the 28th of August, 1812, he arrived at the camp of the allied armies, near Giatzk. Scarce had he made himself acquainted with the state of the troops, when he found it necessary to measure his strength with Napoleon the Emperor of France. On the 7th of September he was engaged in the memorable battle of Borodino.* Kutusoff, raised to the dignity of Field-Marshal for the battle of the 7th, might perhaps even now have arrested the progress of the invaders; but he knew what victory would cost him, and determined not to make the terrible sacrifice. The course he took inflicted a present evil, but it produced a permanent good. Moscow fell into the hands of the enemy; and Kutusoff, skilfully encouraging the flattering delusions which lulled the conqueror, left him to sleep in the delicious dream of a chimerical peace, which should rivet the fetters of Europe, and open to her master the gates of Asia. At length the period foreseen by this sagacious general arrived; Moscow, set free, beheld the flight of the enemy. The invincible resistance of the Russians at Malo-Jaroslavitz forced the enemy to retrace the route on which he had sown desolation and misery, and on which he could reap nothing but misery and desolation. His conqueror pursued him incessantly; every battle was a victory, every march was a triumph for the Russians. Whole armies fell beneath the rigours of a Russian winter, and the gallantry of Russian troops. Thus, these immense cohorts, which, by their numbers and formidable preparations, seemed destined to be marching to the conquest or ruin of the universe, marched only to captivity and death. On the 21st of December, the inhabitants of Wilna beheld their prince tenderly embracing the heroic author of these prodigies, decorating him with the grand cordon of St. George, and proclaiming him the saviour of his country. Already the Vistula and the Oder were free, and the order of the Black Eagle, and the portrait of the Prussian Monarch, enriched with brilliants, testified to the liberator of his country the gratitude of that prince. Soon the Russian eagle, lately come from the banks of the Moskwa, hovered over the banks of the Elbe, which now became crowded by the sons of the Don and the Volga. But the destiny of this great man was accomplished; he died, covered with glory, in the 68th year of his age, in the little town of Bunzlau, in Silesia, on the 16th of April, 1813.† The tears of his companions in arms evinced how greatly he was venerated and esteemed by them; and the magnificent obsequies bestowed on his remains, demonstrated how highly bis memory was revered by all; while the following letter, addressed to his widow, will shew the high esteem in which he was held by his sovereign:"PRINCESS CATHARINE ILINISHINA! "The Almighty, whose decrees it is impossible for mortals to resist, and unlawful to murmur at, has been pleased to remove your husband, Prince Michel Larionovitz Kutusoff Smolensk, in the midst of his brilliant career of victory and glory, from a transient to an eternal life. A great and grievous loss, not for you alone, but for the country at large! Your tears flow not alone for him-I weep-all Russia weeps with you. Yet God, who has called him to himself, grants you this consolation, that his name and his deeds are immortal; a grateful country will never forget his merits. Europe, and the whole world, will for ever admire him, and inscribe his name on the list of the most distinguished commanders. A monument shall be erected to his honour; beholding which, the Russian will feel his heart swell with pride, and the foreigner will respect a nation that gives birth to such great men. I have given orders that you should retain all the advantages enjoyed by your late husband; and remain your affectionate [Signed.] "Dresden, April 25th, 1813," ہو uccane See Vol. II. Book IV. p. 229. ↑ Galerie des Portraits des Généraux, &c. qui ont contribué aux Succès des Armes Russes pendant la Guerre en 1812. MARSHAL BESSIERES, DUKE OF ISTRIA, surnamed the "The Brave," was distinguished among the French generals for his courage and intrepidity. Italy, Germany, and the banks of the Nile, had witnessed his deeds in arms, and his urbanity in society was equal to his gallantry in the field. He was born at Pressac, in 1769, and entered the military service at the period of the revolution, as a common soldier. For sixteen years he had, in different ranks, commanded the emperor's guard, and followed him in all his campaigns and battles. His death, upon the field of battle near Lutzen, on the 1st of May, 1813, was so rapid as to be without pain, and his memory was cherished by the whole army. A son of Marshal Bessières, the inheritor of the name and renown of his father, has, by a striking act of magnanimity, been called, though in his nonage, to the dignity of a peer of France by Louis XVIII. MARSHAL MARSHAL DUROC, DUKE OF FRIULI-Gerard Christopher Michel Duroc was the son of a scrivener, and born at Pont-à-Mousson, on the 25th of October, 1772. The studies of his