Famous Men and Great Events of the Nineteenth Century
by Charles Morris · English · Gutenberg #45733 · 1,504,911 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: Famous Men and Great Events of the Nineteenth Century
Author: Charles Morris
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Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAMOUS MEN AND GREAT EVENTS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY ***
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Transcriber's note:
Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
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The oe-ligature has been rendered as separate characters
('oe').
Any text printed using small capitals was converted to
all upper-case.
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font, were moved to the head of the paragraph in which
they appear and are enclosed by square brackets (example:
[=A Bird's-Eye View=]). There are occasionally multiple
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[Illustration: THE MARVELOUS PROGRESS OF THE 19TH CENTURY
The above symbolic picture, after the master painting
of Paul Sinibaldi, explains the secret of the
wonderful progress of the past 100 years. The genius
of Industry stands in the centre. To her right sits
Chemistry; to the left the geniuses of Electricity
with the battery, the telephone, the electric light;
there also are the geniuses of Navigation with the
propeller, and of Literature and Art, all bringing
their products to Industry who passes them through the
hands of Labor in the foreground to be fashioned for
the use of mankind.]
The Achievements of One Hundred Years
FAMOUS MEN AND GREAT EVENTS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
Embracing Descriptions of the Decisive Battles of the Century and
the Great Soldiers Who Fought Them; the Rise and Fall of Nations; the
Changes in the Map of the World, and the Causes Which Contributed
to Political and Social Revolutions; Discoverers and Discoveries;
Explorers of the Tropics and Arctics; Inventors and Their Inventions;
the Growth of Literature, Science and Art; the Progress of Religion,
Morals and Benevolence in All Civilized Nations.
by
CHARLES MORRIS, LL. D.
Author of "The Aryan Race," "Civilization, Its History, Etc.,"
"The Greater Republic," Etc.
Embellished With Nearly 100 Full-Page Half-Tone Engravings,
Illustrating the Greatest Events of the Century, and 100 Portraits of
the Most Famous Men in the World.
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1899, by
W. E. Scull,
in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
All Rights Reserved.
LIST OF CHAPTERS AND SUBJECTS
Introduction PAGE
A Bird's-eye View--Tyranny and Oppression in the Eighteenth
Century--Government and the Rights of Man in 1900--Prisons
and Punishment in 1900--The Factory System and Oppression
of the Workingman--Suffrage and Human Freedom--Criminal
Law and Prison Discipline in 1800--The Era of Wonderful
Inventions--The Fate of the Horse and the Sail--Education,
Discovery and Commerce 23
CHAPTER I
The Threshold of the Century
The Age We Live in and its Great Events--True History and
the Things Which Make It--Two of the World's Greatest
Events--The Feudal System and Its Abuses--The Climax of
Feudalism in France--The States General is Convened--The
Fall of the Bastille--King and Queen Under the
Guillotine--The Reign of Terror--The Wars of the French
Revolution--Napoleon in Italy and Egypt--England as a
Centre of Industry and Commerce--The Condition of the
German States--Dissension in Italy and Decay in Spain--The
Partition of Poland by the Robber Nations--Russia and
Turkey 33
CHAPTER II
Napoleon Bonaparte; The Man of Destiny
A Remarkable and Wonderful Career--The Enemies and Friends
of France--Movements of the Armies in Germany and
Italy--Napoleon Crosses the Alps at St. Bernard Pass--The
Situation in Italy--The Famous Field of Marengo--A
Great Battle Lost and Won--The Result of the Victory of
Marengo--Napoleon Returns to France--Moreau and the Great
Battle of Hohenlinden--The Peace of Luneville--The Peace
of Amiens--The Punishment of the Conspirators and the
Assassination of the Duke d'Enghien--Napoleon Crowned
Emperor of the French--The Great Works Devised By the New
Emperor 44
CHAPTER III
Europe in the Grasp of the Iron Hand
Great Preparations for the Invasion of England--Rapid March
on Austria--The Surrender of General Mack--The Eve Before
Austerlitz--The Dreadful Lake Horror--Treaty of Peace
With Austria--Prussian Armies in the Field--Defeat of the
Prussians at Jena and Auerstadt--Napoleon Divides the
Spoils of Victory--The Frightful Struggle at Eylau--The
Cost of Victory--The Total Defeat of the Russians--The
Emperors at Tilsit and the Fate of Prussia--The Pope a
Captive at Fontainebleau--Andreas Hofer and the War in
Tyrol--Napoleon Marches Upon Austria--The Battle of
Eckmuhl and the Capture of Ratisbon--The Campaign in
Italy--The Great Struggle of Essling and Aspern--Napoleon
Forced to His First Retreat--The Second Crossing of the
Danube--The Victory at Wagram--The Peace of Vienna--The
Divorce of Josephine and Marriage of Maria Louisa 57
CHAPTER IV
The Decline and Fall of Napoleon's Empire
The Causes of the Rise and Decline of Napoleon's Power--Aims
and Intrigues in Portugal and Spain--Spain's Brilliant
