it disappeared like mist. The other was 
 placed under Ney, " the bravest of the brave," and 
 the order to advance given. Napoleon accompanied 
 them part way down the slope, and halting for a 
 moment in a hollow, addressed them a few words. 
 He told them the battle rested with them, and that 
 he relied on their valor tried in so many fields 
 " Yi/ve V JEmpereur^^'^ answered him with a shout that 
 was heard above the thunder of ai-tillery. 
 
9.4:6 THE OLD GUARD.* 
 
 The whole continental struggle exhibits no subliiner 
 spectacle than this last effort of Napoleon to save his 
 sinking empire. The greatest military energy and 
 skill the world possessed had been tasked to the 
 utmost during the day. Thrones were tottering on 
 the turbulent field, and the shadows of fugitive kings 
 flitted through the smoke of battle. Bonaparte's 
 star trembled in the zenith — now blazing out in its 
 ancient splendor, now suddenly paling before his 
 anxious eye. At last he staked his empire on one 
 bold throw. The intense anxiety with which he 
 watched the advance of that column, and the terrible 
 suspense he suffered when the smoke of battle 
 wrapped it from sight, and the utter despair of his 
 great heart when the curtain lifted over a fugitive army 
 and the despairing shriek rung out, " The Guard 
 recoils^ the Guard recoils^'' make us for a moment for- 
 get all the carnage, in sympathy with his distress. 
 
 The Old Guard felt the pressure of the immense 
 responsibility, and resolved not to prove unworthy of 
 the great trust committed to its care. Nothing could 
 be more imposing than its movement to the assault. 
 It had never recoiled before a human foe, and the 
 allied forces beheld wjth awe its firm and steady 
 advance to the final charge. For a moment the bat- 
 teries stopped playing, and the firing ceased along 
 the British lines ; as without the beating of a drum, 
 or a bugle note to cheer their steady courage, thej 
 
THE GUiRD RECOILS. 247 
 
 moved in dead silence over the field. Their tread 
 was like the sound of muffled thunder, while the 
 dazzling helmets of the cuirassiers flashed long 
 streams of light behind the dark and terrible mass 
 that swept in one strong wave along. The stern Drouot 
 was there amid his guns, and on every brow was 
 written the unalterable resolution to conquer or die. 
 The next moment the artillery opened, and the head 
 of that gallant column seemed to sink into the earth. 
 Rank after rank went down, yet they neither stopped 
 nor faltered. Dissolving squadrons, and whole bat- 
 talions disappearing one after another in the destruc- 
 tive fire, affected not their steady courage. The ranks 
 closed up as before, and each treading over his fallen 
 comrade, pressed unflinchingly on. The horse which 
 Ney rode, fell under him, and scarcely had he 
 mounted another before it also sunk to the earth, and 
 so another and another, till Jive in succession had been 
 shot under him ; then with his drawn sabre, he 
 marched sternly at the head of his column. In vain 
 did the artillery hurl its storm of fire and lead into 
 that living mass. Up to the very muzzles they 
 pressed, and driving the artillerymen from their 
 pieces, pushed on through the English lines. But 
 just as the victory seemed won, a file of soldiers who 
 had lain flat on the ground behind a low ridge of 
 earth, suddenly rose and poured a volley in their 
 very faces. Another and another followed, till one 
 
348 THE OLD QUAICV- 
 
 >)road sheet of Hame rolled on their bosoms, and 
 in such a fierce and unexpected flow that they stag- 
 gered back before it. Before the Guard had time 
 to rally again and advance, a heavy column of in- 
 fantry fell on its left flank in close and deadly vol- 
 leys, causing it in its unsettled state to swerve to the 
 right. At that instant a whole brigade of cavalry 
 thundered on the right flank, and penetrated where 
 cavalry had never gone before. That intrepid Guard 
 could have borne up against the unexpected fire from 
 soldiers they did not see, and would also have rolled 
 back the infantry that had boldly charged its left 
 flank, but the cavalry finished the disorder into which 
 they had been momentarily thrown and broke the 
 shaken ranks. before they had time to reform, and the 
 eagles of that hitherto invincible Guard were pushed 
 backward down the slope. It was then that the army 
 seized with despair shrieked out, " The Guard recoils^ 
 the Guard recoils^'' and turned and fled in wild dis- 
 may. To see the Guard in confusion, was a sight 
 they had never before beheld, and it froze every heart 
 with terror. Still those veterans refused to fly ; ral- 
 lying from their disorder they formed into two im- 
 mense squares of eight battalions and turned fiercely 
 •>n the enemy, and nobly strove to stem the reversed 
 tide of battle. For a long time they stood and let 
 the cannon balls plough through their ranks, disdain 
 ing to turn their backs to the foe. Michel, at the head 
 
ITS LAST BATTLE. 249 
 
 of those brave battalions, fought like a lion. To every 
 command of the enemy to surreiider, he replied, 
 '' The Guard dies^ it never surrenders^'' and with his 
 last breath bequeathing this glorious motto to the 
 Guard, he fell a witness to its truth. Death traversed 
 those eight battalions with such a rapid footstep, that 
 they soon dwindled to two, which turned in hopeless 
 daring on the overwhelming numbers that pressed 
 their retiring footsteps. Last of all but a single bat- 
 talion, the debris of the '* column of granite " at Ma- 
 rengo, was left. Into this ISTapoleon flung himself. 
 Cambronne, its brave commander, saw with terror the 
 Emperor in its frail keeping. He was not struggling 
 for victory, he was intent only on showing how the 
 Guard should die. Approaching the Emperor, he 
 cried out, " Retire^ do you not see that death has no 
 needofyouT'^ and closing mournfully yet sternly round 
 their expiring eagles, those brave hearts bade Napo- 
 eon an eternal adieu, and flinging themselves on the 
 enemy, were soon piled with the dead at their feet. 
 
 Many of the ofiicers were seen to destroy them- 
 selves rather than survive defeat. Thus, greater in 
 its only defeat than any other corps of men in gaining 
 a victory, the Old Guard passed from the stage, and 
 the curtain dropped upon its strange career. It had 
 fought its last battle. 
 
 No one can contemplate this termination of its his- 
 tory without the profoundest emotion. The greatness 
 11^ 
 
250 THE OLD GUARD. , 
 
 of its deeds and the grandeur of its character, endeui 
 it to all who love heroic action and noble achieve- 
 ments ; and as one runs back in imagination, over its 
 terrible campaigns, it is with the deepest sorrow he 
 is compelled to bid it farewell on the fatal field of 
 "Waterloo. 
 
 But there is one aspect in which the Old Guard is 
 not generally viewed — it did as much for human lib- 
 erty as any army, from that of Gustavus Adolphus, 
 down. I do not pretend to say how much the troops 
 were governed by this motive — how many, or how 
 few, fought solely for glory, but that Old Guard 
 never made a charge, with the exception of the last, 
 that did not give an impulse to human liberty. Every 
 time it broke the ranks of the despots of Europe, 
 armed against the free principles working in France, 
 it wrenched a fetter from the human mind. In short, 
 it carried the liberty of Europe on the j^oints of its 
 sabres. The wild waking up during the last few 
 years is the working of the leaven of French princi- 
 ples, or rather I should say of Ainericcm principles, 
 sown by French hands. All honor, then, to the Old 
 Guard for breaking up the iron frame-work of feudal- 
 ism which had rusted so long in its place, that nothing 
 but a stroke that should heave and rend everything 
 asunder could affect its firmness. 
 
 As I said before, I do not ascribe the same motives to 
 the Old Guard that existed in the hearts of the sol 
 
FIGHTS FOR LIBERTY. 251 
 
 diers of the American army or Cromwell's troops 
 Still they err much, wl)0 deriving their ideas from 
 English history, suppose that they had no definite 
 idea of tlie struggle tliey were engaged in. The very 
 fact that I^apoleon cloaked his occupation of the Tuil- 
 eries by calling on his Guard to wear cra]3e for Wash- 
 ington, " who, like themselves, had fought against 
 tyranny," shows how strongly rooted republican prin- 
 ciples were in their hearts. They knew that hostili- 
 ties were first commenced by the allied powers for 
 the sole and undisguised purpose of destroying the 
 French republic, and crushing the principles of free- 
 dom. They also well knew that the tremendous 
 combinations that were constantly formed against 
 France had no other object than to defend feudalism 
 and establish the old order of things. All this the 
 commonest soldier knew and talked about in his 
 bivouac. The troops often stormed over intrench- 
 ments singing republican songs. 
 
 The continental monarchs also well understood the 
 struggle, and foresaw what has since occurred — the 
 uprising of the people, and the humiliation of royalty. 
 The general, it is true, had become Emperor, but 
 the code he gave the people bestowed on them all the 
 freedom they knew how to use with safety to the 
 government. Every proclamation Napoleon made to a 
 conquered state, every change he proposed to a gov- 
 ernment, was an immense stride in the onward march 
 
252 THE OLD GUARD.' 
 
 of civil liberty. It was on this account his overthrow 
 was sought with suf h eagerness. "While he occupied 
 the throne the old s ^der of things threatened momen 
 tarily to disapjp^av 
 
CHAPTEK XlII. 
 
 TllF GUARD AFTER THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO. 
 
 ktsrageat the surrender of Paris— Is disbanded — Part come to America — Chfitaf 
 d'Asile in Texaa— Last of the Guards — Tomb of Napoleon. 
 
 The remains of the French array after the battle 
 of Waterloo, fell back toward Paris whither the allies 
 were already marching. The debris of the Old 
 Guard were stationed in the environs to impose on 
 the enemy, for the general belief was that the city 
 would be defended. Since its last capture it had 
 been strongly fortified and could now make a firm 
 resistance. But the rout of the Old Guard had dis- 
 couraged Paris more than the destruction of two 
 armies would have done. The two chambers were 
 thrown into the greatest agitation. Lafayette, in the 
 Chamber of Deputies, ofi*ered a resolution calling on 
 Napoleon to abdicate. At first the latter could not 
 
254 THK OLD GUARD,. 
 
 believe it would endeavor to dethrone him, but all 
 men saw that France must wage an endless war, if 
 she retained Napoleon, for nothing short of his over- 
 tl)row would satisfy the allies. It was to gratify the 
 wish of a disheartened nation that he finally con- 
 sented to abdicate in favor of his son Napoleon II. 
 But the army did not view things in the same way. 
 