youth were military, and the first levy took him into the army. The general served in the capacity of chief aide-de-camp to Bonaparte, and afterwards became a leader of a brigade, in which situation he distinguished himself particularly at the passage of the Lisonzo. He accompanied Bonaparte into Egypt, and returned with him to France in 1799, whence, on the formation of the consular government, he was sent in the capacity of ambassador extraordinary to Berlin. He was afterwards employed on missions to Stockholm and St Petersburg, and the success with which all his negociations were executed, shows that the warrior and the diplomatist are not incompatible characters. He knew how to ally civil virtues to military renown-to blend the olive with the laurel. On the 8th of July, 1805, he was appointed grand marshal of the palace, and decorated with the order of the Black Eagle of Prussia. He had long held the rank of the personal friend of Napoleon, and on the 22d of May, 1813, the day succeeding the battle of Bautzen, he fell by a cannonball, lamenting that he could no longer be of use to him to whose service his life had been consecrated. GENERAL MOREAU.-Among the distinguished characters called forth by the French revolution may be ranked Jean Victor Moreau, born at Morlain, in the year 1761. A decided passion for arms led him, at the age of eighteen, to quit the profession of the law, in which his father held a respectable rank, and to enlist as a private soldier. From a situation so inferior to his education and prospects in life he was soon removed by paternal kindness, and enabled to pursue his studies; till, at the period of the revolution, he had attained a marked superiority among the students at Rennes. In the year 1790 young Moreau obtained the command of a battalion of volunteers in bis department, and from that time he devoted himself wholly to the military profession. His valour and genius soon attracted attention, and in 1793 he was elevated to the rank of brigadier-general. On the 14th of April, 1794, he was appointed general of division, on the recommendation of General Pichegru, under whom he served with splendid success in the army of the north. In the celebrated winter campaign of 1794, which bowed Holland beneath the power of France, Moreau greatly contributed to the rapid success of his country. After the retreat of Pichegru, in 1796, he took the command of the armies of the Rhine and Moselle, and in the month of June opened that campaign which laid the foundation of his military glory. His memorable retreat through the Black Forest to the Rhine, procured him the appellation of the modern Fabius; and the happy union of caution and skill which enabled him to rescue the French army in Italy from the perilous situation into which it had been precipitated, established his claim to rank with the Roman Cunctator. In 1797, General Moreau felt himself called upon by a sense of public duty to denounce his friend and patron, General Pichegru, who had entered into a treasonable correspondence with the Prince of Condé, and was meditating the overthrow of the republic. In 1800 he was nominated by the first consul to the command of the army of the Danube. The success of this campaign is justly ascribed to his skill and promptitude, and the battle of Hohenlinden," where furious Frank and fiery Hun join'd in the dreadful revelry,” may be recorded as one of the most signal of his victories.† * The treaty of Leoben, executed at Steyer, the head-quarters of General Moreau, soon after followed, and on his return to Paris, Bonaparte presented him with a pair of magnificent pistols, saying, "I could have wished to have had your victories engraved upon them, but there was not room enough." The general, having married during the preceding summer, now retired to his estate at Grosbois, where he spent his time in the bosom of his family, removed, apparently, from the cares of state and the intrigues of courts. It had however long been generally known that Moreau disapproved of the elevation of Bonaparte to the consular dignity, and it was soon discovered that he had held several interviews with General Pichegru, who had secretly repaired to Paris, and that even Georges was in their confidence. The official report of this conspiracy states, that he was willing to co-operate in the destruction of the consular authority, but he disapproved of the restoration of the Bourbons, and insisted on a representative government, on which Pichegru observed, "I believe he has a mind to the government too, but he would not retain it a week." Moreau was brought, with the other conspirators, before the criminal tribunal, and defended no less by the eloquence of Bonnet, his counsel, than by public opinion; he was nevertheless condemned, on the 10th of June, 1804, to two years' imprisonment, a punishment which was immediately commuted to banishment.