Victory and King Joseph's Flight--The Heroic Defence of
Saragossa--Wellington's Career in Portugal and Spain--The
Invasion of Russia by the Grand Army--Smolensk Captured
and in Flames--The Battle of Borodino--The Grand Army
in the Old Russian Capital--The Burning of the Great
City of Moscow--The Grand Army Begins its Retreat--The
Dreadful Crossing of the Beresina--Europe in Arms Against
Napoleon--The Battle of Dresden, Napoleon's Last Great
Victory--The Fatal Meeting of the Armies at Leipzig--The
Break-up of Napoleon's Empire--The War in France and the
Abdication of the Emperor--Napoleon Returns From Elba--The
Terrible Defeat at Waterloo--Napoleon Meets His Fate 83
CHAPTER V
Nelson and Wellington, the Champions of England
England and France on Land and Sea--Nelson Discovers the
French Fleet in Aboukir Bay--The Glorious Battle of the
Nile--The Fleet Sails for Copenhagen--The Danish Line
of Defence--The Attack on the Danish Fleet--How Nelson
Answered the Signal to Cease Action--Nelson in Chase of
the French Fleet--The Allied Fleet Leaves Cadiz--Off Cape
Trafalgar--The "Victory" and Her Brilliant Fight--The Great
Battle and its Sad Disaster--Victory for England and Death
for Her Famous Admiral--The British in Portugal--The Death
of Sir John Moore--The Gallant Crossing of the Douro--The
Victory at Talavera and the Victor's Reward--Wellington's
Impregnable Lines at Torres Vedras--The Siege and Capture
of the Portuguese Fortresses--Wellington Wins at Salamanca
and Enters Madrid--Vittoria and the Pyrenees--The Gathering
of the Forces at Brussels--The Battlefield of Waterloo--The
Desperate Charges of the French--Blücher's Prussians and
the Charge of Napoleon's Old Guard 101
CHAPTER VI
From the Napoleonic Wars to the Revolution 1830
A Quarter Century of Revolution--Europe After Napoleon's
Fall--The Work of the Congress--Italy, France and
Spain--The Rights of Man--The Holy Alliance--Revolution
in Spain and Naples--Metternich and His Congresses--How
Order Was Restored in Spain--The Revolution in Greece--The
Powers Come to the Rescue of Greece--The Spirit of
Revolution--Charles X. and His Attempt at Despotism--The
Revolution in Paris--Louis Phillippe Chosen as King--Effect
in Europe of the Revolution--The Belgian Uprising and
its Result--The Movements in Germany--The Condition of
Poland--The Revolt of the Poles--A Fatal Lack of Unity--The
Fate of Poland 116
CHAPTER VII
Bolivar, the Liberator of Spanish America
How Spain Treated Her Colonies--The Oppression of the
People--Bolivar the Revolutionary Leader--An Attempt
at Assassination--Bolivar Returns to Venezuela--The
Savage Cruelty of the Spaniards--The Methods of General
Morillo--Paez the Guerilla and His Exploits--British
Soldiers Join the Insurgents--Bolivar's Plan to Invade
New Granada--The Crossing of the Andes--The Terror of the
Mountains--Bolivar's Methods of Fighting--The Victory at
Boyaca--Bolivar and the Peruvians--The Freeing of the Other
Colonies 128
CHAPTER VIII
Great Britain as a World Empire
Napoleonic Wars' Influence--Great Awakening in Commerce--
Developments of the Arts--Growth of the Sciences--A Nation
Noted for Patriotism--National Pride--Conscious Strength--
Political Changes and Their Influence--Great Statesmen of
England 141
CHAPTER IX
The Great Reform Bill and the Corn Laws
Causes of Unrest--Demands of the People--The Struggle for
Reform in 1830--The Corn Laws--Free Trade in Great
Britain--Cobden the Apostle of Free Trade--Other Promoters
of Reform--England's Enlarged Commerce 147
CHAPTER X
Turkey the "Sick Man" of Europe
The Sultan's Empire in 1800--Revolts in Her
Dependencies--Greece Gains Her Freedom--The Sympathy of
the Christian World--Russian Threats--The Crimean War and
its Heroes--The War of 1877--The Armenian Massacres--The
Nations Warn off Russia--War in Crete and Greece in
1897--The Tottering Nation of to-day--The "Sick Man" 156
CHAPTER XI
The European Revolution of 1848
Corrupt Courts and Rulers--The Spirit of Liberty Among
the People--Bourbonism--Revolutionary Outbreak in
France--Spreads to Other Countries--The Struggle in
Italy--In Germany--The Revolt in Hungary--The Career of
Kossuth the Patriot, Statesman and Orator--His Visit
to America--Defeat of the Patriots by Austria and
Hungary--General Haynau the Cruel Tyrant--Later History of
Hungary 167
CHAPTER XII
Louis Napoleon and the Second French Empire
The Power of a Great Name--The French People Love the
Name Napoleon--Louis Napoleon's Personality--Elected
President--The Tricks of His Illustrious Ancestor
Imitated--Makes Himself Emperor--The War With
Austria--Sends an Army to Mexico--Attempt to Establish
an Empire in America--Maximilian Made Emperor in the New
World--His Sad Fate--War With Germany--Louis Napoleon
Dethroned 178
CHAPTER XIII
Garibaldi and the Unification of Italy
The Many Little States of Italy--Secret Movements for
Union--Mazzini the Revolutionist--Tyranny of Austria
and Naples--War in Sardinia--Victor Emanuel and Count
Cavour--Garibaldi in Arms--The French in Rome--Fall of the
Papal City--Rise of the New Italy--Naval War With Austria 194
CHAPTER XIV
Bismarck and the New Empire of Germany
The State of Prussia--Sudden Rise to Power--Bismarck Prime
Minister--War With Denmark--With Austria--With France--Metz
and Sedan--Von Moltke--The Fall of Paris--William I.