 Two regiments of the Guard followed by a vast 
 multitude, passed under the terrace of Elysee Bour- 
 bon, where Napoleon was, demanding with loud 
 cries that their Emperor should put himself at their 
 head, and conduct them against the enemy. Napo- 
 leon harangued them, urging them to quietness. An 
 orator of the populace in replying to him mentioned 
 the 18th Brumaire. The Emperor interrupting him, 
 exclaimed, "You recall to my remembrance the 18th 
 Brumaire, but you forget that the circumstances are 
 not the same. On the 18th Brumaire, the nation was 
 unanimous in its desire of a change. A feeble effort 
 only was necessary to effect what they so much de 
 sired. Now it would require oceans of French blood, 
 and never shall a single drop he shed hy me in the 
 defence of a cause altogether personal^ Singular 
 language for a tyrant. After all had dispersed, Mon- 
 tholon, who gives this account, expostulated with the 
 Emperor for having arrested the hand of the people, 
 strong enough in itself to save the capital from the 
 enemy and punish the traitors who were negotiating 
 
NAPOLEOIy'S RESOLUTION. tibb 
 
 to deliver it up. Kapoleon replied in these words, 
 wliicli should be written in gold, and are sufficient oi 
 themselves to repel half the slanders his enemies 
 have uttered against him. Note, he was speaking to 
 an intimate friend in all the frankness of private 
 intercourse. " Putting the brute force of the people,- ' 
 said he, "into action, would doubtless save Paris and 
 insure me the crown without incurring the horrors of 
 civil war, but it would likewise be risking thousands 
 of French lives, for what power could control so many 
 various passions, so much hatred, and such vengeance ! 
 No, there is one thing you see I cannot forget, it is, 
 that I have been escorted from Cannes to Paris amid 
 the bloody cries of down with the priests ! down with 
 the nobles ! JVo, Hike the regrets of Fromce hetter 
 than her crownP 
 
 Noble words, uttered in a moment when his crown 
 was leaving him, and nothing but the sad fate of an 
 exile before him. The crown glittering on the one 
 liand, together with the prospoct of punishing his 
 foes, banishment and disgrace on the other, and yet 
 to say, " I like the regrets of France hetter than her 
 orown''' — to say it too, when the saying was the 
 doing^ was the noblest proof that could be given of 
 the truth he uttered. How strange it must sound 
 to those who have contemplated him only by the light 
 or rather darkness of English history, to hear this 
 man whom they have regarded as a monster of cruelty^ 
 
256 THE OLD GUAErr. 
 
 wading through seas of blood, refusing to save his 
 crown, because in doing it, he must turn Frenchmen 
 against Frenchmen. Ah, not one of his kingly foes 
 would have done this — not one was ever heard to 
 utter so noble a sentiment. 
 
 J^apoleon having retired to Malmaison, General 
 Beker was sent by the provisionary government to 
 hasten his departure to America. While talking with 
 him, the former asked, " Well, what are they saying 
 and doing at Paris ?" He replied, that opinions were 
 very much divided about his abdication, " but the 
 remnants of the army have remained faithful to you, 
 and are assembled under the walls of the capital. A 
 great proportion of the citizens and the whole people 
 of Paris seem determined to defend themselves, and 
 if a powerful hand could rally all these elements to a 
 last effort, nothing would be hopeless perhaps." This 
 plain hint thrown out by one who was sent to be his 
 keeper, was lost on him, and he enquired only for his 
 passports. 
 
 True enough the " lemnants of the army were as- 
 sembled under the walls of the capital," and there 
 too, was the remnant of the Guard, still nearly 
 twenty-six thousand strong, and filled with indigna- 
 tion at the decision to surrender Paris to the enemy. 
 Officers and soldiers cried out treason, and uttered 
 threats of vengeance. And when the order came to 
 the battalions to abandon their post, they relused U 
 
ANGEK OF THE GUARD. 257 
 
 obey. The old grenadiers broke their muskets and 
 tore off their nniform, and cursed the authors of this 
 great disgrace. Paris had fallen a year before, but 
 had they been in its walls, the foot of the stranger 
 would not have polluted its streets. So they and 
 every one else had believed, and now to surrender it 
 without striking a blow was a double disgrace, and 
 an insult to their bravery. Several officers protested 
 against the capitulation, while the old veterans swore 
 that before quitting the capital, they, at least, would 
 take vengeance on the traitors, and thus do one act 
 of justice. Frightened at the terrible aspect of these 
 veterans, who were not yet humbled so low they could 
 not strike boldly for their country, the generals of the 
 army and the authorities prevailed on the favorite 
 commanders of the Guard to intercede. Docile at 
 the voice of their beloved Drouot and other favorite 
 chiefs, they bowed in resignation. Being ordered 
 beyond the Loire, where its tomb had already been 
 prepared, it took up its sorrowful march. The bear- 
 ing of all was mournful, but calm and resigned. 
 Still the government was in constant terror lest 'Na- 
 poleon might again put himself at the head of his 
 ancient braves, and sent Beker to hurry his embar- 
 cation. 
 
 "While these things were passing at Paris, Napo- 
 leon was still at Malmaison, delaying his departure 
 till the last moment. One morning, just before he 
 
258 TIIK OLD GUARD.' 
 
 was to set out, he was aroused by thundering shouts 
 of " Vive V Emjpereur^ dmjon with the Bourbons^ 
 down with the traitors^'' They arose from Bruyer's 
 division which was returning from Yendee, where it 
 had been stationed during the fatal Belgian cam 
 paign. The soldiers had halted before the chateau 
 refusing to take another step until the Emperor was 
 at their head. The officers were compelled to sub- 
 mit, and General Bruyer went in and asked to see 
 l^apoleon. Montholon went in search of him, and 
 found him in the library sitting by the window with 
 his feet on the window sill, quietly reading Mon- 
 taigne. While France was shaking to its centre, and 
 his imperial crown lay broken at his feet, and the 
 wrecks of his vast empire strewed the continent, and 
 a desolate future stretched before him, he could com- 
 pose himself and sit down quietly to his book, as if 
 there was nothing to disturb the equanimity of his 
 feelings. 
 
 General Bruyer was admitted, and in a quarter of 
 an hour the army was on its march for Paris, shout- 
 ing " Yive V Emjpereur^'^ in the full belief they should 
 soon follow Napoleon to the field of battle. 
 
 Soon after, he sent a message to the government 
 offering to take command of the army under Napo- 
 leon II., as a simple general, promising after he had 
 repulsed the enemy, "to go to the United States, 
 there to fulfil his destiny." In it he gave the plan 
 
r^ a.poleon''s ofb'p:r. 259 
 
 he was to adopt, showed how feasible it was, and 
 guaranteed that in a few days he would drive the 
 enemy beyond the frontiers of France, and " avenge 
 the aisasters of Waterloo." " Eighty thousand men," 
 he said, " were gathering near Paris," which " was 
 thirty thousand more than he had in the cam- 
 paign of 1814, although he then fought three months 
 against the large armies of Russia, Austria, and 
 Prussia ; and France well knew that he would have 
 been victorious in the struggle had it not been for the 
 capitulation of Paris. It was moreover, 45,000 men 
 more than General Bonaparte had headed when he 
 crossed the Alps and conquered Italy." The govern- 
 ment, instead of accepting the proposal, was terrified 
 at it, and urged more vehemently than ever, his 
 speedy departure. 
 
 Napoleon had not the slightest doubt his proposi- 
 tion would be accepted, and was preparing to take 
 horse and join the army, when the refusal was brought 
 him. Without exhibiting the least emotion, calm 
 and serene as ever, he simply said, " Those people 
 do not know the state of public opinion when they 
 refuse my proposal ; they will repent it," and added, 
 " Give the necessary orders then for my departure, 
 and as soon as everything is ready, let me know," 
 ai^ in an hour after, he was hurrying toward the 
 a<«a shor ) " His forehead at this moment," says 
 
260 THE OLD GUAKIk 
 
 Montholon, "was sublime in its calmness and se> 
 renity." 
 
 Alojig the whole route to Rochefort, and after he 
 arrived there, he was saluted with loud acclamations, 
 and " Vive V Eiwpereur^'^ heralded him to the coast 
 where he committed the fatal mistake of trusting to 
 the honor of the English government. He thought 
 a great nation, like a great man, would be magnani- 
 mous, but discovered too late his error. Yet he was 
 avenged on her, for the slow death and petty tor- 
 ture she inflicted upon him, lias covered the laurels 
 she won at Waterloo, with ashes. 
 
 In the meantime, the Old Guard had constantly 
 urged E'apoleon through messengers to put himself 
 again at their head. They had followed him with 
 their earnest request even to the sea-shore, but he 
 steadily refused. Following quickly on the steps of 
 this, came the order to disband the Guard. The sol- 
 diers were to be unmolested, but the officers who had 
 served in the last campaign, were declared to be 
 incapacitated to receive any title or to form a part of 
 the new army about to be organised. ITever before 
 did a government give its own army so rude a blow. 
 It might have been expected from an enemy, but for 
 a corps that had covered France with glory and lifted 
 her to an eminence she had never before reached, 
 that had shed its blood freelj for her protection, to b« 
 
THE GUA.KD DISBANDED. 263 
 
 SO disgraced by France itself, shows that the govern 
 merit was unworthy of such a noble phalanx. 
 
 Not content with executing this contemptible act, 
 no sooner was the disbanding effected, than it com- 
 menced its proscription, and the superior officers were 
 dragged before military commissioners. ITey, who 
 led the last charge of the Old Guard, was publicly 
 shot in violation of a sacred promise given by the allies, 
 that he should be safe. At length the hatred of the 
 king reached the inferior officers and they were desig- 
 nated " brigands of the Loire," and were forbidden to 
 show themselves in Paris, or even occupy the localities 
 which had been assigned them by the minister of w^ar. 
 They w^ere hunted like deer up and down, and if one 
 was heard to express the least regret over what had 
 been done or recall a single souvenir of their ancient 
 glory, he was immediately dragged before the provost 
 court over which an old emigrant presided. 
 
 The officers finding there was no repose for them 
 in France, sought refuge in foreign lands. Some 
 went to Turkey, some to Greece, and others to differ- 
 ent portions of the continent, where they were well 
 received on account of their old renown. Some 
 passed over to England, where help was extended 
 them by noble men who sympathized with their mis 
 fortunes and honored them for their great deeds. 
 Thus they became scattered up and down the earth, 
 seeking a livelihood m various ways — many who had 
 
262 THE OLD GUARD, 
 
 long held high commands, supporting themselves hy 
 teaching French. The officers of a corps composed 
 of 26,000 men made a little army by themselves. 
 
 CHAMP d'asile. 
 
