their object. Thus the battle of Craone, though dreadfully sanguinary from the ravages made by the artillery, produced no decisive result; the loss on each side was pretty nearly balanced; and the possession of the field by the French was the only reward, and the only sign, of victory. Napoleon now determined to carry the position of Laon,* and on the 9th he marched with the main body of his army from Chavignon to that place. This ancient town, the capital of the department of the Aisne, covers the greatest part of an eminence, and commands a vast plain, studded with villages and small woods. At the distance of a league from the town the plain becomes narrow, and is bordered on the southeast by a double chain of lofty eminences; intersected by a marshy dale, through which flows the little river Lette. Far from being deterred by the difficulties of the position, the French commander seemed only the more excited to make the attack. Early in the day the enemy advanced to the attack, and, under cover of a dense fog, seized the villages of Semilly and Ardon, situated under the town itself, and forming part of its suburbs. Towards eleven o'clock the fog began to disperse, and Marshal Blucher, perceiving from the heights that the French were in force behind the villages of Ardon, Semilly, and Levilly, immediately ordered the combined cavalry of the rear-guard to advance, and turn the left flank of the French army. At the same time, General Count Woronzow marched with his infantry from the left wing, and pushed forward two battalions of chasseurs, who drove the French advanced posts out of Semilly, and held their left in check till the allied cavalry arrived. The centre and left of the French army were now seen in full retreat, but this movement was merely a feint, preconcerted by the emperor, for the purpose of drawing the allies into the plain, while a more serious and general attack was made upon their position. Marshal Marmont, who had just arrived from Rheims, with an advanced-guard of sixteen battalions of infantry, supported by cavalry and flying artillery, attacked and carried the village of Athies, which was defended by Prince William of Prussia; but scarcely had he established himself in his new position when night began to close in upon the combatants, and when a mass of the Russian cavalry put in practice against his troops the manoeuvre which had failed at Craone. About seven o'clock in the evening, the Cossacks, with a general hourra, surprised his park of artillery, and notwithstanding every effort was resorted to by the French general in order to save his ordnance, so sudden and vigorous was 1814 the attack, that the Cossacks succeeded in car- BOOK IV. Undismayed by this terrible check, Napo In vain did Napoleon attempt to palliate the serious check which he had experienced at Laon; in vain did he represent Marshal Blucher as marching without a regular plan, hoping by a hourra of the Cossacks to spread a panic, which might pave his way to Paris. Nothing could now escape the attention of the public; the truth soon became known; and the retreat from before the capital of the department of the Aisne destroyed the moral effect of the victories by which it was preceded. On the side of the Seine, the grand AustroRussian army had availed itself of the diversion made by Marshal Blucher; after inflicting a severe defeat upon the corps under Marshals BOOK IV. Victor and Oudinot at Bar, Prince Schwartzenberg advanced again towards the French CHAP.XXIV. capital, and on the 4th of March once more established his head-quarters at Troyes. 1814 In another quarter, the Hetman Platoff obtained possession of Arcis-sur-Aube, which was defended only by a body of infantry, and made the commandant of the garrison prisoner. The next operation of the hetman was directed against Sezanne, which in its turn shared the fate of Arcis. A detachment of five hundred of the warriors of the Don was now dispatched in the direction of Montmirail, while strong columns of light horse swept the country from the Seine to the Marne, and maintained a regular communication between the grand confederated army and the army of Silesia. Thus, within the short period of a fortnight, were lost all the advantages so recently obtained over the invaders of France; the alarms of the existing government again revived, and their only remaining hope seemed to repose upon the successful conclusion of the pending negocia tions at Chatillon. The progress of the negociations had been retarded or accelerated according to the nature of military events; after the successes of Napoleon on the Marne and on the Seine, his expectations of ultimate success became unduly elevated, and he seemed determined to act upon the resolution formed by the Russians in the campaign of 1812-not to make peace with his enemies till they had withdrawn beyond the frontier. The allied sovereigns, anxious to ascertain his views and intentions, allowed his plenipotentiary at the congress to present a counter-proposition, stipulating only that it should correspond with the spirit and substance of the conditions already submitted. To afford time for the preparation of this document some delay became necessary, and the 10th of March was fixed upon by mutual consent, as the period at which the final determination should be made. In the mean time, the confederated sovereigns of Europe thought it necessary to draw still closer the ties by which they were united, and for this purpose they entered into a formal engagement, by which they covenanted to bring six hundred thousand men into the field. This new treaty of alliance, on the part of the Emperors of Austria and Russia, the King of Prussia, and the King of England, was signed on the 1st of March, at Chaumont, to which place the sovereigns