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so extraordinary an eulogium, it may | heart-thrilling scenes excited the usual safely be affirmed that they never were excelled by the operations either of himself or any other general.

transports among the French soldiers; but on the troops of the Confederation, upon whom honours and bounties were wisely and profusely showered, and to whom they were perfectly new, they produced an unbounded impression. It then appeared how strongly the German heart was capable of being moved by these appeals to honour and generous feeling, of which the allied sovereigns in after times so largely availed themselves. At the same time, forty of the most deserving of the 65th regiment, which had capitulated at Ratisbon, were admitted into the Old Guard, to show that the Emperor entertained no displeasure at that corps for that untoward event; and a proclamation was addressed to the army, which, with just pride, though in exaggerated terms, recounted their great exploits.*

51. On the day following, the Emperor reviewed a great part of his army at Ratisbon, and one of those imposing spectacles was exhibited which, almost as much as his military talents, contributed to his astonishing successes. As each regiment defiled before him, Napoleon demanded from the colonel who were the most deserving among the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates, and in presence of the army conferred on them the honours and distinctions assigned to them. On these interesting occasions he himself decided on every case, and often conferred the reward on a common soldier, in preference to those of higher grade who were recommended. He recognised some of the veterans of Marengo or the Pyramids as they were presented 52. But though these splendid trito him, and when conferring the cross, umphs attended the arms of Napoleon, gave them a signal of recognition by a where he commanded in person, the slight tap on the cheek or clap on the fate of war was very different in other shoulder, accompanied by a kind ex-quarters; and already were to be seen pression, as, "I make you a baron or a chevalier." One of these veterans, on being presented, asked the Emperor if he did not remember him. "How should I?" answered Napoleon. "It was I," replied the soldier, "who in the desert of Syria, at the moment of your utmost necessity, gave you a portion of my rations." Napoleon at once recognised him, and said, "Oh! I recollect you perfectly, and make you a chevalier, with an annual endowment of twelve hundred francs," (£50). These to Echmühl, to deal out his final blows against the army of the Archduke, the remains of which with difficulty saved themselves behind the walls of Ratisbon and the mountains of Bohemia. Had Massena, as he was ordered, attacked Landshut on the 21st, on the right bank of the Isar, at the same moment when Napoleon pressed him on the left bank, the remains of Hiller's corps would have been entirely destroyed: had Ratisbon not been delivered up to the Archduke, the remains of his army, cooped up in the bend formed by the Danube at that place, would have been utterly ruined. Thus, but for these untoward incidents, the vast army of the Archduke would have been cut to pieces in these four days: as it was, it was severed in two, and found salvation only in flight.-LAS CASES, v. 196.

convincing proofs, from the disasters sustained under the direction of his lieutenants, that the invincible veterans of the republic were fast wearing out, that the conscripts of the Empire possessed no superiority over the now

"Soldiers, you have justified my anticipations: you have supplied by bravery the want of numbers, and marked the difference which exists between the soldiers of Cæsar and the armed rabble of Xerxes. Within the space of a few days we have triumphed and Echmühl, and in the combats of Freysin the battles of Thaun, of Abensberg,, ing, Landshut, and Ratisbon: one hundred pieces of cannon, forty standards, fifty thousand prisoners, three bridge equipages, three thousand baggage-waggons with their horses, all the regimental caissons,-such are the fruits of the rapidity of your marches and of your courage. The enemy, seduced by a perjured cabinet, appeared to retain no recollection of you: his wakening has been speedy, for you have appeared more terrible than ever. Lately he crossed the Inn and invaded the territory of our allies; lately he talked of nothing less than carrying the war into the bosom of our country: now defeated, dispersed, he flies in consternation. Already my advanced guard has passed the Inn; in a month we shall be at Vienna."-NAPOLEON to his troops, April 24.. 1809; PELET, ii. 115.