‡ The United States of America was the country to which General Moreau determined to retire, and at the beginning of 1805 he embarked from Cadiz on his Trans-Atlantic voyage, On his arrival in America he purchased a handsome country-house at Morrisville, below the falls of the Delaware, and, surrounded by his family and friends, reposed in tranquillity under the shades of the laurels he had gained. In his exile Moreau continued for many years, restrained by a high sense of honour from taking up arms against a cause which numbered his countrymen among its supporters. At length however the great crisis arrived when the kingdoms of Europe united all their forces, and all their talents, against the ambition of one man; and at the invitation of the Emperor of Russia, General Moreau consented to contribute his genius to the common stock. On his arrival in Europe, where he was received with every mark of favour by the allied sovereigns, it was determined to organize a corps d'armée, to be principally composed of French prisoners, and called Moreau's Legion. This body was to be decorated with the white cockade, to bear the motto pro patria, and to fight for the deliverance of Europe. The execution of this plan, which promised See Vol. I. Book I. p. 164-5. + See Vol. I. Book II. p. 331. See Vol. I. Book III. p. 456-8. promised little good, and from which none was derived, was interrupted by the melancholy event which closed the career of the unfortunate general. On the fatal 27th of August Moreau received a mortal wound before Dresden, as already described, and after sustaining a journey of extreme torture with heroic fortitude, arrived at Laun, in Bohemia, on the 30th of that month. Hopes were now entertained of his recovery, and on the evening of that day he wrote with his own hand a letter to Madame Moreau, of which the following is a translation : "MY DEAR LOVE-At the battle of Dresden, three days ago, I had both legs carried away by a cannon shot. That scoundrel, Bonaparte, is always fortunate. The amputation has been performed as well as possible. Though the army has made a retrograde movement, it is not directly backward, but sideways, and for the sake of getting nearer to General Blucher. Excuse my scrawl: I love thee, and embrace thee with my whole heart. Rapatel will finish.-V. M.” The following was added by his secretary : "MADAME-The general permits me to write to you on the same sheet on which he has sent you a few lines. Judge of my grief and regret by what he has told you. From the moment he was wounded I have not left him, nor will I leave him, till he is perfectly cured: we have the greatest hopes, and I, who know him, am certain we shall save him. He supported the amputation with heroic courage, without fainting. *** "I have stood in need of all my fortitude for the last four days, and shall still stand in need of it. Rely upon my care, my friendship, and upon all the sentiments with which both of you have inspired me. Don't alarm yourself-I need not tell you to exert your courage-I know all your heart. I will neglect no opportunity to write to you.-The surgeon has just assured me, that, if he continue to ge on well, he will be able, in five weeks, to go out in a carriage. Madam, and respectable friend, farewell—I am miserable. ・・・ "Laun, Aug. 30th, 1813. "Your most devoted servant, #6 Sept. 1. He is going on well, and is easy. "RAPATEL." During the night of the 30th he was seized with a violent biccnp and other alarming symptoms, and three days afterwards he expired, at the moment when he was dictating a letter to the Emperor Alexander, expressive of the sentiments of admiration and devotedness with which his majesty had inspired him. The remains of General Moreau were embalmed, by command of the Emperor of Russia, and removed to St. Petersburg, to be interred in the catholic church, by the side of the body of Marshal Kutusoff. The beneficent designs of the emperor were not confined to the dead, but extended also to the living, and on this melancholy occasion he wrote a consolatory letter to Madame Moreau, of which the following is a translation :— "MADAME-When the dreadful misfortune which befel General Moreau by my side, deprived me of the luminous mind and experience of that great man, I cherished the hope that, by great care, it might be possible to preserve him to his family and to my friendship. Providence has ordained otherwise. He has died as he has lived, in the full energy of a strong and constant soul. There is only one remedy for the great evils of life-it is that of seeing them shared. In Russia, Madam, you will every-where find these sentiments, and if it be convenient for you to settle there, I will seek out all the means to embellish the existence of a person, of whom I hold it to be my sacred duty to be the comforter and supporter. I pray you, Madam, to rely on it most confidently; never to leave me in ignorance of any circumstance in which I can be at all useful to you, and to write to me always direct. To anticipate your wishes will be always an enjoyment to me. The friendship I had vowed to your husband goes beyond the tomb, and I have no other means of acquitting myself