 Many of the proscribed officers went to Spanish 
 America and served in the war against Spain, while 
 others came to the United States. Among these lat- 
 ter was the fiery Lefebvre Desnouettes, who had so 
 often led the chasseurs of the Guard to the charge. 
 Lallemand, one of Kapoleon's bravest generals, came 
 here also, and soon perceived that if these old warriors 
 could not be rallied together in some one place, their 
 characters would degenerate, and the French name, 
 honored along our western rivers, sufier disgrace. A 
 proscribed and exiled soldier descends by natural 
 Bteps to the rank of an adventurer. He therefore 
 planned a place of refuge for all, to be called the 
 " Oharnp d'AsileP He finally selected a spot in Texas, 
 about fifty miles above the mouth of Trinity river. 
 He had two objects in view in this ; first, to have a 
 place to receive those officers who were exiled by the 
 government, and those who voluntarily left the coun- 
 try to escape the persecutions they were subject to 
 from the Bourbon dynasty, and in the second place, 
 to establish a ^^ propagande revolutionnaire^'' in the 
 bosom of Mexico, or a society for the dissemination 
 of free principles in the Spanish provinces, with the 
 
mssmm 
 
 DEPART UKE OF THE GUARD. 268 
 
 ultimate design of freeing Mexico from the Spanish 
 yoke. 
 
 In 1817, General Lallernand, who had commiini 
 cated to Joseph Bonaparte, then residing in Phila- 
 delphia, his plan, assembled the officers of the Guard, 
 as well as the other proscribed officers of the army 
 in that city. Having explained his intentions and 
 expressed his hopes, he persuaded by his eloquence 
 nearly all the inferior officers to accompany him. 
 The general officers, however, thought the plan chi- 
 merical and unwise, and refused to join the enterprise, 
 with the exception of the brave Rigaud, who fell in 
 with it. 
 
 A ship was freighted with provisions for four or 
 five hundred men, and six pieces of artillery, six hun- 
 dred muskets, and a large supply of powder. Some 
 days before their departure, Joseph Bonaparte gave 
 to the more needy officers a sum of money sufficient 
 to pay the debts they had contracted while in Phila- 
 delphia. He did not wish the officers of the Old 
 Guard, those who had shared the fortunes and renown 
 of his imperial brother, and borne through their long 
 and glorious career so lofty a character, to have a spot, 
 however slight, on their names. 
 
 The expedition, nearly two hundred strong, left 
 Philadelphia the ITth of December, at seven o'clock 
 in the morning, and arrived at Galveston island tha 
 18th of January. Here they disembarked to wait 
 
264 ntK OLD GUARD. 
 
 for Lalleraand, and constructed huts of reeds and 
 pieces of timber thrown ashore from shipwrecked 
 vessels — surrounding the whole with a fosse — to pro- 
 tect their bivouac from the attacks of savages. On 
 the 20th of March, Lallemand arrived with some 
 sixty more, from l^ew Orleans. Four days after, they 
 started for the " Ghmnp d? Asile^'' in ten large 
 launches, which they had bought of a pirate. 
 
 The " Champ d? Asile^'' was a taking name — it 
 spoke of rest and quiet after the troubled and wan- 
 dering life of the last two years, but the spot itself 
 was desolate enough. In those vast solitudes sur- 
 rounded by wild beasts and rattlesnakes and implaca- 
 ble Indians, these veteran officers of the Old Guard 
 were to make themselves a home. To dishearten 
 them still more, the fleet of boats which on their 
 arrival they had sent back after the provisions, re- 
 mained absent a month. 
 
 The exiles, however, put on a cheerful countenance, 
 and commenced their organization. Three cohorts 
 of infantry, cavalry, and artillery, were form9d tc 
 defend the colony and maintain order, while fortifica- 
 tions were erected to protect them from the attacks 
 of the Spaniards and Indians. The last time those 
 officers had superintended the erection of fortifica- 
 tions, was on some great battle-field of Europe ; now 
 they were laboring with their own hands in the wild? 
 of Texas. Their camp was guarded with the same 
 
CHAMP d'asile. 3^5 
 
 torupulous care tliey were wont to guard tlieii 
 bivouac, when ]N"apoleon was in their midst. Then 
 all were officers, while now all but a few ranked as 
 common soldiers. This little army of officers spent 
 a good deal of its time in manoeuvring and military 
 exercises. 
 
 For the generals, superior officers, and women, 
 large huts were constructed, but all the others bivou- 
 acked as they did in Poland, during the campaigns 
 of Eylau and Friedland, eating their meals from 
 wooden trenchers. To drive away wild animals an 
 enormous fire, made of fallen trees, was kept con- 
 stantly burning, around which, at all hours of the 
 day, groups of veterans could be seen telling stories 
 of the past and awakening the memory of by-gone 
 deeds of fame. The environs of the fire these exiles 
 jocosely called the Palais Royal^ and those who 
 told stories and related adventures, the fops that 
 promenaded it. Lallemand would often come to 
 this "Palais Royal," and relate conversations he 
 had had with Kapoleon in the closing up of his 
 career. In the forests of Russia and in many a 
 desolate spot those exiles had ordered just such a 
 fire built in the midst of their squares, and now 
 as they recalled those scenes, they could almost see 
 the form of IS'apoleon standing before it, as he was 
 wont to do, with his hands crossed behind him and 
 
 his stern brow knit in deep thought. The past cam<^: 
 12 
 
2Q6 THE OLD GUARDi 
 
 back with renewed freshness. Each 'one litid somc: 
 reminiscence of his chief — so, said one, did he stand 
 before our fire on the morning of the battle of Dres- 
 den, and never moved, while the thunder of cannon 
 was shaking the field ; and so, said another, did we 
 surround him in the forest of Minsk, on the banks of 
 the Beresina. Thej traversed the whole ground 
 from Lodi and Areola, to Waterloo, fighting all their 
 battles over again, and then their eyes would gleam 
 as they spoke of St. Helena. It was a singular spec- 
 tacle to behold those veterans from the pyramids, 
 from Marengo, from Austerlitz, Jena, Eylau, and 
 Borodino, grouped together around a huge fire in the 
 forests of Texas, recounting their deeds and making 
 the woods echo with shouts of " Vive V Ew,'peTeurP 
 One could hardly believe that they had passed through 
 such great and stirring scenes for nearly a quarter of 
 a century, and that those poor exiles had led the col- 
 umns of the Old Guard in its terrible onsets, and that 
 their shout of victory had gone up fi-om the greatest 
 battle-fields of Europe. It looked strange to see in 
 that far-off temple of verdure, the eagle of Austerlitz 
 lifted on high, and around it grouped the symbols 
 and trophies they had preserved with religious care. 
 But no description can give such a vivid impres 
 sion of the whole scene, as the celebrated picture of 
 Horace Yernet, called the " Soldat LahoreMv^'' in 
 which he exhibits in all the distinctness of life the 
 
THE GUARD IN TEXAS. 267 
 
 old soldier of the Imperial Guard — his face seamed 
 with scars — the cross of honor on his breast, and hi? 
 spade in his hand toiling in the solitudes of Texas. 
 
 Thus they passed weeks and months in their soli 
 tary home making the woods ring with the stirring 
 description of marches, and sieges, and battles, and 
 victories. Some among them had been with Napo- 
 leon at Elba, and recalled his kindness to his Old 
 Guard there, and how cheerful he seemed when ma- 
 noeuvring his little band, as though it were the 
 grand army. They had long conversations about 
 him in his island prison, and spent much of their 
 time in forming plans to effect his deliverance. One 
 was, to obtain a swift sailing ship, and hover round 
 the coast till a favorable opportunity offered itself, 
 and then make a sudden descent and carry him off. 
 If that remnant of the Old Guard could once have 
 set foot on the island, it would have required some- 
 thing more than bayonets to have stopped their march 
 on Longwood. But what did they design to do with 
 him when they had effected his release? To go to 
 France and exhibit another return from Elba, and 
 another triumphal entry into Paris ? ISTo, tJiey " would 
 "bring him to the Ghamp d? AsileP He should stand 
 before their bivouac fire, as of old, and they would 
 minister to his wants, and he would be content in 
 their midst. What a hold he must have had upon 
 their affections when he could fill them with such des- 
 
2(58 THE OLD GUABU- 
 
 peiate resolutions and longing desire to have him with 
 them. 
 
 But sickness soon began to thin their ranks and 
 break down their hopes. In the meantime, the Mex- 
 ican government having learned that a French colony 
 had, without permission, settled upon its territory, 
 sent a detachment of twelve hundred men to destroy 
 it. The Indians, who had ever been friendly to the 
 exiles, informed them of the premeditated attack. 
 The latter immediately put themselves in a posture 
 of defence, determined, notwithstanding their inferior 
 ity of numbers, to maintain their ground. The Span- 
 ish commander, however, halted when within three 
 marches of their camp, and waited for sickness and 
 discouragement to do what he dared not attempt. He 
 was not compelled to w^ait long. J^ot receiving the 
 means they expected from France, to carry out their 
 plan of freeing Mexico, and finding that after the first 
 excitement had passed away, the Champ d'Asile had 
 become in their country a subject of ridicule rather 
 than of serious thought, and no assistance could be 
 expected from any source, they resolved to abandon 
 the colony. Their numbers were constantly dimin- 
 ishing, and it was madness to stay till their weakness 
 would render them an easy prey to whomsoever might 
 attack them. On the 6th of August, therefore, or a 
 littie more than four months from the time they 
 landed, they abandoned their camp and went over U 
 
THE GUAKD LEAVES TEXAS. 269 
 
 Galveston Island. They remained here a month 
 longer, when, to complete their wretchedness, a hor- 
 rible tempest swept the gulf. The waves rose to an 
 immense height, rolling several feet deep over the 
 island. These weary veterans, as they looked out on 
 the wide waste of water, gave themselves up for lost 
 But there chanced to be two large and strongly-built 
 cabins situated some distance from the shore which 
 offered a temporary protection, and they crowded 
 into them. Here for three days and nights they strug- 
 gled manfully against the waves, when the storm 
 subsided. Their provisions and powdei', however, 
 were all swallowed up in the sea. Their ammunition 
 was their last hope, but it had gone like all their 
 other hopes, since the battle of Waterloo. 
 
 Another month of agony was endured on this 
 island, at the expiration of which General Lallemand 
 sent word that all prospect of attaining the end they 
 had in view was gone, and requested them to return 
 to New Orleans. The same pirate that had before 
 carried them to the island took them off. The sick 
 and feeble went by water, but the stronger crossed 
 over to the mainland, and guided by the Indians, struck 
 through the forests of Texas to the frontiers of Louis- 
 iana, where many of them stopped and.repaid the hos- 
 pitality they received by teaching the children French. 
 Those who went to Kew Orleans reached there just as 
 
270 THE OLD GUARD, 
 
 the yellow fever was raging with the greatest violencOj 
 and they, one after another, fell before its fury. 
 