improved and invigorated armies by which they were opposed, and that the successes, where he in person commanded, were owing to the talent of his combinations or the terrors of his name. Hiller, who had retired to the Inn after the disaster of Landshut, finding that he was not pursued by the French troops, and having ascertained that Napoleon had diverged with the bulk of his forces in another direction, deemed it a favourable opportunity to take vengeance on the Bavarians, by whom he had been somewhat incautiously pursued for the losses which he had experienced. Having collected some small reinforcements on the Inn, and divided his troops, about thirty thousand strong, into three columns, he remeasured his steps, and suddenly attacked the Bavarians under WREDE, who, along with the division of Molitor, both under the orders of Bessières, were advancing beyond the defile of Neumarkt, and had taken post on the heights in front of St Verti. The Bavarians made at first a stout resistance, but, being outnumbered and outflanked, they were soon driven back; and though Molitor came up to support them with some regiments of his division, they too were compelled to retreat, and sustained a considerable loss. Before night the French and their allies were driven entirely off the field, with the loss of fifteen hundred men killed, wounded, and prisoners. But the intelligence which Hiller received in the night of the battle of Echmühl, and the retreat of the Archduke upon Ratisbon, induced him to halt in the career of victory, and remeasure his steps to the Inn, in order to cover the approach to Vienna. 53. A disaster of a still more serious description was sustained about the same period, by the Viceroy Eugene Beauharnais, in the Italian plains. On the same day on which the Archduke Charles crossed the Inn, his brother, the Archduke John, passed the mountain frontier of the kingdom of Italy with forty-eight thousand men, and after defiling over the Isonzo at Görizia, and going through Udina, poured down on the Italian plains, and took post in front of Passeriano, already

famous in the diplomacy of Napoleon, [Ante, Chap. XXVI. § 3]. The Viceroy had above forty-five thousand men to oppose the invader; but they were, in great part, of Italian extraction, and could hardly be relied upon to withstand the shock of Transalpine forces. This inferiority speedily appeared in the first actions of the campaign. Eugene fell back across the Tagliamento, and established his headquarters at SACILE. The Austrians, two days after, came up in great force, and at Pordenone surprised the 35th French regiment, which, with its eagle and four pieces of cannon, fell into the enemy's hands. Stung to the quick by this disgrace, and fearful of the effect of any further retreat upon the spirit of his troops, the Viceroy determined to hold firm and give battle to the enemy. Orders accordingly were given for the whole army to suspend its retreat, and retrace its steps, on the 15th; and on the day following he made an attack on the Imperialists between Sacile and Pordenone.

54. The field of battle, which lay between Vigo- Nuova and Porcia, on the gentle slopes where the Alps of Roveredo melt into the Italian plains, was singularly favourable for the operations of cavalry, in which arm the Austrians had considerably the advantage. So little did they anticipate, however, an attack, that at the moment when it commenced, the Archduke John was engaged in hearing mass at Pordenone, and one of his corps was considerably in the rear. The best dispositions, however, which circumstances would admit, were made to repel the enemy; and as the troops in the rear successively came up, they were passed on to the plain of VigoNuova, so as to menace the communication between Eugene and the bridge of Sacile. The combat was very warm, and in the first instance, before the corps of Chastellar came up, Prince Eugene had the advantage. At the village of Porcia, in particular, which was repeatedly taken and retaken, a frightful carnage took place. Gradually, however, the Austrians, who had outflanked their opponents, cooped up

their line within very narrow limits; | three divisions at this period to ob and at length it was driven into the serve Marmont in Dalmatia, and conspace between Fontana, Fredda, and siderably weakened by the necessity Porcia, which did not exceed two miles of making large detachments to mask in breadth. Fearful of the conse- Venice and Palma-Nuova, in which the quences of any disaster upon troops enemy had large garrisons, followed confined within such narrow limits, his retreating adversary and took post, Eugene gave the signal to retreat, with thirty thousand excellent troops, which was effected at first by squares in the famous position of Caldiero, a in echelon, which arrested their pur- few miles from Verona. But the suers by alternate volleys as on a re- spirit of the two armies was essentially view day. But at the defile occasioned changed; the Italians, depressed and by the bridge of the Levinza and the weakened by defeat, felt the old supemarshes on either side of that stream, riority of the Transmontane forces, and they fell into disorder, which was soon were prepared to fall back, as in the augmented by the intelligence that time of Suwarroff, to the furthest seven thousand men of the Austrian verge of the Italian peninsula; while reserve had passed them, and already the Austrians, roused to the highest occupied Sacile. The whole army degree by their early success, confiupon this fell into confusion,-horse, dently anticipated a repetition of the foot, and cannon became blended to- glories of Novi and the Trebbia. But gether in frightful disorder, and fled the anticipations of both parties were towards the Adige, without either di- traversed by the extraordinary prorection or further attempt at resist-gress of Napoleon down the valley of ance. The approach of night alone saved them from a total overthrow; but as it was, they lost four thousand killed and wounded, and an equal number of prisoners, besides fifteen pieces of cannon; while the Austrians had not to lament the loss of half the number.