well, at least in part, towards him, than in acting so as to insure, as I shall ever be disposed to do, the well-being of his family. sentiments. "Receive, Madam, in the present cruel and distressing circumstances, these testimonials, with the assurance of all my best " Toplitz, the 6th of September, 1815.” [Signed.] Alexandr се Sentiments such as these shed a splendour round thrones. The emperor, after conferring the rank of Dame du Portrait of the order of St. Catherine on Madame Moreau, and of Demoiselle d'Honneur to the empress on the only daughter of the deceased general, settled on the former an annuity of 40,000 roubles, and on the latter 6,000 roubles; ordering at the same time that 100,000 roubles (£22,500 sterling) should be paid to Madame Moreau by the bank at St. Petersburg. The presence of Moreau in the allied army had excited much enthusiasm throughout Europe; and a fate so tragical and untimely produced equal sympathy and regret. Yet the propriety of his conduct may admit of difference of opinion. Unjust expulsion from the political community may seem to destroy the ties by which an individual is united to his country, and to absolve him from the duties of allegiance. Yet the general sense of mankind has pronounced an indelible relation between men and the country which gave them birth, which no wrong can obliterate. Had the object of the allied sovereigns been to change the government-to restore either a free constitution or the ancient monarchy to France-General Moreau might have had a fair ground of justification; but they had, on the contrary, disclaimed all such intentions, and declared, that their purpose was to re-establish against France the ancient balance of power-an object highly laudable and honourable in them, but in him, as a French subject, equivocal, and at variance with the general law of nations. The Signatures to the Letters of the Emperor of Russia and the Prince Royal of Sweden in this Chapter are Fac Similes-that to the Widow of Prince Kutusoff in the Russian character. CHAPTER XXIV. CAMPAIGN IN FRANCE: Declaration of the Allied Powers previous to the Invasion of FranceMeeting of the French Legislative Body-Abstract of the Report of the Committee appointed to examine the Diplomatic Correspondence-Napoleon's indignant Observations thereon-Passage of the Rhine by the Allied Armies-Proclamation of Prince Schwartzenberg, the Commanderin-Chief, to the People of France-Disposition of the French Armies-Capture of Geneva by the Allies-The Invasion of France announced to his Senators by Napoleon-Congress assembled at Chatillon-Advance of the invading Army into the interior of France-The Emperor quits Paris to place himself at the Head of his Army-Battle of Brienne-—of La Rothière-Retreat of the French, and Advance of the Allies-Prince Schwartzenberg and Marshal Blucher divide their Force, and advance on Paris, the former by the Banks of the Seine, and the latter on the Course of the Marne-Vigorous and successful Exertions of Napoleon-Repulse of Marshal Blucher—of Prince Schwartzenberg-their Retreat—Negociations at Chatillon-Belgium released from French Dominion-Battles of Craone and Leon-The Allies again assume the offensive-Last Conferences at Chatillon-Rupture of the Congress. THE vast empire which, at the close of the year 1813, extended over the rich and populous countries bounded by the Adriatic and the English channel, the Rhine and the Atlantic ocean; which reckoned, in the field and in the garrison, more than five hundred thousand warriors; which could arm, to reinforce them, at least an equal number of citizens, accustomed to camps, and in the flower of their age; whose existence was guaranteed by an age of victories, and by the fortune of a chief who had once been esteemed the arbiter of nations, and obtained the appellation of "The man of the destinies;" -that mighty empire, in a campaign of three months, was overthrown; all the princes of Europe occupied, and inundated with their troops, two-thirds of its territory; its warriors were sacrificed in useless combats; its chief survived that reputation for invincibility, the impression of which had so long contributed to uphold his power; and this man of indefatigable activity, suddenly struck with a species of stupor, crouched under the iron hand of destiny, and descended, like an actor who has finished his part, from a throne which he could no longer preserve, and in the defence of which he did not choose to die. This is one of those astonishing spectacles which was reserved for an age fertile in revolutions, and one of those great catastrophes which form an epoch in the history of the world. Long before Napoleon ceased to reign, he had acquired all the faults inseparable from the exercise of despotic authority. Success and adulation had relaxed his mental energies; he could not endure the slightest opposition to his 1813 will; he consulted but with those who were BOOK IV. The combined armies had now advanced to 1813 BOOK IV. the memorable exposition of their views and