 Fifteen months after, a subscription of 80,000 
 francs, which had been collected in France, was re- 
 ceived. But between the sea, sickness, yellow fever, 
 and accidents, the ranks of those brave officers had 
 become sadly thinned, so that out of more than two 
 hundred, only forty-seven could be found. Those, 
 with their usual generosity, divided the money with 
 those who had been drawn to Kew Orleans by false 
 promises, but had not yet embarked for the " Champ 
 d'AsiU:' 
 
 The artillery of the enemy did not thin the ranks 
 of the Old Guard faster than proscription, exile, 
 poverty, and disease. Those who came to this coun- 
 try disappeared like snow. 
 
 Once more only, do we get a glimpse of the Old 
 Guard. A large number of wounded and maimed 
 soldiers were in the Hotel des Invalides when the 
 body of Napoleon was brought back from St. Helena, 
 " to rest," as he requested in his will, " on the banks 
 of the Seine, amid the people he loved." These 
 dressed in the old nniform of chasseurs, grena- 
 diers, &c., came forth to receive him. Amid the 
 pomp and funereal splendor of that day, nothing 
 moved the people more than the appearance of these 
 invalid soldiers as they stood on each side of the 
 entrance of the chui'ch to receive the body of theii 
 
NAPOLEON S TOMB. 
 
 271 
 
 old chieftain. The last time thej saw him was on 
 the field of battle, and now the waving of standards 
 and thunder of cannon, recalled the days when he 
 marched in their midst. The past came back in such 
 a sudden and overwhelming tide when they saw the 
 coffin approach, that struck dumb with grief, they 
 fell on their knees and stretched out their hands 
 towards it, while tears rolled silently down their 
 scarred visages. 
 
 Long after, he who visited the Hotel des Invalides 
 at any hour of the day would see these old soldiers 
 treading softly around the coffin of Napoleon, as 
 though they were afraid to disturb his repose. That 
 elevated tomb at night presented an imjDosing spec- 
 tacle ; upon the pall that covered this strange and 
 mighty being, lay his hat worn at Eylau, his sword 
 and his crown, while over all mournfully drooped 
 the standards taken at Austerlitz. In the centre of 
 the gold-bordered draperies that extended from col- 
 umn to column of the chapel, shone in large letters, 
 "Marengo," "Wagram," "Austerlitz," "Jena." 
 A chandelier, suspended from the ceiling, shed a 
 dim light over all. Around this tomb, night and 
 day, stood four veterans with drawn sabres, and often 
 on the steps that led to it, you would see a mutilated 
 grenadier of the Old Guard kneeling as if in prayer. 
 
 Such is the history, and such was the character of 
 
272 THE OLD GUABD,. 
 
 the Old Guard, " a phalanx of giants," the like of 
 -which the world has never beheld. Its fame will 
 deepen with time, and its memory grow dearer to al] 
 those who honor great deeds and noble men. 
 
CHAPTEK XIY 
 
 Review of the dead— The office of the French Eevolntlon— Who is responsible ftn 
 the wars that desolated Europe for so many years — Bonaparte's policy as general 
 —As First Consul — Ills offers of peace rejected — England violates the treaty of 
 Amiens— Napoleon's relation to the free States he had organized— Austria violates 
 the treaty of Presbourg— Invasion of Russia— Treachery of Austria and Prussia 
 — ^Fall of Napoleon — Campaign of Waterloo. 
 
 In 1836, wlien the body of ITapoleon was brought 
 back from St. Helena, the magnificent arch of tri- 
 umph which terminates the grand avenue of the 
 Champs Elysees, in Paris, was for the first time dedi 
 cated. Frederick Soulier has taken advantage of 
 this coincidence to write a long article entitled " A 
 Heview of the DeadP , 
 
 After the myriad lamps that lighted all the avenues 
 of the magnificent grounds of the Champs Elysees 
 during the evening of the celebration, had been ex- 
 tinguished, and the tread of the vast multitude, and 
 the hum of their voices, had given place to the silence 
 and darkness of night, a sound like the passing wing 
 
274 TIIK OLD GUARD.' 
 
 of an eagle was heard sweeping by, and lo, a colossal 
 shade stood on the top of the arch of triumph. It 
 was that of Napoleon wrapped in the blue mantle 
 that folded him on the night after the battle of Ma- 
 rengo. As he stood and surveyed the scene, he called 
 to his side the shade of his son, and then summoned 
 from their distant fields of fame his vast and slumber- 
 ing armies. From Egypt, from Palestine, from Italy, 
 from Spain, from the snow-drifts of Russia and the 
 glaciers of the Alps, from Marengo, and Austerlitz, 
 and Jena, and "Wagram, and Friedland, and Leipsic, 
 and Waterloo, the dead armies, headed by their re- 
 spective leaders, came forth and marched silently 
 and swiftly forward. As they approached the vault 
 of the arch under which they M^ere to pass, Napoleon 
 pointed out each brave leader to his son. Kleber 
 and Desaix, and Lannes bearing the banner of Lodi 
 and the sabre of honor of Marengo, and Augereau, 
 with the flag that he carried through the tempest of 
 fire that swept the bridge of Areola, Lefebvre, and 
 the two Kellermans and the brave Massena, each fol- 
 lowed by their tens of thousands, passed in succes- 
 sion, their shadowy footfalls giving back no echo. As 
 column after column swept under the arch, the colos- 
 sal shade on the top cried out, " close up your ranks 
 and press forward, for the morning approaches, and I 
 wish to see you all before the day dawns." The brave 
 grenadiers marched up, followed as was their wont 
 
REVIEW OF THE DEAD. 275 
 
 in the desperate charge, by the thundering squadrons 
 of Bessieres. Murat, on his prancing steed, canie 
 after, stooping as he bounded beneath the vault, as 
 though his phnne would reach the lofty arch. Poni- 
 atowsky, and Rapp, and last of all, Ney, the bravest 
 of the brave, with yat arms, pale, and pierced with 
 wounds received on no battle-field, moved by with 
 their thousands, and the pageant was over. But be- 
 fore they disappeared, the colossal shade stooped and 
 pointed with his sword to the arch. A sudden flash 
 of lightning illumined the sides, and there these 
 heroes saw their names inscribed in imperishable 
 rock. 
 
 With the first streakings of dawn in the east, the 
 vast and shadowy host disappeared. 
 
 The sentinel on watch that night at the entrance 
 of the arch, said that all night long the wind groaned 
 and swept in strange whispers through the trees of the 
 Champs Elys^es and the vault of the arch. It was 
 the swift marching of the ghostly columns in this 
 " review of the dead." 
 
 Could such a marshalling of the hosts of Kapoleon 
 take place, what a spectacle would be presented. 
 Before the amazing scenes that would rise one after 
 another in rapid succession, the mind and senses 
 would be overwhelmed. 
 
 But there is another review, though not appealing 
 to the senses, which is still more startling and terrifio 
 
276 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 — a review embracing the progress of civil freedom, 
 which marched with those iron columns, whose heavy 
 footsteps sounded the death-knell of tyranny in all 
 Europe — the waking up of the human mind from the 
 sleep of ages, to think and act for itself — the rending 
 of fetters — the sudden daylight poured on man's 
 oppressions — the breaking up of old systems — the 
 upheaving of thrones — the development of moral 
 power, and the final launch of the world, with all its 
 hopes and interests, upon the tm-bulent sea of demo 
 cracy. 
 
 In my " Napoleon and his Marshals," I gave a 
 succinct review of the relations the former sustained 
 to the nations of Europe, fixing the guilt of the wars 
 he waged with such fierceness on the governments 
 that surrounded him. Having since observed that 
 those who differed with me took those statements as 
 mere assertions, I shall be pardoned for devoting the 
 last chapter of this work to proofs of what I then 
 said, in order to show that while describing his deeds, 
 and those of his Guard, I have not been eulogizing 
 mere wamors, fighting only for renown, but men 
 engaged the greater part of the time in the cause of 
 freedom. 
 
 In the first place, no one who professes to give an 
 opinion on history denies that the first coalition 
 against France was without the least provocation. 
 The people chose to get rid of the Bourbons and 
 
ORIGIN OF THE WARS. 2YY 
 
 establish a republic, and the allied powers chose 
 they should not. Their only pretence for going to 
 war against a nation with which they were at peace, 
 was, that a republic endangered the tranquillity of 
 Europe, and the stability of their thrones. They 
 considered this an ample reason and needing no 
 defence, and so France was assailed on every 
 side. 
 
 As we, in both our wars with England, directed 
 our efforts at once against Canada, so did France 
 move against the Austrian possessions in Italy, and 
 for the same reason, viz., because she could more 
 easily reach her enemy there. The only difference 
 in the two cases is, that we, especially in 1812, 
 waged what some might term an offensive war, 
 while that of the republic was entirely a defensive one. 
 Therefore, as general of the French army in Italy, 
 Bonaparte did nothing more than obey his govern- 
 ment, while his government, in assailing its enemy, 
 did that which no one can for a moment condemn. 
 Hence, it is not difficult to designate the authors of 
 these bloody wars. 
 
 But after defeating the Aastrians, it is said he 
 marched into Rome, and treated a neutral power as 
 an enemy, for the sole love of conquest. Let us look 
 at the facts : Under the mediation of Spain, an ar 
 mistice had been concluded with the Papal States, a* 
 
,278 TFIE OLD GUAKl)'. 
 
 Bologna, and ratified at Rome. But Cardinal Busca 
 who succeeded Cardinal Zelada as Secretary of State, 
 repudiated this armistice, and openly formed a con- 
 nection with Austria, with which France was at war, 
 and attempted to raise an army. Having chosen to 
 break his plighted word, and become an enemy to 
 the republic, the Pope could not expect otherwise 
 than to share the fata of an enem3^ As good fortune 
 would have it, the courier sent from Home to Yienna 
 with despatches announcing this alliance, was inter- 
 cepted near Mezzolo. These despatches declared 
 that the " armistice of Bologna would not be exe- 
 cuted, notwithstanding the loud complaints of the 
 French minister, Cacault — that the Pope was raising 
 troops, and that he had accepted the commander-in- 
 chief proposed by Austria, and requested that gene- 
 ral to bring with him a good number of officers, 
 engineers, and artillery." Cacault, of course, was 
 ordered by the French government to leave Rome at 
 once, and Napoleon marched into the capital of his 
 Holiness. With regard to the levies he made on the 
 Pope for thus violating the armistice, and allying 
 himself with an enemy, I have nothing to say, for 
 my purpose is not to defend a single action of Napo- 
 leon, as a man or a ruler, except it relates to the sim- 
 ple question of peace and war. I wish only to show 
 on whose shoulders rests the responsibility of those 
 
THE FIRST CONSUL. ' 279 
 
 terrific wars which we have so long charged to Bona 
 parte, and which make it seem so criminal in any 
 one to defend him. 
 