Crowned Emperor--United Germany--Bismarck and the Young
Kaiser--Peculiarities of William II.--Germany of To-Day 207
CHAPTER XV
Gladstone the Apostle of Liberalism in England
Sterling Character of the Man--His Steady Progress to
Power--Becomes Prime Minister--Home and Foreign Affairs
Under His Administration--His Long Contest With
Disraeli--Early Conservatism Later Liberalism--Home Rule
Champion--Result of Gladstone's Labors 243
CHAPTER XVI
Ireland the Downtrodden
Ancient Ireland--English Domination--Oppression--Patriotic
Struggles Against English Rule--Robert Emmet and
His Sad Fate--Daniel O'Connell--Grattan, Curran and
Other Patriots--The Fenians--Gladstone's Work for
Ireland--Parnell, the Irish Leader in Parliament--Ireland
of the Present 259
CHAPTER XVII
England and Her Indian Empire
Why England Went to India--Lord Clive and the East India
Company--Sir Arthur Wellesley--Trouble With the
Natives--Subjugation of Indian States--The Great
Mutiny--Havelock--Relief of Lucknow--Repulse From
Afghanistan--Conquest of Burmah--Queen Victoria Crowned
Empress of India--What English Rule Has Done for the
Orient--A Vast Country Teeming With Population--Its
Resources and Its Prospects 268
CHAPTER XVIII
Thiers, Gambetta and the Rise of the New French Republic
French Instability of Character--Modern Statesmen
of France--Thiers--MacMahon--Gambetta--The New
Republic--Leaders in Politics--Dangerous Powers of the
Army--Moral and Religious Decline--Law and Justice--The
Dreyfus Case as an Index to France's National Character and
the Perils Which Beset the Republic 277
CHAPTER XIX
Paul Kruger and South Africa
Review of the Boers--Their Establishment in Cape Colony--The
Rise and Progress of the Transvaal Republic--Diamond Mines
and Gold Discoveries--England's Aggressiveness--The Career
of Cecil Rhodes--Attempt to Overthrow the Republic--The
Zulus and Neighboring Peoples--The Uitlanders--Political
Struggle of England and Paul Kruger--Chamberlain's
Demands--The Boers' Firm Stand--War of 1899 295
CHAPTER XX
The Rise of Japan and the Decline of China
Former Cloud of Mystery Surrounding These Two Nations--Ancient
Civilizations--Closed Territory to the Outside World--Their
Ignorance of Other Nations--The Breaking Down of
the Walls in the Nineteenth Century--Japan's Sudden
Rise to Power--Aptness to Learn--The Yankees of the
East--Conditions of Conservatism Holds on in China--Li
Hung Chang Rises into Prominence--The Corean Trouble--War
Between China and Japan--The Battle of Yalu River--Admiral
Ito's Victory--Japanese Army Invades the Celestial
Empire--China Surrenders--European Nations Demand Open
Commerce--Threatened Partition 309
CHAPTER XXI
The Era of Colonies
Commerce the Promoter of Colonization--England's Wise
Policy--The Growth of Her Colonies Under Liberal
Treatment--India--Australia--Africa--Colonies of France
and Germany--Partition of Africa--Progress of Russia in
Asia--Aggressiveness of the Czar's Government--The United
States Becomes a Colonizing Power--The Colonial Powers and
Their Colonies at the Close of the Century 323
CHAPTER XXII
How the United States Entered the Century
A Newly Formed Country--Washington, the National Capital--Peace
With France--Nations of State Sovereignty--State
Legislatures and the National Congress--The Influence of
Washington--The Supreme Court and its Powers--Population
of Less Than Four Millions--No City of 50,000 Inhabitants
in America--Sparsely Settled Country--Savages--Trouble
With Algiers--War Declared by Tripoli--Thomas Jefferson
Elected President 343
CHAPTER XXIII
Expansion of the United States From Dwarf to Giant
Ohio Admitted in 1802--Louisiana Purchased From French
1803--Admission of the States--Florida Transferred to the
United States 1819--The First Railway in 1826--Indians
Cede Their Illinois Lands in 1830--Invention of Telegraph
1832--Fremont's Expeditions to the Pacific Slope--Conquest
of Mexico--Our Domain Established From Ocean to Ocean
1848--The Purchase of Alaska From Russia 1867--Rapid
Internal Growth--Cities Spring up on the Plains--A
Marvelous Era of Peace--Through the Spanish-American War
Comes the Acquisition of First Tropical Territory--From
East to West America's Domain Reaches Half-way Around the
World--Three Cities Each With Over 1,000,000 Inhabitants 351
CHAPTER XXIV
The Development of Democratic Institutions In America
Colonization and its Results--Religious Influences--Popular
Rights--Limitations--Colonial Legislatures--The Money
Question--Taxation--Confederation--The Franchise--Property
Qualifications--Growth of Western Ideas--Contrast Between
Institutions at the Beginning and Close of the Century 361
CHAPTER XXV
America's Answer to British Doctrine of Right of Search
Why the War of 1812 Was Fought--The Principles
Involved--Impressing American Sailors--Insults and
Outrages Resented--The "Chesapeake" and "Leopard"--Injury
to Commerce--Blockades--Embargo as Retaliation--Naval
Glory--Failure of Canadian Campaign--"Constitution" and
the "Guerriere"--The "Wasp" and the "Frolic"--Other
Sea Duels--Privateers--Perry's Great Victory--Land
Operations--The "Shannon" and the "Chesapeake"--Lundy's