55. This important victory in the outset of the campaign was likely to prove decisive, as that of Magnano in 1799 had been, [Ante, Chap. XXVII. §36], of the fate of Italy, and would have been attended with not less material results upon the general issue of the war, had its effects not been obliterated, and the career of success in the plains of Lombardy arrested, by the rapid and overwhelming advance of Napoleon to Vienna. As it was, however, and even though the Archduke John was far from following up his successes with the vigour which might have been expected, the results of the battle were in the highest degree important. Eugene, reinforced by some battalions which he had left at Verona, succeeded in at length reorganising his army, and took post behind the fortified line of the Adige, already immortalised in the campaigns of Napoleon. The Archduke, though obliged to send

the Danube, which soon rendered necessary the concentration of the whole forces of the monarchy for the defence of the capital.*

56. Thus, though Napoleon's successes had been great on the Bavarian plains, he had by no means gained any decided advantage: his armies had been routed or run the most imminent hazard, wherever he did not command. in person; and disasters which would have been decisive in any other warfare had been experienced by his lieutenants on the Italian frontier. It was evident that the forces of the contending parties were approaching to an equality: the wonted vehemence of the Republican armies had disappeared when led by the marshals of France; the Austrians had clearly proved their superiority to the allies who swelled the columns of their adversaries; and it was the consummate talents, overwhelming force, and paralysing renown of Napoleon, that alone

rol should be treated of immediately after * In the order of time, the war in the Tythe opening of the campaign in Italy: but the vast moral importance of that contest, as well as its romantic character, require a separate chapter; and it will be treated of in a following one, before that which narrates the battle of Wagram.

man.

still chained victory to the standards | extraordinary abilities of one of the Grand Army. Reversing the Such a state of matters might promise principles of both parties in the con- little for present success, but it was test, the fortunes of France had come to depend on the genius of a single man; the pyramid rested on its apex; driven by necessity to a more enlarged policy, Austria was reaping the fruits of popular enthusiasm, and successfully combating the revolution with the arms which itself had created. The aristocratic power, generally successful, failed only from the want of a leader adequate to the encounter of the popular hero; the democratic, elsewhere defeated, prevailed through the

pregnant with hope for future deliverance. Great as may be the ascendancy, unbounded the activity of a single leader, they cannot, in the long run, compensate general disaster; and, in all prolonged contests, that power is ultimately destined to victory which, appealing to principles that find a responsive echo in the human heart, rests upon the organised and directed efforts of the many, rather than the abilities, how splendid soever, of the few.

CHAPTER LVII.

CAMPAIGN OF ASPERN.

1. IMMEDIATELY after the battle of Echmühl, Napoleon, clearly perceiving the expediency of striking at the heart of his enemy's power before the consternation consequent on the disasters in Bavaria had subsided, issued orders in all directions for the concentration of his forces towards the Austrian capital. Orders were despatched on the 24th to Eugene, to press forward in the Italian plains; to Bernadotte, who had assumed the command of the Saxons at Dresden, without a moment's delay to enter Bohemia by the northern frontier; and to Poniatowski, who commanded the Polish army, to invade Galicia, and endeavour to excite an insurrection in that province against the Austrian domination. Every preparation was also made for moving the

*To Eugene he wrote-" Advance in full confidence; the Emperor is about to move into the interior of Austria; the enemy will not keep their ground before you any more than they have done in Bavaria. Their army, defeated in its most cherished projects, is totally demoralised." To Bernadotte at Dresden-"Napoleon is about to march upon Vienna, and he expects, with the greatest

whole Grand Army, with the exception of Davoust's corps, which was left at Ratisbon to observe the Archduke, down the valley of the Danube, into the interior of the monarchy; and, by daybreak on the 26th, a hundred thousand men were in full march for the Inn and Vienna. At the same time, to impose upon Prussia, and overawe the numerous malcontents in the north of Germany, a corps of observation was formed, under the orders, first of Kellermann, and afterwards of Junot, which, though consisting only of fourteen thousand men, was pompously announced in the bulletins as numbering fifty thousand combatants.