 The campaign in Egypt which followed, was un- 
 dertaken entirely for conquest. Russia had the 
 north and most of the west of Asia ; England pos- 
 sessed the south ; and Bonaparte declared that 
 France should claim the Levant. The expedition 
 was based on the self-same motives which prompted 
 England to wage an aggressive war in India, and the 
 United States in Mexico ; and no reasonable mind 
 would ever adduce it, except to prove that France, 
 like all other nations, desired colonies, and was not 
 very scrupulous about the method of obtaining them. 
 
 We now come to the appointment of Bonaparte as 
 First Consul. 
 
 After his elevation to the head of affairs, he was 
 responsible for the acts of government ; for he was, 
 in fact, the government, long before he placed on his 
 head the imperial crown. 
 
 His first act, on assuming the direction of affairs, 
 was noble, and clears him triumphantly from the 
 charge of being the author of the war that followed. 
 Stepping aside from the usual path of diplomacy, he 
 wrote, with his own hand, two letters — -one to the 
 king of England, and another to the emperor of Ger- 
 many. To the first, he said, " Called, Sire, by the 
 wishes of the French nation, to occupy the first 
 
280 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 magistracy of the Republic, I judge it well, on en 
 tcring my office, to address myself directly to your 
 majesty. 
 
 " Must the war which, for the last eight years, has 
 devastated the four quarters of the world, be eternal 'i 
 Are there no means of coming to an understanding ? 
 How can the two most enlightened nations of Europe, 
 stronger already and more powerful than their safety 
 or their independence requires, sacrifice, to the ideas 
 of vain-glory, the well-being of commerce, internal 
 prosperity, and the peace of families? How is it 
 that they do not feel peace to be the first of necessi- 
 ties as the first of glories? 
 
 "These sentiments cannot be strangers to the heart 
 of your majesty, who governs a free people, with the 
 sole aim of rendering it happy. 
 
 " Your majesty will perceive only in this overture 
 the sincerity of my desire to contribute efficaciously, 
 for the second time, to a general pacification by this 
 prompt advance, perfectly confidential and disem- 
 barrassed of those forms, which, perhaps necessary 
 to disguise the dependence of weak states, reveal, 
 when adopted by strong states, only the wish of 
 mutual deception. 
 
 "France and England, by the misuse of their 
 powers, may yet, for a long period, retard, to the 
 misery of all nations, their own exhaustion. But 1 
 venture to say that the fate of all civilized nations is 
 
NAPOLEON DESIRES PEACE 281 
 
 connected with the termination of a war which haa 
 set the whole world in flames. 
 
 " (Signed), Bonaparte. 
 
 " First Consul of the French BejpvhUc.''^ 
 
 He wrote at the same time to the emperor of Ger 
 many, \h.Q following letter : 
 
 " Having returned to Europe atlber an absence of 
 eighteen months, I find a war kindled between the 
 French Kepublic and your majesty. 
 
 " The French nation has called me to the occupa 
 tion of the first magistracy. 
 
 " A stranger to every feeling of vain-glory, the 
 first of my wishes is, to stop the effusion of blood 
 which is about to flow. Everything leads me to 
 foresee that in the next campaign, numerous armies, 
 well conducted, will treble the number of victims 
 who have already fallen since the resumption of hos- 
 tilities. The well known character of your majesty 
 leaves me no doubt as to the secret wishes of your 
 heart. If those wishes are only listened to, I per- 
 ceive the possibility of reconciling the interests of 
 the two nations. 
 
 '' In the relations which I have formerly enter- 
 tained with your majesty, you have shown me some 
 personal regard ; I beg you, therefore, to see in this 
 overture, which I have made to you, the desire to 
 respond to that regard, and to convince your ma- 
 
282 THE OLD GUARp. 
 
 jesty more aud more of the very distinguiBhed con 
 «ideration which I feel towards you. 
 
 " (Signed), Bonaparte." 
 
 Here was a frank and generous challenge to peace, 
 made in all sincerity, to two nations which had so 
 long waged an unprovoked war against France. 
 The king of England would not condescend to reply 
 directly, but sent an answer through his minister ; 
 and instead of meeting these advances towards a 
 pacification, he made out a long list of charges 
 against France, accusing the Republic of violent 
 and oppressive acts, declaring that in the present 
 change of the government he saw no guarantee for 
 the future — in short, that nothing could satisfy his 
 majesty but the restoration of the house of Bourbon. 
 The whole reply was weak and ridiculous, and was 
 60 regarded by sensible men at the time. Bonaparte, 
 instead of yielding to indignation, replied in court- 
 eous terms. Reviewing the past, he proved conclu- 
 sively that France took up arms solely to resist an 
 aggressive war, made on her by Europe banded 
 together to overthrow the Republic ; and while he 
 did not deny that acts of violence had been com- 
 mitted, he more than hinted that they who had at- 
 tacked France with such animosity, should look to 
 themselves as the cause of them. " But," he added, 
 " to what good end are all these reminiscences 1 
 Here is cow a government well disposed to put an 
 
ENGLAND DPJSIEES WAR. 283 
 
 end to war. Is the war to be eternal, because this oi 
 that party was the first aggressor ? And if it be not 
 desired to render it eternal, must there not be first an 
 end made of these endless recriminations ? At all 
 events, if they could not make a peace at once, let 
 them agree on an armistice and give time and facili- 
 ties for coming to a good understanding." Lord 
 Grenville, the English minister, seeing the ridiculous 
 and unpleasant attitude in which Bonaparte had 
 placed him, replied in worse temper and worse rea- 
 soning than before, and finally confessed that England 
 waged war "/<9r the security of all governments ^"^ and 
 no ofifers of peace would be listened to. 
 
 Austria replied in a more becoming manner, and 
 for once was perfectly honest, for she declared that 
 •' war was carried on^ only to jpreserve Europe from a 
 general earthguakeP " The security of all govern- 
 ments," and the prevention of " a general earth- 
 quake," meant the same thing, namely, the destruc- 
 tion of a mighty republic that had arisen from under 
 a throne in the midst of their thrones. Bonaparte, 
 of course, understood the import of this language — 
 it was saying emphatically, " We do not want peace ; 
 we will not even entertain a proposition for it until 
 the republic is no more." Fox, Sheridan, Lord Hol- 
 land, and others, bore down with tremendous power 
 on this decision of the British government. " You 
 ask," said they, " who was the aggressor ? and what 
 
284- THE OLD GUAKD. 
 
 matters that? You say that it is France, and Franpe 
 says that it is England. Is it then necessary to main- 
 tain an internecine war until both nations shall agree 
 on a point of history. And what matters it who is 
 the aggressor, if that party which is accused thereof 
 be the first which offers to lay down its arras ! You 
 say it is useless to treat with France. Yet yourselves 
 sent Lord Malmsbury to Lille to treat with the Direc- 
 tory. Prussia and Spain have treated with the 
 French Republic, and have had no cause for com- 
 plaint. You speak of ambition, but Russia, Prussia, 
 and Austria, have divided Poland. Austria has re- 
 conquered Italy without restoring to their states the 
 princes dispossessed by France. Either you will 
 never treat at all with the French Republic, or you 
 will never find a more favorable moment for doing 
 so. Unless it be confessed that Great Britain, her 
 blood, her treasure, all her resources, the most pre- 
 cious, are to be wasted for the re-establishment of the 
 house of Bourbon, no good reason can be assigned 
 why we should now refuse to treat." Tierney, also, 
 hit the government to the quick — said he, " Do you 
 remember the war with America ? Is it not rather 
 for the principle it represents you are striving.^^ 
 Sheridan referring to the capitulation to Brune, of 
 the late English expedition against Holland, said, "It 
 seems that if our government cannot conclude treaties 
 
MARENOO. 385 
 
 of peace with the French republic, it can at least con- 
 clude capitulations.'''''^ 
 
 Bonaparte forced into a war, soon made Europe 
 tremble with the tread of his legions. The battles or' 
 Engen and Maeskirk, Ulra, Genoa, Montibello, 
 crowned with the terrible slaughter of Marengo, rest 
 not on Bonaparte, nor on the French Kepublic, but 
 on England and Austria, which refused even to nego- 
 tiate for peace. From this last battle-field, Bonaparte, 
 deeply affected by the spectacle it presented, wrote 
 again a long letter to the emperor of Austria. For- 
 getting, in the impulse of the moment, the ceremo- 
 nious forms of diplomacy, he said, " It is on the field 
 of battle, amid the suiFerings of a multitude of the 
 wounded, and surrounded by 15,000 corpses, that I 
 beseech your majesty to listen to the voice of human- 
 ity, and not to sufier two brave nations to cut each 
 other's throats for interests not their own. It is my 
 part to press this on your majesty, being upon the 
 very theatre of war. Yonr majesty's heart cannot 
 feel it so keenly as does mine." After the first 
 emotions had subsided, he felt somewhat mortified 
 that he had given way to such impulsive expres- 
 sions to men who calculated everything by the cold 
 rules of diplomacy, and in speaking of the letter to 
 the consuls, he told them with an air of chagrin, they 
 
 * Vide Thiers' Consulate and Empire. 
 
286 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 '''-miqlit think it somewhat original^ but it was written 
 on the field of battle." 
 
 An armistice followed, and so anxious was IBona- 
 parte to contract a treaty of peace, that the Austrian 
 minister at* Paris was persuaded to sign articles con- 
 ditionally, although he was not empowered to do so. 
 
 But this long armistice wore away without any defi- 
 nite results, and the campaign of Hohenlinden follow- 
 ed. Austria, now thoroughly alarmed, agreed to sign a 
 peace immediately, although the terms insisted on by 
 Bonaparte were much harder than those he had 
 induced the Austrian minister during the armistice 
 to sign conditionally. It is true France acquired ter- 
 ritory by this treaty, and she had a right to do so. 
 Austria could expect nothing else from a nation it 
 had forced into a war. The great expense and sacri- 
 fice necessary to secure the marvellous victories which 
 had saved France, demanded some reward. It is 
 worthy of remark here, that all the possessions Bona- 
 parte obtained, were given up by treaty to compensate 
 for an unjust and aggressive war. This was the peace 
 of Luneville, signed the 9th of February, 1801. I 
 will say nothing of the conditions of that treaty, 
 whether hard on the allies or not. Whatever they 
 might think of them, they had themselves only to 
 thank. 
 
 Both England and Austria at last discovered tliat 
 they could treat with the French Republic, for i/ 
 
TREATY OF AMIENS. 28 <" 
 
 began to dawn on them that while fighting for tiio 
 secuntj ol other governments, they might not be able 
 to take care of their own. 
 