Lane and Plattsburg--The Burning of Washington--Baltimore
Saved--Jackson's Victory at New Orleans--Treaty of Peace 369
CHAPTER XXVI
The United States Sustains Its Dignity Abroad
First Foreign Difficulty--The Barbary States--Buying
Peace--Uncle Sam Aroused--Thrashes the Algerian
Pirates--A Splendid Victory--King Bomba Brought to
Terms--Austria and the Koszta Case--Captain Ingraham--His
Bravery--"Deliver or I'll Sink You"--Austria Yields--The
Paraguayan Trouble--Lopez Comes to Terms--The Chilian
Imbroglio--Balmaceda--The Insult to the United
States--American Seamen Attacked--Matta's Impudent
Letter--Backdown--Peace--All's Well That Ends Well, Etc. 382
CHAPTER XXVII
Webster and Clay--The Preservation of the Union
The Great Questions in American Politics in the First Half
of the Century--The Great Orators to Which They Gave
Rise--Daniel Webster--Henry Clay--John C. Calhoun--Clay's
Compromise Measure on the Tariff Question--On Slavery
Extension--Webster and Calhoun and the Tariff
Question--Webster's Reply to Hayne--The Union Must and
Shall be Preserved 398
CHAPTER XXVIII
The Annexation of Texas and the War With Mexico
Texas as a Province of Mexico--Rebellion and War--The Alamo
Massacre--Rout of Mexicans at San Jacinto--Freedom
of Mexico--Annexation to the United States--The War
With Mexico--Taylor and Buena Vista--Scott and Vera
Cruz--Advance on and Capture of Mexico--Results of the War 413
CHAPTER XXIX
The Negro In America and the Slavery Conflict
The Negro in America--The First Cargo--Beginning of the Slave
Traffic--As a Laborer--Increase in Numbers--Slavery;
its Different Character in Different States--Political
Disturbances--Agitation and Agitators--John Brown--War and
How it Emancipated the Slave--The Free Negro--His Rapid
Progress 425
CHAPTER XXX
Abraham Lincoln and the Work of Emancipation
Lincoln's Increasing Fame--Comparison With Washington--The
Slave Auction at New Orleans--"If I Ever Get a Chance
to Hit Slavery, I Will Hit it Hard"--The Young
Politician--Elected Representative to Congress--His
Opposition to Slavery--His Famous Debates With Douglas--The
Cooper Institute Speech--The Campaign of 1860--The Surprise
of Lincoln's Nomination--His Triumphant Election--Threats
of Secession--Firing on Sumter--The Dark Days of the
War--The Emancipation Question--The Great Proclamation--End
of the War--The Great Tragedy--The Beauty and Greatness of
His Character 436
CHAPTER XXXI
Grant and Lee and The Civil War
Grant a Man for the Occasion--Lincoln's Opinion--"Wherever
Grant is Things Move"--"Unconditional Surrender"--"Not a
Retreating Man"--Lee a Man of Acknowledged Greatness--His
Devotion to Virginia--Great Influence--Simplicity of
Habits--Shares the Fare of His Soldiers--Lee's Superior
Skill--Gratitude and Affection of the South--Great
Influence in Restoring Good Feeling--The War--Secession
Not Exclusively a Southern Idea--An Irrepressible
Conflict--Coming Events--Lincoln--A Nation in Arms--
Sumter--Anderson--McClellan--Victory and Defeat--"Monitor"
and "Merrimac"--Antietam--Shiloh--Buell--Grant--George H.
Thomas--Rosecrans--Porter--Sherman--Sheridan--Lee--
Gettysburg--A Great Fight--Sherman's March--The
Confederates Weakening--More Victories--Appomattox--Lee's
Surrender--From War to Peace 449
CHAPTER XXXII
The Indian in the Nineteenth Century
Our Relations and Obligations to the Indian--Conflict
between Two Civilizations--Indian Bureau--Government
Policy--Treaties--Reservation Plan--Removals Under
It--Indian Wars--Plan of Concentration--Disturbance
and Fighting--Plan of Education and Absorption--Its
Commencement--Present Condition of Indians--Nature of
Education and Results--Land in Severalty Law--Missionary
Effort--Necessity and Duty of Absorption 468
CHAPTER XXXIII
The Development of the American Navy
The Origin of the American Navy--Sights on Guns and What They
Did--Opening Japan--Port Royal--Passing the Forts--The
"Monitor" and "Merrimac"--In Mobile Bay--The "Kearsarge"
and the "Alabama"--Naval Architecture Revolutionized--The
Samoan Hurricane--Building a New Navy--Great Ships of
the Spanish American War--The Modern Floating Iron
Fortresses--New "Alabama" and "Kearsarge" 482
CHAPTER XXXIV
America's Conflict With Spain
A War of Humanity--Bombardment of Matanzas--Dewey's Wonderful
Victory at Manila--Disaster to the "Winslow" at Cardenas
Bay--The First American Loss of Life--Bombardment of San
Juan, Porto Rico--The Elusive Spanish Fleet--Bottled-up in
Santiago Harbor--Lieutenant Hobson's Daring Exploit--Second
Bombardment of Santiago and Arrival of the Army--Gallant
Work of the Rough Riders and the Regulars--Battles of San
Juan and El Caney--Destruction of Cervera's Fleet--General
Shafter Reinforced in Front of Santiago--Surrender
of the City--General Miles in Porto Rico--An Easy
Conquest--Conquest of the Philippines--Peace Negotiations
and Signing of the Protocol--Its Terms--Members of the
National Peace Commission--Return of the Troops from Cuba
and Porto Rico--The Peace Commission in Paris--Conclusion
of its Work--Terms of the Treaty--Ratified by the Senate 496
CHAPTER XXXV
The Dominion of Canada