and their ministers had repaired after the retreat from Troyes. By this treaty, the high contracting powers engaged, that if the French Emperor should refuse to coincide in the propositions submitted to him, they would employ all the means afforded by their respective dominions in a vigorous prose cution of the war; that they would act in per* fect concert for the purpose of procuring a general peace; and that Austria, Russia, England, and Prussia, should keep constantly in the field, to be actively employed against the common enemy, one hundred and fifty thousand men each; Great Britain, wishing to contribute in a manner the most prompt and decisive towards this great object, engaged to furnish a subsidy of five millions sterling, to be equally divided among the other three powers; reserving to herself, however, the right of furnishing her contingent in foreign troops, at the rate of twenty pounds sterling per annum for infantry, and thirty pounds for cavalry. The treaty finally stipulated that the league should continue for twenty years, and should extend also to such other powers as might determine to join the confederation. It is believed that Napoleon had no knowledge of the existence of this treaty when he dispatched his ultimatum; and it appeared as if fortune had a pleasure in perpetuating his illusions, for at the very moment when his pretensions were about to be laid before the congress at Chatillon, she again smiled upon him at Rheims. On the 12th of March General St. Priest had carried that city by assault, and the greatest part of the garrison, as well as the artillery, and several superior officers, fell into his hands. No sooner had the emperor heard of this disaster than he formed the resolution of marching upon Rheims; and on the following day, at six o'clock in the morning, his army was put in motion, leaving at Soissons only the force under Marshal Macdonald. On arriving in the vicinity of Rheims, the allied troops, amounting to about fifteen thousand men, were found posted on an eminence, within a quarter of a league of the city. The advanced-guards of the armies immediately engaged; and for several hours the plain between the two positions was a scene of continual skirmishing and cannonade; but it was not till four o'clock in the afternoon that Napoleon arrived with the remainder of his army, and then the attack became general. Fifty pieces of ordnance opened a tremendous cannonade; and the Russians were long exposed to a destructive fire, much superior to their own. General St. Priest sustained this unequal combat on all points with undaunted intrepidity, facing every danger, and exhibiting, amidst a shower of cannon and musket balls, a brilliant example to the chosen troops under his command. At this decisive moment he fell from his horse, mortally wounded, and was carried from the field of battle. The loss of their general threw the Russian battalions into disorder, and General Defrance, seizing the favourable moment, made an impetuous charge, which completed their rout. The victory in front of Rheims put the French Emperor in possession of this important city; upwards of two thousand Russian troops were made prisoners, and a large quantity of cannon, baggage, and other trophies, fell into the hands of Napoleon-but it was the last triumph of his reign. Soissons, Troyes, Nogent, Sens, Arcis, and Bar-sur-Aube, had all now been recovered by the French troops; but no sooner did they quit any one of these places than it was re-occupied by a persevering enemy, whose numbers were immense. Thus the theatre of hostilities became gradually more and more contracted; if Napoleon succeeded in surmounting one difficulty, another and more dangerous one presented itself; and this exhausting war realised in some degree the hydra and its renovated heads. From the 14th to the 16th of March Napoleon remained at Rheims, expecting the result of the conferences at Chatillon, which had been delayed a few days longer than the time prescribed. On the 15th of March, the French plenipotentiary laid before the congress his sovereign's counter-proposition. This ultimatum This ultimatum proved that "adversity had not subdued him." He demanded that the Rhine should form the boundary of the French empire; that Antwerp, Flushing, Nimeguen, and part of Waal, should be ceded to him; and that Italy, including Venice, should form a kingdom for the Viceroy, Eugene Beauharnois. In addition to these claims, he demanded indemnities for Joseph Napoleon in lieu of the kingdom of Spain; for Jerome Napoleon, who had lost Westphalia; for Louis Napoleon, the Grand Duke of Berg; and finally, for the viceroy as Duke of Francfort. To these demands the ministers of the allied powers replied, that the extent of dominion demanded by the French Emperor was incompatible with a system of equilibrium, and would confer power on France out of all proportion to the other great political bodies of Europe. The present, they held, was not an ordinary war-it was not undertaken for the purpose of obtaining territorial possessions-its object was not to enforce particular rights, but to defend the cause of the world, and to restore to the nations of Europe a durable peace. It had now, they conceived, become clear, that no such peace could be made with Napoleon; and that to continue the negociations under the present auspices would be to renounce the objects which they BOOK IV. had in view, and to betray the universal confidence reposed in them. These considerations CHAP.XXIV. prevailed. Austria herself abandoned Napoleon to his fate; and on the 18th of March the congress at Chatillon was dissolved. At this decisive moment the allied sovereigns renewed their solemn engagements never to lay down their arms till the great object of their