 In Octobei of this year, the celebrated peace of 
 Amiens was concluded, and Europe; was at rest. 
 Among other conditions in this treaty, England was 
 to evacuate Egypt and Malta, and France evacuate 
 JSTaples, Tarento, and the Roman Staton. Bonaparte 
 carried out his part of the treaty in two months, while 
 ten months passed away and England to k no steps to 
 evacuate Malta and Egypt. When pre3"*(^.d to execute 
 the terms of a solemn treaty she shuiflec \md procras 
 tinated until at length the First Consul's interference 
 in the affairs of Switzerland gave her c pretext for 
 her refusal. Revolution and counter-rev Jution were 
 wrecking the Swiss Confederacy, anC Bonaparte, 
 called upon for help, marched his troop? to the fron- 
 tiers, and put down the oligarchs. The tr.peditious 
 and just manner in which he settled th^ <ifficulties, 
 brought forth warm congratulations fro^ both the 
 Russian and Prussian cabinets. England v as aston- 
 ished to see the only available excuse for \. dating a 
 treaty taken from her hands, but remained Vvtubborvi 
 to her purpose. 
 
 At length Bonaparte put tlie question categf ti.'AUy to 
 the English minister. Lord Whitworth, " TP?'t7 ^'.\ or 
 will you not execute the treaty of Amiens? \ Ls-^e 
 executed it on my part v^ith scrupulous fidelity. Ihut 
 
288 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 treaty obliged me to evacuate Naples, Tarcnto, and 
 the Roman States within three months, in less than 
 two all the French troops were out of those countries 
 Ten months have elapsed since the exchange of the 
 ratifications and the English troops are still in Malta 
 ai d at Alexandria. It is useless to try to deceive us 
 on this point; will you have peace, or will you have 
 war?" He declared that he would not see that 
 solemn treaty violated — it would disgrace the French 
 nation and prove her incapable of defending her 
 honor. " For my part," said he, " my resolution is 
 fixed ; Iliad rather see you in possession of the heights 
 of Montmartre than of Malta.^'' He wound up by 
 saying, " Now, if you doubt my desire to preserve 
 peace, listen, and judge how far I am sincere. Though 
 yet very young, I have attained a renown to which it 
 would be difficult to add. Do you imagine I am 
 willing to risk this power in a desperate struggle ? 
 But if I have a war with Austria, I will contrive to 
 find my way to Vienna. If I have a war with you, I 
 will take from you every ally on the continent." In 
 this frank manner he went on declaring what he 
 wished and what he would do, if forced again into a 
 war, saying — that if England was bent on perpetual 
 war, he would endeavor to cross the straits, " a7idj per- 
 haps^ hury in the depths of the sea his fm'tune^ his 
 glory^ and his life?'^ He strained every nerve to 
 preserve the peace, and even endeavored to corapro- 
 
ENGLISH PERFIDY. 289 
 
 mise the matter, by offering to put Malta into the 
 hands of the Emperor of Russia in trust, until the 
 differences between France and England could be 
 settled. Nothing, however, would do; England was 
 bent on a rupture, and Bonaparte seeing that all his 
 efforts were useless, said, " Henceforth the treaties 
 must he covered with Maclc crajpe^'' On the 20th (>f 
 May, 1803, he issued a proclamation declaring the 
 rupture of the treaty of Amiens. Ko one acquainted 
 with history doubts on whom the guilt of involving 
 Europe in the war that followed, and of deluging her 
 plains in blood rests. Even Alison, a high tory Eng 
 lish w^riter, and w^ho never loses an opportunity to 
 exculpate his country on the most frivolous pleas, is 
 compelled to hold the following remarkable language : 
 "Tti coolly reviewing the circumstances under which 
 this contest was renewed^ it is impossible to deny that 
 the British gcn^ernment manifested a feverish anxiety 
 to come to a rupture^ and that so far as the two coun- 
 tries were concerned^ they were the aggressorsP 
 
 Bonaparte immediately prepared for war, and the 
 invasion of England occupied all his thoughts. In 
 the meantime, however, the Emperor of Russia offered 
 his mediation, which Napoleon at once accepted, and 
 proposed to make him " sole arbiter of the greot 
 quarrel which occupied the world." He even pro- 
 mised " to give a bond by which he would engage to 
 %:ihm,it to the award of the Emperor Alexander,^ 'ohat- 
 13 
 
290 TIIIO OLD GUARD; 
 
 ever it might he, confiding entirely in his justice.''* 
 England knowing tlie injustice of her cause, refused 
 to make Alexander supreme judge in the case, but 
 had no objections to use him as an agent, which 
 she endeavored to do. This Bonaparte resented, and 
 abruptly abandoned the project. 
 
 Alexander, however, young, ambitious, and giddy, 
 became persuaded that it devolved on him to settle 
 the affairs of the continent A plan was there- 
 fore set on foot for the reconstruction of Europe. 
 This plan contained many generous features and 
 many whimsical ideas. When submitted to the Eng- 
 lish government it was shorn of its visionary por- 
 tions and despoiled of its generosity. It was, how- 
 ever, a god-send to England, for by her superior 
 diplomacy she made it the groundwork of a new co- 
 alition against France. I cannot go into the history 
 of this coalition. After many alterations and long 
 discussions, &c., a plan was formed which proposed 
 four things : 1st. To cut down France to her former 
 limits before the revolution — i. e., to take away from 
 her all she had gained in a defensive war, and which 
 had been secured to her by treaty with these very 
 powers. Its first object, therefore, was the same as 
 if the allied powers should now combine to take from 
 us the territory recently ceded to us by Mexico. The 
 only difference in the two cases would be that France 
 won her possessions in resisting aggression, and her 
 
THIKI) COALITION. S^^l 
 
 domination was preferred bj the people thenueh^es ; 
 while we gained ours by an unprovoked war. and 
 forced unwilling subjects to submit to our authority. 
 The 2d grand proposition was to dispose of all the 
 weaker states as the allies thought proper, without 
 any reference to the wishes of the states themselves. 
 Austria and Prussia, which would be compelled to 
 bear the brunt of the struggle, they knew must reap 
 some decided advantage from the coalition, or they 
 would not join it. Lombardy was, therefore, pro- 
 mised to Austria, and all the Low Countries to 
 Prussia, while the Rejpuhlios of Italy which Napo- 
 leon had formed should be parcelled out to differ- 
 ent sovereigns. A more villanous transaction could 
 not have been concocted. Its aim, of course, was to 
 extinguish all the independent states governed by 
 free principles which Napoleon had set up and de- 
 fended. 
 
 The last proposition was in general terms, thrown 
 in as a saving clause to cover all their transactions — • 
 it was " to establish a system of public right 
 throughout Europe." This " public right," meant 
 security against repubHcan principles. Bonaparte, in 
 resisting the aggressive war of Austria, conquered 
 her possessions in Italy, and had a perfect right to 
 incorporate them into France. But this he refused 
 to do, and instead, erected them into a republic. It 
 was not the conquests that Bonaparte was making 
 
2^2 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 that alarmed the sovereigns of Europe, but the inde- 
 pendent republics he formed from the possessions he 
 wrung from the enemy, and to which that enemy 
 could show no title. These republics, all looking to 
 the powerful arm of Napoleon for protection, were 
 like 80 many ghosts to monarchs, standing and point- 
 ing at their thrones. 
 
 This coalition, called the third, which, in the 
 end, was to cover Europe with the slain, progressed 
 slowly, and seemed averse to enter on the dreadful 
 struggle without some excuse to conceal the real 
 motives that swayed it. At length that excuse was 
 found in the incorporation of Genoa and the Cis-Al- 
 pine Republic into the French Empire. The 11th 
 article of the treaty of Luneville says, " The contract- 
 ing parties shall mutually guarantee the independence 
 of Batavia, the Helvetian, Cis-Alpine, and Ligurian 
 Kepublics, and the right to the people who inhabit 
 them to adopt whatever form of governme7it they 
 think fity The merging of these Italian republics, 
 therefore, was declared a violation of that treaty and 
 a sufficient cause for war. Look at the honesty of the 
 pretence here k .t up. A year before this took place, 
 these same upholders of sacred treaties had formed the 
 plan to give Holland to Prussia, as a bribe for her co- 
 operation ; Lombardy, to Austria ; and the Liguripn 
 Republic to Sardinia. After having deliberately 
 resolved to quench these free States, which they had 
 
ITALIAN RT^.PUBLICS. 293 
 
 g^iaranteed to preserve, they had the audacity to 
 declare that the merging of them into the French 
 Empire was the cause of the coalition. Certainly 
 if these republics were to disappear as independent 
 governments, they belonged to France. She had 
 conquered them and refrained originally from incor- 
 porating them into her, because she preferred to make 
 them free. More than this, who could blame K^apo- 
 leon when he saw a vast conspiracy forming against 
 him, the plan of which he could not get at, for 
 strengthening himself on ever}^ side? This young 
 and enthusiastic ruler had dreamed in his ambition, 
 of reconstructing society, of advancing civil freedom 
 and waking up men to new views and hopes, and for 
 this purpose had made republics out of conquered 
 states. But now he looked around him and saw the 
 strongest monarchies of Europe concerting together 
 for liis overthrow\ With whom could he combine to 
 resist them — with what powers could he form an 
 alliance ? There was nothing left to sympathise M'ith 
 him but those grateful young republics, and who 
 could blame him for wishing their aid to stay up his 
 empire? Any monarch threatened as he was, would 
 have done it. But the infamous coalition had not 
 even this excuse. By that very article of the treaty 
 of Luneville it was guaranteed '' to the people the 
 right to adopt whatever form of government they 
 thought fit," and that right they exercised in choosing 
 
294 THE OLD QUARI^. 
 
 that of the French Empire. Napoleon did not iucor 
 porate these republics into his empire — he did nol 
 subvert the free governments he had given them. 
 Tlie Cis-Aljpine Rejouhlio and Genoa^ separately^ in 
 Legislature assembled, passed a decree requesting to 
 1)6 taken into that Empire. They saw a coming 
 storm and avoided it in the best way they could. Sep- 
 arately, they could do nothing against a coalition. 
 They would be wiped out with a single blow. Hol- 
 land was to be given to Prussia; why should not she 
 prefer to ally herself with France which had restored 
 her independence? The Cis-Alpine Republic was to 
 go back to the dreaded and hated domination of 
 Austria ; why should she not prefer the sway of Na- 
 poleon, when he guaranteed to her free laws ? Genoa 
 was to be handed over to the tyrannical king of Sar 
 dinia ; how could she do otherwise than ask the pro- 
 tection of the French eagles? All these states saw 
 that trouble was brewing, and they knew whatever 
 shape it took, the success of the allies would ensure 
 their overthrow. No alternative, therefore, was left 
 them, and as they had a right to choose their own form 
 of government, they of com-se had the right also to 
 choose their relations to France. That Napoleon, 
 when he saw the drift of things, desired and sought 
 the incorporation of these separate republics into his 
 empire, no one doubts. France had changed into a 
 monarchy, and a corresponding change would nati? 
 