The Area and Population of Canada--Canada's Early
History--Upper and Lower Canada--The War of 1812--John
Strachan and the Family Compact--A Religious
Quarrel--French Supremacy in Lower Canada--The Revolt of
1837--Mackenzie's Rebellion--Growth of Population and
Industry--Organization of the Dominion of Canada--The
Riel Revolts--The Canadian Pacific Railway--The Fishery
Difficulties--The Fur-Seal Question--The Gold of
the Klondike--A Boundary Question--An International
Commission--The Questions at Issue--The Failure of
the Commission--Commerce of Canada with the United
States--Railway Progress in Canada--Manufacturing
Enterprise--Yield of Precious Metals--Extent and Resources
of the Dominion--The Character of the Canadian Population 509
CHAPTER XXXVI
Livingstone, Stanley, Peary, Nansen and other Great Discoverers and
Explorers
Ignorance of the Earth's Surface at the Beginning of
the Century--Notable Fields of Nineteenth Century
Travel--Famous African Travelers--Dr. Livingstone's
Missionary Labors--Discovery of Lake Ngami--Livingstone's
Journey from the Zambesi to the West Coast--The
Great Victoria Falls--First Crossing of the
Continent--Livingstone discovers Lake Nyassa--Stanley in
Search of Livingstone--Other African Travelers--Stanley's
Journeys--Stanley Rescues Emin Pasha--The Exploration
of the Arctic Zone--The Greely Party--The Fatal
"Jeanette" Expedition--Expeditions of Professor
Nordenskjöld--Peary Crosses North Greenland--Nansen and his
Enterprise--Andrée's Fatal Balloon Venture 523
CHAPTER XXXVII
Robert Fulton, George Stephenson, and the Triumphs of Invention
Anglo-Saxon Activity in Invention--James Watt and the
Steam Engine--Labor-Saving Machinery of the Eighteenth
Century--The Steamboat and the Locomotive--The First
Steamboat Trip up the Hudson--Development of Ocean
Steamers--George Stephenson and the Locomotive--First
American Railroads--Development of the Railroad--Great
Railroad Bridges--The Electric Steel Railway--The
Bicycle and the Automobile--Marvels in Iron and
Woodworking--Progress in Illumination and Heating--Howe and
the Sewing Machine--Vulcanization of Rubber--Morse and the
Telegraph--The Inventions of Edison--Marconi and Wireless
Telegraphy--Increase of Working Power of the Farmer--The
American Reapers and Mowers--Commerce of the United States 535
CHAPTER XXXVIII
The Evolution in Industry and the Revolt Against Capital
Mediæval Industry--Cause of Revolution in the Labor
System--Present Aspect of the Labor Question--The
Trade Union--The International Workingmen's
Association--The System of the Strike--Arbitration
and Profit Sharing--Experiments and Theories in
Economies--Co-operative Associations--The Theories
of Socialism and Anarchism--Secular Communistic
Experiments--Development of Socialism--Growth of the
Socialist Party--The Development of the Trust--An
Industrial Revolution 554
CHAPTER XXXIX
Charles Darwin and the Development of Science
Scientific Activity of the Nineteenth Century--Wallace's
"Wonderful Century"--Useful and Scientific Steps of
Progress--Foster's Views of Recent Progress--Discoveries
in Astronomy--The Spectroscope--The Advance of
Chemistry--Light and its Phenomena--Heat as a Mode of
Motion--Applications of Electricity--The Principles
of Magnetism--Progress in Geology--The Nebular and
Meteoric Hypotheses--Biological Sciences--Discoveries in
Physiology--Pasteur and His Discoveries--Koch and the
Comma Bacillus--The Science of Hygiene--Darwin and Natural
Selection 569
CHAPTER XL
Literature and Art in the Nineteenth Century
Literary Giants of Former Times--The Standing of the Fine Arts
in the Past and the Present--Early American Writers--The
Poets of the United States--American Novelists--American
Historians and Orators--The Poets of Great Britain--British
Novelists and Historians--Other British Writers--French
Novelists and Historians--German Poets and Novelists--The
Literature of Russia--The Authors of Sweden, Norway and
Denmark--Writers of Italy--Other Celebrated Authors--The
Novel and its Development--The Text-Book and Progress of
Education--Wide-spread use of Books and Newspapers 591
CHAPTER XLI
The American Church and the Spirit of Human Brotherhood
Division of Labor--American Type of Christianity--Distinguishing
Feature of American Life--The Sunday-school System--The Value
of Religion in Politics--Missionary Activity--New Religious
Movements--The Movement in Ethics--Child Labor in
Factories--Prevention of Cruelty to Animals--Prison
Reform--Public Executions--The Spirit of Sympathy--The Growth
of Charity--An Advanced Spirit of Benevolence 605
CHAPTER XLII
The Dawn of the Twentieth Century
The Century's Wonderful Stages--Progress in Education--The
Education of Women--Occupation and Suffrage
for Women--Peace Proposition of the Emperor of
Russia--The Peace Conference at The Hague--Progress in
Science--Political Evolution--Territorial Progress of the
Nations--Probable Future of English Speech--A Telephone
Newspaper--Among the Dull-Minded Peoples--Limitations to
Progress--Probable Lines of Future Activity--Industry in
the Twentieth Century--The King, the Priest and the Cash