alliance was attained. Up to the present time the Emperor Napoleon was at liberty to have accepted the sovereignty of France, as it stood in 1792, but though engaged in a contest against the military force of combined Europe, and placed at the head of an army that did not exceed sixty thousand men, he rejected the proposed bases of peace, preferring rather to stake his empire upon another appeal to arms. The first effort of the French government after the rupture of the congress was to awaken the slumbering energies of the people, and to convert the contest in which they were engaged into a national war. For this purpose orders were again issued to raise the levy en masse, and an imperial decree was promulgated, enjoining all mayors, public functionaries, and others, to encourage the people to take up arms; and denouncing as traitors all those who should dissuade them from rallying round the standard of their country. About the same time the generalissimo of the allied armies published a proclamation to the French nation, in which he declared," that all who resisted the allied arms would expose themselves to inevitable destruction;" and Marshal Blucher, in a similar proclamation, dated on the 13th of March, at Laon, announced, "that painful as he should feel it to confound the innocent with the guilty, he would henceforth cause every town and village to be burnt, the inhabitants of which should dare to take up arms against his troops, and impede his military operations." A war of extermination seemed thus on the eve of being proclaimed; both the belligerents had expressed their determination to resort to reprisals upon the spot; and the inhabitants of the invaded provinces were reduced to the terrible alternative, either of submitting to the denunciations of their own government, for remaining in a state of inaction; or of exposing themselves and their property to destruction, from the allied troops, if they ventured to take any part in the war. 1814 BOOK IV. 1814 CHAPTER XXV. CAMPAIGN IN FRANCE (continued): Liberation of Ferdinand VII.-Operations in the South of France-Battle of Orthes-Counter-Revolution at Bourdeaux-Movements of the hostile Armies in the Departments of the Seine and the Marne-Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube-Retreat of Napoleon-Stratagem to draw the Allied Armies from Paris-The Allies resolve to advance upon the Capital-Disastrous Attempt upon Bergen-op-Zoom-Inactivity of the Prince Royal of Sweden-Operations in Italy-Junction of the Armies of Prince Schwartzenberg and Marshal Blucher-Advance on Paris-Preparations made by Marshals Marmont and Mortier to defend the Capital-Battle of Paris-Armistice-Capitulation—Advance of Napoleon with a Detachment of Guards into the Neighbourhood of Paris-State of Parties-Exertions of the Royalists to induce the People to demand the Restoration of the Bourbons-Triumphal Entry of the Allies into the French Capital-Proclamation of the Emperor Alexander explanatory of the Views of the Allies towards France-The Senate convoked by Prince Talleyrand-They abjure the Imperial Sway, and create a Provisional Government-The French Prisoners of War in Russia liberated without Ransom-Napoleon collects an Army at Fontainebleau—Establishment of a Regency Government at Blois under the Empress Maria Louisa-dbdication of the Emperor Napoleon-Constitutional Charter-Battle of Toulouse-Cessation of Hostilities in the South of France-Entry of the Count d'Artois into Paris as Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom-Dissolution of the Imperial Government, and the Regency at Blois-Napoleon's Farewel to his Guards-His Departure for the Isle of Elbar-Entry of Louis XVIII. into Paris-Adhesion of the French Marshals-Definitive Treaty of Peace IN the great struggle to curb the ambition, and limit the aggrandizement, of the Ruler of CHAP. XXV. France, no country had acted so conspicuous and persevering a part as Great Britain; for many years, indeed, her co-operation had been confined principally to her own element, and to the supply of the sinews of war; or if she did send troops to the continent, their courage was rendered unavailing by defects either in the plan or the execution of the purpose for which they were dispatched. At length, however, the war in the peninsula of Spain and Portugal commenced, and the British soldier found a theatre on which he could shew how much he was capable of effecting when led on by a general worthy to command him, and taught the nations of Europe that the character of invincible was no longer due to the soldiers of France. It was not to be imagined that Lord Wellington, who had accomplished so much against the power of Napoleon, would be inactive now, that the contest was approaching to its crisis, or that he would fail to co-operate with the allies in their endeavours to secure the independence, and restore peace to the nations, of Europe. During the whole of the month of January, and a considerable portion of the following month, the state of the weather in the vicinity of the Pyrenees prevented Lord Wellington from commencing offensive operations; and this period of inaction was employed by the French government in an endeavour to separate Spain from the cause of the allies. Towards the close of the year 1813, Napoleon, actuated by that tortuous policy which had exhibited itself in every part of his conduct towards Spain, and convinced that Ferdinand VII. who had so long been a captive in France, would subscribe to any conditions which secured to him liberty, and the complete re-establishment in his sovereignty, summoned to Paris the Duke de San Carlos, Ferdinand's ex-minister. When this nobleman arrived, he was informed that a disposition existed in the French government to restore the throne of Spain to