HOLLAND. 295 
 
 rally pass over those who relied for safety on hei 
 piotection ; still no violence or threats were used. 
 The senate of Genoa, by a vote of twenty out of 
 twenty-two, resolved to ask to be incorporated into tha 
 French Empire in order to partake of its fortunes and 
 enjoy its prosperity. This vote, before being exe- 
 cuted, was submitted to the people. Registers were 
 opened, and the people called upon to give their suf- 
 frages on the question. The majority in favor of the 
 incorporation was overwhelming. Lucca sent tho 
 same request, but IN'apoleon refused, and made it 
 instead a separate principality. The Cis-Alpine, or, 
 as it had become, the Italian Republic, through its 
 vice-president. Count Melzi, asked of the French 
 Senate to be incorporated into the Empire, declaring 
 •' it saw no other way of saving its infant institutions." 
 The Yice President then read " the fundamental arti- 
 cles of the act of settlement by which ]S"apoleon w^as 
 declared King of Italy." Holland, though long ago 
 conquered by the French, was still a free state, though 
 a close ally of France, and bound by treaty to share 
 her fortunes. As the final disappearance of this old 
 commonwealth into a monarchy, with a brother of 
 l^apoleon at its* head, has often been bitterly de- 
 nounced, it may not be amiss to glance at its history. 
 For a long succession of years the Netherlands 
 were divided into two parties. Orange and anti« 
 Orange. Without referring to other difierences, it is 
 
296 
 
 THE OLD GUAKl). 
 
 necessary for our purpose to state only that the antir 
 Orange was the rejpuhlican party. These two factions 
 strove against each other with various successes till 
 174rT, when the Orange party triumphed and the dig- 
 nity of Stadtholder was made hereditary in the family 
 of William lY. In 1786, however, the republicans 
 again obtained the ascendency and drove the Stadt- 
 holder out of the provinces. But Prussia coming to 
 the rescue with 25,000 men, the Orange party was 
 reinstated in power. The French Revolution followed, 
 and when in 1794 the republican army approached 
 the frontiers of Holland, the patriots again rose, and 
 with its aid, overthrew the hereditary Stadtholder. 
 A republic was immediately formed after the model 
 of that of France. The result was, Great Britain 
 declared war against her and robbed her of some of 
 her most valuable colonies, and nearly destroyed her 
 commerce and finances. This is the famous conquest 
 of Holland by France. She put an end to her inter- 
 nal troubles, and gave her a free and independent 
 government, while England, which declaimed so 
 loudly against the rapacity of the new republic, 
 robbed her of her territory as unscrupulously as she 
 has since robbed India of her possessions. It was 
 owing to the bankruptcy which England had caused 
 that compelled her at length to seek admission into 
 the French Empire. In view of the evils that em 
 barrassed the state, the states-general sent four am- 
 
EFFECTS OF THE GOALinON. 297 
 
 bassadors to Paris, wlio declared that Holland saw uo 
 escape from bankruptcy, and requested, as a favor, to 
 be incorporated into the empire. " They even prof- 
 fered to let their debt remain chargeable upon them- 
 selves and to make every exertion to pay, provided 
 they were no longer called upon to submit to a 
 greater amount of taxation than the French. These 
 ambassadors remained four months in Paris and were 
 finally authorised to offer the crown to Louis. " We 
 come," said they, " of our own accord and supported 
 by nine-tenths of the suffrages of our fellow country- 
 men to entreat you to unite your fate with ours, 
 and to raise a whole people from the perils with 
 which they are threatened." ]!^apoleon was com- 
 pelled to command before he could induce his bro- 
 ther to accept the crown. So much for the destruc- 
 tion of this ancient commonwealth, brought about by 
 British avarice and not French ambition. But this 
 fusion of the republic into that of France did not 
 take place till long after the coalition I have been 
 speaking of. At that time it was independent 'and 
 sustained no relation to France, except that of an 
 ally. 
 
 Although the offer of this commonwealth could not 
 bribe Prussia into the coalition formed by England 
 and Russia, the latter prou.ised to precipitate secretly 
 a large army upon her frontier, under the pretence of 
 protecting her, which should, and did prove a conclusive 
 
298 THE OLD GDAB5U 
 
 argument. Austriii, however, voluntarily came int.i 
 it, and the campaign of Austerlitz followed. For the 
 bloody battles that were only preparatory to the 
 crowning slaughter at Austerlitz, who is responsible ? 
 Not Napoleon, not France, but the coalition. The 
 treaty of Presbourg immediately succeeded this brib 
 liant victor}^ and Austria and France were at peace= 
 Russia, Prussia, and England, however, maintained 
 the contest, and the campaigns of Jena, Eylau, 
 and Friedland, followed — all the sad results of 
 this infamous coalition, which Napoleon, however, 
 with his terrific blows broke into a thousand frag- 
 ments. The peace of Tilsit again put the conti- 
 nental powers at peace, but England feeling safe in 
 her isolated position, still maintained her belligerent 
 attitude. 
 
 The troubles with Spain succeeded this interregnum 
 of war. I shall not attempt to defend this invasion, 
 although viewed through the medium of European 
 diplomacy there is much that might be said in pab 
 liation of Napoleon's conduct. His entrance into 
 Spain was welcomed by the intelligent portion of the 
 realm as calculated to put an end to the internal 
 troubles and the weak government under which they 
 suffered. Napoleon was not so much deceived hy 
 the representations made him, as many suppose, 
 Joseph would have been welcomed by the strength of 
 the nation, and the partial resistance soon have 
 
FALSE KEASONLNU. 290 
 
 co.ised,but for the interference and encouragement of 
 England. 
 
 But granting all that the bitterest enemy may say 
 of I^apoleon's conduct towards Spain, which all things 
 considered, is doubtless very like our treatment of 
 Mexico, what shall we say of the authors of the cam- 
 paigns of Abensberg, Landshut, Eckmuhl, Aspern, 
 and "Wagram, and at whose doors shall we lay the 
 guilt of covering Europe with mangled and bleeding 
 hosts ? Thus far history is plain and the testimony of 
 candid historians, although enemies, harmonise in one 
 conclusion. Even the uncandid are compelled to 
 resort to the ridiculous assertion that the allies w^ere 
 justified in their course, because they foresaw clearly 
 the mounting ambition of !N"apoleon. It was neces- 
 sary to check at once this ambitious spirit that other- 
 wise would ride over Europe. It is an old proverb, 
 " there is no reasoning against prophecy." It is 
 always the resort of a weak cause. But still unpre- 
 judiced men will think that to create a war in order 
 to prevent one — to set Europe in a blaze to keep it 
 from taking fire, is rather a novel mode of proceed- 
 ing. Besides, to punish a person in advance because 
 he may do wrong, to hang a man to prevent him from 
 committing murder, or cast him into a prison because 
 he shows a strong tendency to steal, would be consid- 
 ered a very singular mode of administrating law. It 
 this mode of reasoning can be justified, the origina. 
 
300 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 holy alliance has now a perfect right to demand Ko8« 
 suth and chain him to a rock in the midst of th€ 
 ocean, as it did I^apoleon, because his freedom en- 
 dangers, in their oj^inion, the peace of Europe, and 
 in case of refusal on our part, to declare war against 
 us. Certainly if the reasoning is ever good that Eng- 
 land and Russia, without one foot of their territory 
 being violated, have a right to form a coalition against 
 an independent power because they think the " se- 
 curity of Europe" requires it, they have that right 
 now, and it makes no difference whether it be France 
 or America which is to be struck. 
 
 Leaving Spain with all the obloquy and wrong 
 attached to its invasion without a word of excuse, 
 what, as I said before, shall be said of the new war 
 that followed in Germany. The ruddy fields of 
 Abensberg, Landshut, Eckmuhl, Aspera, and Wa- 
 gram covered with mangled men cry out for ven- 
 geance against some one. Who violated the treaty 
 of Presbourg, Napoleon or the Emperor of Austria 1 
 The former was in Spain with his army, far removed 
 from any interference with the German Empire. 
 Wliy then did Austria arm herself and plunge Cen- 
 tral Europe again into all the horrors of war ? Be- 
 cause she thought that Napoleon was so entangled in 
 the mountains of Spain that she could strike him a 
 mortal blow before he could recover himself. I have 
 never seen, from the most prejudiced writer, any 
 
AUSTRIAN PERFIDY. 301 
 
 defence of this violation of a sacred treaty on the 
 part of Austria. Kapoleon was enraged, and stig- 
 matized it, " A war without an object^ and without a 
 pretext.'''^ " Thrice^ said he, " has Austria perjured 
 itselfP Yet how few Americans in reading the 
 description of the battles of Aspern and Wagram 
 fail to utter exclamations of horror against iJTapoleon, 
 as though on his soul rested the blood of the slain, 
 whereas he was enraged beyond measure at the per 
 fidy of Austria which forced him to recall his troops 
 from Spain. 
 
 The treaty of Yienna followed, by which Austria 
 lost extensive possessions. France gained territory — ■ 
 what other indemnification could she receive for such 
 an expensive war, forced on her in the face of a 
 sacred treaty, and what other punishment could Na- 
 poleon inflict on a perjured nation, that like an assas- 
 sin, had endeavored to stab his empire in the dark ? 
 K^apoleon is not to blame for wrestiipg territory from 
 Austria as a compensation for the losses of war, but 
 for not dismembering her, dividing her three crowns, 
 thus prostrating her independence and power forever. 
 
 I have not time to go into the changes produced in 
 Switzerland and Italy, besides I am not defending 
 Napoleon's acts, except when the simple question as 
 to the authors of a war is to be settled. 
 
 Thus far it is easy to fix the guilt of nearly every 
 war that desolated Europe for so many years. The.y 
 
303 TIIK OLD GUAltp. 
 
 were brought about by some or all of the allied 
 powei-s under the pretence of guarding against dan 
 ger or to get back territory which had been ceded b,y 
 treaty. 
 