Box--The New Psychology 617
LIST OF FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Progress of the Nineteenth Century _Frontispiece_
Duke of Chartres at the Battle of Jemappes 21
Battle of Chateau-Gontier 22
Death of Marat 31
Last Victims of the Reign of Terror 32
Marie Antoinette Led to Execution 37
The Battle of Rivoli 38
Napoleon Crossing the Alps 47
Napoleon and the Mummy of Pharaoh 48
Napoleon Bonaparte 53
The Meeting of Two Sovereign 54
The Death of Admiral Nelson 59
Murat at the Battle of Jena 60
The Battle of Eylau 69
The Battle of Friedland 70
The Order to Charge at Friedland 79
Napoleon and the Queen of Prussia at Tilsit 80
Marshal Ney Retreating from Russia 89
General Blücher's Fall at Ligny 90
The Battle of Dresden, August 26 and 27, 1813 94
Famous English Novelists 95
The Eve of Waterloo 99
Wellington at Waterloo Giving the Word to Advance 100
Retreat of Napoleon from Waterloo 109
The Remnant of an Army 110
Illustrious Leaders of England's Navy and Army 119
James Watt, the Father of the Steam Engine 120
Great English Historians and Prose Writers 129
Famous Popes of the Century 130
Great English Statesmen (Plate I) 139
Britain's Sovereign and Heir Apparent to the Throne 140
Popular Writers of Fiction In England 149
Great English Statesmen (Plate II) 150
Potentates of the East 159
Landing in the Crimea and the Battle of Alma 160
The Congress at Berlin, June 13, 1878 169
The Wounding of General Bosquet 170
The Battle of Champigny 179
Noble Sons of Poland and Hungary 180
Noted French Authors 189
Napoleon III. at the Battle of Solferino 190
Great Italian Patriots 199
The Zouaves Charging the Barricades at Mentana 200
Noted German Emperors 209
Renowned Sons of Germany 210
The Storming of Garsbergschlosschen 219
Crown Prince Frederick at the Battle of Froschwiller 220
Present Kings of Four Countries 229
Great Men of Modern France 230
Russia's Royal Family and Her Literary Leader 257
Four Champions of Ireland's Cause 258
Dreyfus, His Accusers and Defenders 281
The Dreyfus Trial 282
The Bombardment of Alexandria 291
Battle Between England and the Zulus, South Africa 292
The Battle of Majuba Hill, South Africa 301
Two Opponents in the Transvaal War 302
Typical American Novelists 307
Two Powerful Men of the Orient 308
Four American Presidents 409
Great American Orators and Statesmen 410
The Battle of Resaca de la Palma 419
Great American Historians and Biographers 420
Great Men of the Civil War in America 445
The Attack on Fort Donelson 446
General Lee's Invasion of the North 455
The Sinking of the Alabama, etc. 456
The Surrender of General Lee 465
The Electoral Commission Which Decided Upon Election of
President Hayes 466
Prominent American Political Leaders 475
Noted American Journalists and Magazine Contributors 476
The U.S. Battleship "Oregon" 483
In the War-Room at Washington 484
Leading Commanders of the American Navy, Spanish-American War 487
Leading Commanders of the American Army 488
Prominent Spaniards in 1898 497
Popular Heroes of the Spanish-American War 498
The Surrender of Santiago 501
United States Peace Commissioners of the Spanish-American War 502
Illustrious Sons of Canada 521
Great Explorers in the Tropics and Arctics 522
Inventors of the Locomotive and the Electric Telegraph 539
Edison Perfecting the First Phonograph 540
The Hero of the Strike, Coal Creek, Tenn. 557
Arbitration 558
Illustrious Men of Science in the Nineteenth Century 575
Pasteur in His Laboratory 576
Great Poets of England 589
Great American Poets 590
Count Tolstoi at Literary Work 603
New Congressional Library at Washington, D. C. 604
Famous Cardinals of the Century 615
Noted Preachers and Writers of Religious Classics 616
Greater New York 629
Delegates to the Universal Peace Conference at The Hague, 1899 630
Key to above 631
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF PORTRAITS
PAGE
Abbott, Lyman 476
Adams, John Quincy 409
Agassiz, Louis 575
Aguinaldo, Emilio 308
Albert Edward, (Prince of Wales) 140
Austin, Alfred 589
Balfour, A. J. 150
Bancroft, George 420
Barrie, James M. 149
Beecher, Henry Ward 410
Besant, Walter 149
Bismarck, Karl Otto Von 210
Black, William 149
Blaine, James G. 475
Blanco, Ramon 497
Bright, John 139
Browning, Robert 589
Bryan, William Jennings 475
Bryant, William Cullen 590
Bryce, James 150
Caine, T. Hall 149
Carlyle, Thomas 129
Cervera, (Admiral) 497
Chamberlain, Joseph 302
Christian IX, (King of Denmark) 229
Clay, Henry 410
Cleveland, Grover 475
Cooper, James Fenimore 307
Dana, Charles A. 476
Darwin, Charles 575
Davis, Cushman K. 502
Davis, Richard Harding 476
Davitt, Michael 258
Day, William R. 502
DeLesseps, Ferdinand 230
Depew, Chauncey M. 410
Dewey, George 487
Dickens, Charles 95
Disraeli, Benjamin 139
Dreyfus, (Captain), Alfred 281
Doyle, A. Conan 149
Drummond, Henry 616
Dumas, Alexander 189
DuMaurier, George 149
Eggleston, Edward 307
Emerson, Ralph Waldo 590
Esterhazy, Count Ferdinand W. 281
Everett, Edward 410
Farrar, Frederick W., (Canon) 616
Francis Joseph, (Emperor of Austria) 229
Froude, Richard H. 129
Frye, William P. 502
Gambetta, Leon 230
Garibaldi, Guiseppe 199
Gibbon, Edward 129