its sovereign, and Count Laforet, the plenipotentiary of Bonaparte, was dispatched along with the duke to the residence of the unfortunate Ferdinand at Valencay, for the purpose of negociating the conditions of his restoration. Little difficulty existed in prevailing upon the Spanish Monarch to afford the sanction of his name to the documents already provided; the treaty was ratified without delay, and by this instrument the captive monarch engaged to pay the deposed king, his father, a pension of four millions of rials; to liberate, without loss of time, the French prisoners of war at that time in Spain; to restore the property, revenue, dignity, employment, and pensions, of every Spaniard who had declared in favour of the Napoleon dynasty in Spain; and finally, to cause the evacuation of that country by the troops of his Britannic Majesty. This treaty, which was signed at Valencay, on the 11th of December, 1813, was rendered nugatory by a decree of the cortes, dated on the 1st of January, 1811, which declared null and void all the acts and conventions signed by the king during his captivity either in Spain or elsewhere. But it was supposed that royal influence would remove every difficulty, and Ferdinand, some time afterwards, entered upon his journey to his own dominions, where he was received with extatic demonstrations of joy. The negociations between the French Emperor and the King of Spain had no influence whatever upon the operations of the English army in the south of France. No sooner had the weather become favourable for military movements, than Lord Wellington resolved to pass the Adour, and to penetrate to the Garonne; and on the 24th of February, Lieutenant-general Sir John Hope, in concert with Rear-admiral Penrose, crossed the Adour below Bayonne, and took possession of both banks of that river where it empties itself into the ocean. At this time Marshal Soult had concentrated his army on a strong commanding ground, of very difficult access, in front of the town of Orthes; and on the 26th, Sir Thomas Picton, who commanded the 3d division of the British army, having forded the Gave de Pau, drove in the advanced posts of the enemy, and took up a position within four miles of their main army. On the morning of the following day, the 4th, 6th, and 7th divisions passed the river; but in consequence of the wretched state of the roads, it was nearly one o'clock before all the corps had taken up their appointed positions. The army of Marshal Soult, which consisted of from thirty-five to forty thousand troops, was, on this occasion, collected at a point as favourable as the most skilful commander could have chosen, for the purpose of arresting the progress of an invading army. His right, commanded by General Count Reille, occupied the village of St. Bois, and the heights near Orthes; the left, commanded by General Clausel, rested on Orthes, and the adjoining heights, for the purpose of opposing the passage of the river by General Hill; from the direction of the heights on which the French army was ranged, the centre, commanded by Count 1814 the position afforded the flanks extraordinary BOOK IV. advantages. Lord Wellington, being unwilling longer to delay the attack, ordered Marshal CHAP. XXV. Beresford to turn the enemy's right; while the left and centre were vigorously assailed by the troops of General Picton, who occupied the road from Peyrehorade to Orthes; and at the same time General Hill was to effect a passage of the river, in order to attack the left of the enemy's position. Marshal Beresford obtained possession of the village of St. Bois after an obstinate resistance; but the ground in front was found to be so circumscribed that the columns could not deploy to obtain the heights. At this point the French troops displayed great intrepidity and sang froid; the action became sanguinary, and the result appeared dubious. Perceiving that it was impossible to turn the French army on the right without an undue extension of his line, Lord Wellington, with his characteristic promptitude, instantly changed his plan, and caused the third and sixth divisions to advance with a brigade of light infantry, ordering them to make an impetuous attack on the left of the heights, where Marshal Soult's right wing was stationed. This attack, led by the 52d regiment, and supported by General Brisbane and Colonel Kean's brigade, placed the centre of the French army in a perilous situation; and so decisive was the result, that Lord Wellington, being strongly supported by simultaneous attacks, on the right by Sir Thomas Picton, and on the left by General Anson, obtained a decisive victory. Lieut.general Hill, having in the mean time forced the passage of the defile below Orthes, and compelled General Clausel to fall back on the heights, made a rapid movement on the high road from Orthes to St. Sever with the tenth division of infantry, and General Fane's infantry threatened to cut off the retreat of the left of the French army. Marshal Soult, finding himself thus assailed and turned in every quarter, was obliged to order a retreat. For some time the discomfited army, being supported by solid masses of infantry in succession, and favoured by the numerous advantageous positions with which the country abounds, fell back in good order; but the repeated attacks of a numerous and determined enemy, combined with the dangers threatened by the movement of General Hill, obliged the French marshal to accelerate his march, and his retreat, towards evening, degenerated into an absolute flight. The French army, being thus driven from the high road by the columns of General Hill, and vigorously charged by Lieutenant-general Sir Stapleton Cotton and Lord Edward Somerset's brigade, retired over the heights towards St. Sever; but |