2. The situation of the Archduke Charles was now embarrassing in the highest degree. By having been driven

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himself to the utmost in reorganising his army, and, with the consent of the Emperor Francis, despatched a courier with a dignified letter proposing an exchange of prisoners, and hinting at more important negotiations to Napoleon, who arrived, however, at the French headquarters after they had already been established in Upper Austria, and too late to arrest the dreaded march of the conqueror to Vienna."

from the valley of the Danube, and | ing a junction with Bellegarde, exerted compelled to take refuge in the mountains of Bohemia, the approach to the capital was left unguarded, save by Hiller's corps and that of the Archduke Louis, thirty-five thousand strong, which were wholly inadequate to arrest the march of the mighty conqueror. An ordinary general, indeed, responsible to his superiors, would hesitate to advance into the interior of the Austrian monarchy, leaving seventyfive thousand men on one flank in the Bohemian mountains, and the insurgent Tyrol, secure in inaccessible Alps, on the other, to menace or cut off his lines of communication. But it was not the character of Napoleon to be deterred by such obstacles. On the contrary, it was distinctly foreseen, what the event speedily proved was the case, that the French Emperor, relying on the power and terror of the army under his immediate command, would hurry forward to the capital, and trust to his never-failing resources to dissipate any assemblages on his flanks or rear by which his communication might be threatened. Impressed with these ideas, Prince Charles despatched orders on the 23d to Hiller, to retard as much as possible the advance of the enemy; to the Archduke John, to retreat towards the Hereditary States; while he himself, after form

*To his brother the Emperor, the Archduke wrote " Finding it impossible to keep my ground with a river such as the Danube in my rear against a victorious enemy in front, I have deemed it expedient to cross to the northern bank and form a junction with Count Bellegarde. You are aware that all the operations of the campaign were based on the probability of early success, and on the co-operation of the troops of the Rhenish Confederacy, who have, in fact, declared against us. Would it not be expedient, then, to try the result of a negotiation, before the enemy has invaded Austria, and while in Italy and the Tyrol there remained successes to counterbalance his advantages?" The Emperor despatched Count Stadion with his reply, which approved of overtures by the Archduke, provided they did not comproImise his dignity. The latter accordingly wrote to Napoleon on the 30th April-"Your Majesty has announced your arrival by a salvo of artillery; I had no time to reply to it; but though hardly informed of your presence, I speedily discovered it by the losses which I sustained. You have taken many

3. The Emperor's dispositions being all completed, the Grand Army was, to a certain extent, divided: Davoust, whose corps, exhausted by the fatiguing marches it had undergone, and seriously weakened by the losses of the campaign, stood in need alike of reinforcement and repose, was left at Ratisbon to guard the passage of the Danube, and watch the retiring columns of the Archduke; Lefebvre, with the Bavarians, was detached into the Tyrol, to make head against the insurrection in that province, which was daily assuming a more menacing aspect; while the Emperor himself, at the head of the corps of Massena, Lannes, and Bessières, still, notwithstanding all the losses of the campaign, above eighty thousand strong, proceeded direct by the great road along the southern side of the Danube to Vienna. Vandamme

prisoners from me, and I have taken some thousands from you in quarters where you were not personally present. I propose to exchange them, man for man, rank for rank; and, if that proposal proves agreeable to you, point out the place where it may be possible to carry it into effect. I feel flattered, sire, in combating the greatest captain of the age; but I should esteem myself more happy if Heaven had chosen me to be the instrument in procuring for my country a durable peace. Whatever may be the events of war, or the chances of an accommodation, I pray your Majesty to believe that my desires will always outstrip your wishes, and that I am equally honoured by meeting your Majesty either with the sword or the olive branch in your hand."-But all this graceful flattery was thrown away; for, before it reached Napoleon, he was far advanced in the valley of the Danube, and the terrible combat of Ebersberg had opened to him the gates of Upper Austria, after which nothing remained to stay his triumphant march to Vienna.—ERZ. JOHANN's Feldzug in jahre 1809, 55, 56; and PELET. ii. 176 179.

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