Gladstone, William Ewart 139
Gough, John B. 410
Grady, Henry W. 410
Grant, Ulysses S. 445
Gray, George 502
Greeley, Horace 476
Hale, Edward Everett 307
Halstead, Murat 476
Hawthorne, Nathaniel 307
Hawthorne, Julian 476
Healy, T. M. 258
Henry, Patrick 410
Henry, Lieutenant-Colonel 281
Hobson, Richmond Pearson 498
Holmes, Oliver Wendell 590
Howells, William Dean 307
Hugo, Victor 189
Humbert, (King of Italy) 229
Humboldt, F. H. Alexander von 575
Huxley, Thomas H. 575
Jackson, Andrew 409
Jefferson, Thomas 409
Kipling, Rudyard 149
Kosciusko, Thaddeus 180
Kossuth, Louis 180
Kruger, Paul 302
Labori, Maitre 281
Laurier, Sir Wilfrid 521
Lee, Robert E. 445
Lee, Fitzhugh 488
Leo XIII., (Pope) 130
Li Hung Chang 308
Lincoln, Abraham 445
Livingstone, David 522
Longfellow, Henry W. 590
Loubet (President of France) 230
Lowell, James Russell 590
Lytton, (Lord) Bulwer 95
McCarthy, Justin 150
Macaulay, Thomas B. 129
MacDonald, Sir John A. 521
MacDonald, George 149
McKinley, William 475
McMaster, John B. 420
Manning, Henry Edward (Cardinal) 615
Mercier, (General of French Army) 281
Merritt, Wesley 488
Miles, Nelson A. 488
Moltke, H. Karl B. von 210
Morley, John 150
Morse, Samuel F. B. 539
Motley, John L. 420
Nansen, (Dr.) Frithiof 522
Napoleon Bonaparte 53
Nelson, (Lord) Horatio 119
Newman, John Henry (Cardinal) 615
Nicholas II. and Family, (Czar of Russia) 257
O'Brien, William 258
Oscar II., (King of Sweden and Norway) 229
Otis, Elwell S. 498
Parnell, Charles Stewart 258
Parton, James 420
Pasteur, Louis, in his Laboratory 576
Peary, Lieutenant R. E. 522
Phillips, Wendell 410
Pitt, William, (Earl of Chatham) 139
Pius IX., (Pope) 130
Prescott, William H. 420
Reid, Whitelaw 476
Rios, Montero 497
Roosevelt, Theodore 498
Ruskin, John 129
Sagasta, Praxedes Mateo 497
Sampson, William T. 487
Schley, Winfield Scott 487
Scott, Sir Walter 95
Shafter, William R. 488
Shah of Persia 150
Shaw, Albert W. 476
Shelley, Percy B. 589
Sherman, William T. 445
Spurgeon, Charles H. 616
Stanley, Henry M. 522
Stephenson, George 539
Stevenson, Robert Louis 149
Sultan of Turkey 159
Taylor, Zachary 409
Tennyson, Alfred 589
Thackeray, William Makepeace 95
Thiers, Louis Adolphe 230
Thompson, Hon. J. S. D. 521
Tolstoi, Count Lyof Nikolaievitch 603
Trollope, Anthony 95
Tupper, Sir Charles 521
Victor Emmanuel (King of Italy) 199
Victoria (Queen of England) 140
Wallace, General Lew 307
Watson, John (Ian Maclaren) 616
Watson, John Crittenden 487
Watt, James 120
Watterson, Henry W. 476
Webster, Daniel 410
Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, (Duke) 119
Wheeler, Joseph 498
Whittier, John G. 590
William I., Emperor of Germany 209
William II., Emperor of Germany 209
Wordsworth, William 589
[Illustration: THE DUKE OF CHARTRES AT THE BATTLE OF JEMAPPES--
(FROM THE ORIGINAL PAINTING BY A. LE DRES)
At Jemappes, in November, 1792, a battle was fought
between the French and Austrians. The Duke of Chartres
was Chief Lieutenant under General Dumouriez and
commanded the centre of attack. In 1830 the Duke was
made King of France, and on account of his peaceful
reign was known as the "Citizen's King." In 1848 he
abdicated the throne and soon after Napoleon III
became President of the new Republic.]
[Illustration: BATTLE OF CHATEAU-GONTIER
(REIGN OF TERROR, 1792)]
INTRODUCTION.
It is the story of a hundred years that we propose to give; the record
of the noblest and most marvelous century in the annals of mankind.
Standing here, at the dawn of the Twentieth Century, as at the summit
of a lofty peak of time, we may gaze far backward over the road we have
traversed, losing sight of its minor incidents, but seeing its great
events loom up in startling prominence before our eyes; heedless of
its thronging millions, but proud of those mighty men who have made
the history of the age and rise like giants above the common throng.
History is made up of the deeds of great men and the movements of grand
events, and there is no better or clearer way to tell the marvelous
story of the Nineteenth Century than to put upon record the deeds of
its heroes and to describe the events and achievements in which reside
the true history of the age.
First of all, in this review, it is important to show in what the
greatness of the century consists, to contrast its beginning and
its ending, and point out the stages of the magnificent progress it
has made. It is one thing to declare that the Nineteenth has been
the greatest and most glorious of the centuries; it is another and
more arduous task to trace the development of this greatness and the
culmination of this career of glory. This it is that we shall endeavor
to do in the pages of this work. All of us have lived in the century
here described, many of us through a great part of it, some of us,
possibly, through the whole of it. It is in the fullest sense our own
century, one of which we have a just right to feel proud, and in whose
career all of us must take a deep and vital interest.
[=A Bird's-Eye View=]
Before entering upon the history of the age it is well to take a
bird's-eye view of it, and briefly present its claims to greatness.