This declaration was considered by Napo- "Every thing is against us," said Napoleon from his throne," and France itself would be in danger, were it not for the energy and union of the French. I have never been seduced by prosperity-adversity will find me superior to its attacks. I have several times given peace to nations when they had lost every thing. From a part of my conquests I have raised thrones for kings who have forsaken me. Negociations have been entered into with the allied powers; I have adhered to the preliminary bases which they have presented; I had then the hope, that before the opening of the session the congress of Man. heim would be assembled; but new delays, which are not to be ascribed to France, have deferred this moment, which the wishes of the world eagerly demand. I have ordered to be laid before you the original documents, which are in the port-feuille of my department of foreign affairs, you will make yourselves acquainted with them by means of a committee. On my side there is no obstacle to the re-establishment of peace." An extraordinary commission of five members was immediately formed from the legislative body by ballot, of which M. Laisné was the president, and for the first time during thirteen years, the legitimate organ of the nation ventured to express doubts of the soundness of their sovereign's policy. After encountering various impediments, the committee of the legislative body made their report, and on the 28th of December this document was submitted to the assembly: "If," says the report, "the declarations of the foreign powers are fallacious-if their object be to enslave us-if they meditate the dismemberment of the sacred territory of France, it will be necessary to carry on a national war for the purpose of averting such calamities. But the more completely to effect this grand movement, by which an empire is to be preserved, is it not desirable to unite the nation and the monarchy by closer ties? It is necessary that silence should be imposed on the enemy as to their accusation of aggrandizement, conquest, and alarming preponderance; and since the allied powers have chosen to declare by public proclamations that such are our intentions, is it not worthy of his majesty to shew the matter in a clear light, by solemnly declaring to Europe what are the * DECLARATION OF THE ALLIED POWERS. The motives of the senatús consultum The French government has ordered a new levy of 300,000 conscripts. to that effect contain an appeal to the allied powers.-They therefore find themselves called upon to promulgate anew, in the face of the world, the views which guide them in the present war; the principles which form the basis of their conduct, their wishes, and their determinations. The allied powers do not make war upon France, but against that preponderance, haughtily announced,→→ against that preponderance which, to the misfortune of Europe and of France, the Emperor Napoleon has too long exercised beyond the limits of his empire. Victory has conducted the allied armies to the banks of the Rhine. The first use which their imperial and royal majesties have made of victory, has been to offer peace to his Majesty the Emperor of the French. An attitude strengthened by the accession of all the sovereigns and princes of Germany has had no influence on the conditions of that peace. These conditions are founded on the independence of the French empire, as well as on the independence of the other states of Europe. The views of the powers are just in their object, generous and liberal in their application, giving security to all, honourable to each. The allied sovereigns desire that France may be great, powerful, and happy; because the French power, in a state of greatness and strength, is one of the foundations of the social edifice of Europe.-They wish that France may be happy, that French commerce may revive, that the arts (those blessings of peace) may again flourish, because a great people can only be tranquil in proportion as it is happy. The allied powers confirm to the French empire an extent of territory which France under her kings never knew; because a valiant nation does not fall from its rank, by having in its turn experienced reverses in an obstinate and sanguinary contest, in which it has fought with its accustomed bravery. But the allied powers also wish to be free, tranquil, and happy, themselves. They desire a state of peace which, by a wise partition of strength, by a just equilibrium, may henceforward preserve their people from the numberless calamities which have overwhelmed Europe for the last twenty years. The allied powers will not lay down their arms until they have attained this great and beneficial result, this noble object of their efforts. They will not lay down their arms, until the political state of Europe be re-established anew, until immoveable principles have resumed their rights over vain pretensions,-until the sanctity of treaties shall have at last secured a real peace to Europe. Francfort, Dee. 1, 1813. |