 The next war, tlie one with Kussia, grew out of the 
 irritation of the latter at the great accessions of terri- 
 tory to the French Empire, and from the fear that 
 Napoleon would attempt to reinstate Poland. Leav- 
 ing aside all other ostensible and real motives, the 
 war would doubtless have been prevented, liad Napo- 
 leon consented to the demand of Russia, " that the 
 hingdom of Poland should never he established^ and 
 that her name should he effaced forever from every 
 pyhlio and official act?'' Tliere were other causes of 
 grievances on both sides, but not enough to have dis- 
 turbed the peace of Europe, could this have been 
 guaranteed. Napoleon consented to " bind himself 
 to give no encouragement tending to its re-establish- 
 ment," but he would not go a step farther. The 
 slight to the Emperor Alexander's sister by abruptly 
 breaking oif tlie negotiation of marriage, and the swal- 
 lowing up of the possessions of the Grand Duke of 
 Oldenburg, his brother-in-law, were among other in- 
 citements to hostility ; but the fear that this Colos- 
 sus, who strode with such haughty footsteps over 
 Europe, might yet lay his hand on Poland and wrest 
 from him his ill-gotten possessions, was at the bottom 
 of the warlike attitude which he assumed. This 
 
INVASION OF RUSSIA. 303 
 
 fact which cannot be denied, shows that Napoleon had 
 done nothing that could sanction Russia in breaking 
 that alliance, offensive and defensive, formed at the 
 peace of Tilsit. But France needed but little prov ^ 
 cation to justify her in assailing a power that with 
 short intervals had so long waged an unprovoked war 
 against her. Kemoved so far from the theatre of hos- 
 tilities, Russia had been able to inflict severe troubles 
 on France while the latter could do nothing in return 
 but crush her armies. 
 
 In short, Alexander entered on this war because he 
 anticipated encroachments on his possessions, ob- 
 tained some fifteen years before by one of the most 
 unholy conquests recorded in the annals of modern 
 civilization. ]N'apoleon was not averse to the war, for 
 ne also began to look out for the future, and there 
 could be no better time than now when all Europe 
 marched under his standard, not only to chastise Russia 
 for the injury she had done France, but to prevent 
 her from inflicting it in future. Without doubt there 
 was blame on both sides, but the unprejudiced reader 
 of history will, all things considered, have no hesi- 
 tation in placing the heaviest proportion on Russia. 
 
 But what shall be said of the desolating wars that 
 followed the disasters of the Russian campaign? 
 Austria and Prussia had both entered into a solemn 
 treaty with Napoleon and put their troops under his 
 command in the invasion of Russia, yet no sooner 
 
304 THE OLD GUA5J>. 
 
 did they behold liis army in fragments tlum w'ith a 
 perfidy and meanness unparalleled in the history of 
 civilized nations, they joined hands with Russia, and 
 rushed forward to strike with deadlier blows an 
 already prostrate ally. It is generally regarded a 
 point of honor among men never to desert a friend 
 and ally in distress — and to fight by the side of a friend 
 one day against a common enemy, and on the next 
 turn and smite him for no other reason than because 
 bleeding and staggering under the discomfiture he 
 has met with he is no longer able to defend himself, 
 is considered the meanest act of an ignoble soul and 
 the last step to which human baseness can descend. 
 
 I suppose it will be unnecessary for me to attempt 
 to prove on whom rests the guilt of the battles of 
 Lutzen, Bautzen, Dresden, Culm, Gros Beren, Katz- 
 back, Dennewitz, Leipsic, with its awful slaughter, 
 and Hanau — or of those other murderous engagementa 
 on the soil of France — of the battles of Brienne, Ro- 
 tbiere, Champaubert, Montmirail, Yauchamps, Mon- 
 te re au, Craon, Laon, and of Paris, unless it is neces 
 sary to prove a monarch has a right to defend his 
 crown, and a brave people their own soil. Yillany 
 for once, at least, triumphed, and perfidy and treach- 
 ery were rewarded with success. Prussia and Aus 
 tria by falling suddenly on their prostrate ally suc- 
 ceeded in strangling him. 
 
 The coalition was successful, and Kapoleon I'obbed 
 
WATERLOO. 306 
 
 of his crown and his empire was sent to Elba. It 
 was natural that the monarchs of Austria and Prus- 
 sia, v/hose thrones, Kapoleon when he held them in 
 his power had respected, should crown their debase- 
 ment by taking from him his. A few montlis before 
 thej had sworn to defend liim against Kussia, and now 
 at her request to strip him not merely of his possessions 
 but of his crown, was only doing as violators of their 
 oaths and betrayers of friends have always done. 
 
 Like villains of a baser sort, however, they began 
 to quarrel over the spoils they had obtained. There 
 was mustering of armies and all the preparations for 
 a bloody war, but they at length each retired with his 
 portion. 
 
 There is but one more war the guilt of which it is 
 necessary to fix before the curtain drops on the pub- 
 lic life of Kapoleon, and the Holy Alliance has it all 
 its own way on the continent. The manner in which 
 N"apoleon mounted his recovered throne was the best 
 title to it he could have had. The heart of the peo- 
 ple replaced him there, and as his triumph had been 
 peaceable, so did he wish his reign to be. 'No one is 
 so insane as to assert that he desired the war that 
 ended in the disasters of Waterloo. War was de- 
 clared against him by the infamous coalition which 
 had so often attempted his overthrow. To his oifera 
 of peace the allies returned no answer, for they had 
 none to give. Ilis complete destruction would satisfy 
 
306 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 them, and nothing else. He strove nobly to save 
 himself, but could not. The dead at Quatre Bras, 
 Ligny, and Waterloo are silent but awful witnesses 
 against the tyranny that forced them to struggle for 
 monarchs who were governed solely by ambitious 
 views and unworthy jealousies. The defence set up 
 for the allies that N"apoleon would not long be 
 quiet, I have before considered. To cause sixty thou- 
 sand men to be slain in order to prevent a nation 
 from declaring war, may do very well at the tribunal 
 of European diplomacy, but before the " court of high 
 heaven," it will meet with a different reception. Be- 
 sides Kapoleon offered to form a treaty of peace, and 
 they could not suppose he could break it with more 
 deliberate faithlessness than England had violated the 
 treaty of Amiens, or Austria that of Presbourg, or 
 both Austria and Prussia their plighted word after 
 the disasters of the Russian campaign. IS'either 
 could Russia believe he would grasp any state with 
 more cruel ferocity, and oppress it with heavier bur- 
 uens than she had seized and loaded Poland. England 
 it is true might be compelled to give up the French 
 possessions in the West Indies which she had seized 
 as a part of her spoil, and the time might arrive wheh 
 Napoleon would bring to terrible account the faith- 
 less allies who had turned on him in his misfortunes, 
 and stripped him of his empire. All this may be 
 very true, and furnish an easy explanation to the war 
 
SECUKITY OF GOVERNMENT. 307 
 
 that dosed with tlie iiiglit on the field of Waterloo, 
 but in heaven's name charge not the terrible slaugh- 
 ter and suffering that accompanied it to Napo'.eon. 
 Never in a worse situation to carry on hostilities, he 
 would have signed almost any treaty rather than have 
 risked his throne in a premature struggle. What he 
 might have done in the future, what wars he might 
 have waged, and what guilt he might have incurred, 
 I leave to prophets to determine ; but for the war 
 which finished him, and the sufferings attached to it, 
 he is guiltless. 
 
 In this review I have touched only on the chief 
 points because I had not space to treat the matter 
 more fully. My motive has been to show that the 
 gallant deeds of the Old Guard, which I have re- 
 corded, are not to be classed with those of Cassar's 
 legions. The part ISTapoleon and his Guard performed 
 is one of the most important in history. The hand 
 of lieaven is visible throughout. They were destined 
 to shatter feudalism into a thousand fragments, and 
 no less power than theirs could have done it. Where 
 would have been civil freedom in Europe, without 
 them — w^here that progress in the knowledge of the 
 people respecting their rights, which has since shorn 
 kings of their pride and taught them civility to their 
 subjects ? In struggling for the divine right of kings 
 and the security of monarchies, the haughty and 
 unscrupulous powers of Europe undermined both. 
 
308 THE OLD GUARD. 
 
 [nstead of burying republicanism fathoms deep, they 
 sowed dragons' teeth, the fruit of which they are now 
 reaping. 
 
 The truth is, our prejudices have all been obtamed 
 from English papers and English literature. But if 
 one wishes to know how much these can be relied on, 
 let him turn to the same papers and same authorities, 
 and read the accounts of the war of 1812. If we 
 believe the one history we should the other. It is 
 true, in abiding by this fair rule, we would be com- 
 pelled to put ourselves in the same category with 
 Napoleon, and look upon our government as alone 
 guilty of that war. By her showing, England never 
 yet was wrong. But alas, history proves that although 
 she declaimed so loudly against Napoleon's grasping 
 spirit, she has since acquired more territory in the 
 Indies than she ever charged him with conquering. 
 Let us beware how we adopt the opinions of the ene- 
 mies of republicanism as our own, and render all 
 honor to the brave who have borne a part second only 
 to ourselves in the regeneration of all human govern- 
 ments. 
 
 In conclusion, I would ask my countrymen to look 
 at the conduct of Russia in the last struggle of Hun- 
 gary for liberty. What sent the northern hordes 
 against that brave people and laid their liberties and 
 their nationality in the dust ? Rest assured the same 
 motive that sent her against the French Republic aiid 
 
POLICY OF DESPOTISM. 80'J 
 
 afterwards against Napoleon. "What now cause*? 
 Austria to whip and imprison Hungarian ladies and 
 patriots and expel Americans from her borders as if 
 thej were degraded criminals ? — the same motive 
 that impelled her to break treaties and violate her 
 honor in the effort to overthrow Napoleon, viz., " the 
 security of g(yoeTnments^^ " to prevent a general earth- 
 quake,'''' What induces the king of Naples to fill the 
 prisons of his kingdom with the noblest men in it ? 
 The " security of governmentP "What places the 
 continent under a general system of espionage and 
 makes domiciliary visits necessary and suspected 
 persons criminals without testimony? — ''^ security of 
 governments What causes us to be viewed with a 
 jealous, suspicious eye — our movements watched — our 
 actions misrepresented, and our institutions slandered? 
 " the security of government- What lies at the bot- 
 tom of the horrible oppressions that are weekly 
 borne to our ears from the despotisms of Europe ? The 
 same that lay at the foundation of the perfidy and 
 falsehood, and perjury, and perpetual wars that dis- 
 crowned Napoleon, and for a while hushed the cry 
 of freedom, that rising from revolutionary France, 
 swept like a whirlwind over Europe. Remember 
 this when you hear of the " balance of power," 
 •* security of government," which are terms used 
 simply to cover up the oppressions, and ^barbarity 
 
310 THE OLD GUAlft). 
 
 and selfishness that have made the thrones of Centra^ 
 Europe for so many ages a curse to mankind. lie- 
 member that in siding with feudalism you condemn 
 yourselves. 
 
 tXB SMD. 
 
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