They are many and mighty, and can only be glanced at in these
introductory pages; it would need volumes to show them in full. They
cover every field of human effort. They have to do with political
development, the relations of capital and labor, invention, science,
literature, production, commerce, and a dozen other life interests, all
of which will be considered in this work. The greatness of the world's
progress can be most clearly shown by pointing out the state of affairs
in the several branches of human effort at the opening and closing of
the century and placing them in sharp contrast. This it is proposed to
do in this introductory sketch.
[=Tyranny and Oppression in the Eighteenth Century=]
A hundred years ago the political aspect of the world was remarkably
different from what it is now. Kings, many of them, were tyrants;
peoples, as a rule, were slaves--in fact, if not in name. The absolute
government of the Middle Ages had been in a measure set aside, but
the throne had still immense power, and between the kings and the
nobles the people were crushed like grain between the upper and nether
millstones. Tyranny spread widely; oppression was rampant; poverty was
the common lot; comfort was confined to the rich; law was merciless;
punishment for trifling offences was swift and cruel; the broad
sentiment of human fellowship had just begun to develop; the sun of
civilization shone only on a narrow region of the earth, beyond which
barbarism and savagery prevailed.
In 1800, the government of the people had just fairly begun. Europe had
two small republics, Switzerland and the United Netherlands, and in the
West the republic of the United States was still in its feeble youth.
The so-called republic of France was virtually the kingdom of Napoleon,
the autocratic First Consul, and those which he had founded elsewhere
were the slaves of his imperious will. Government almost everywhere
was autocratic and arbitrary. In Great Britain, the freest of the
monarchies, the king's will could still set aside law and justice in
many instances and parliament represented only a tithe of the people.
Not only was universal suffrage unknown, but some of the greatest
cities of the kingdom had no voice in making the laws.
[=Government and the Rights of Man in 1900=]
In 1900, a century later, vast changes had taken place in the political
world. The republic of the United States had grown from a feeble infant
into a powerful giant, and its free system of government had spread
over the whole great continent of America. Every independent nation of
the West had become a republic and Canada still a British colony, was a
republic in almost everything but the name. In Europe, France was added
to the list of firmly-founded republics, and throughout that continent,
except in Russia and Turkey, the power of the monarchs had declined,
that of the people had advanced. In 1800, the kings almost everywhere
seemed firmly seated on their thrones. In 1900, the thrones everywhere
were shaking, and the whole moss-grown institution of kingship was
trembling over the rising earthquake of the popular will.
[=Suffrage and Human Freedom=]
The influence of the people in the government had made a marvelous
advance. The right of suffrage, greatly restricted in 1800, had
become universal in most of the civilized lands at the century's end.
Throughout the American continent every male citizen had the right of
voting. The same was the case in most of western Europe, and even in
far-off Japan, which a century before had been held under a seemingly
helpless tyranny. Human slavery, which held captive millions upon
millions of men and women in 1800, had vanished from the realms of
civilization in 1900, and a vigorous effort was being made to banish
it from every region of the earth. As will be seen from this hasty
retrospect, the rights of man had made a wonderful advance during the
century, far greater than in any other century of human history.
[=Criminal Law and Prison Discipline in 1800=]
In the feeling of human fellowship, the sentiment of sympathy and
benevolence, the growth of altruism, or love for mankind, there had
been an equal progress. At the beginning of the century law was stern,
justice severe, punishment frightfully cruel. Small offences met with
severe retribution. Men were hung for a dozen crimes which now call for
only a light punishment. Thefts which are now thought severely punished
by a year or two in prison then often led to the scaffold. Men are hung
now, in the most enlightened nations, only for murder. Then they were
hung for fifty crimes, some so slight as to seem petty. A father could
not steal a loaf of bread for his starving children except at peril of
a long term of imprisonment, or, possibly, of death on the scaffold.
And imprisonment then was a different affair from what it is now. The
prisons of that day were often horrible dens, noisome, filthy, swarming
with vermin, their best rooms unfit for human residence, their worst
dungeons a hell upon earth. This not only in the less advanced nations,
but even in enlightened England. Newgate Prison, in London, for
instance, was a sink of iniquity, its inmates given over to the cruel
hands of ruthless gaolers, forced to pay a high price for the least
privilege, and treated worse than brute cattle if destitute of money
and friends. And these were not alone felons who had broken some of the
many criminal laws, but men whose guilt was not yet proved, and poor
debtors whose only crime was their misfortune. And all this in England,
with its boast of high civilization. The people were not ignorant of
the condition of the prisons; Parliament was appealed to a dozen times
to remedy the horrors of the jails; yet many years passed before it
could be induced to act.
[=Prisons and Punishment in 1900=]
Compare this state of criminal law and prison discipline with that
of the present day. Then cruel punishments were inflicted for small
offences; now the lightest punishments compatible with the well-being
of the community are the rule. The sentiment of human compassion has
become strong and compelling; it is felt in the courts as well as among
the people; public opinion has grown powerful, and a punishment to-day
too severe for the crime would be visited with universal condemnation.
The treatment of felons has been remarkably ameliorated. The modern
prison is a palace as compared with that of a century ago. The terrible
jail fever which swept through the old-time prisons like a pestilence,
and was more fatal to their inmates than the gallows, has been stamped
out. The idea of sanitation has made its way into the cell and the
dungeon, cleanliness is enforced, the frightful crowding of the past is
not permitted, prisoners are given employment, they are not permitted
to infect one another with vice or disease, kindness instead of cruelty
is the rule, and in no direction has the world made a greater and more
radical advance.
[=The Factory System and the Oppression of the Workingman=]
A century ago labor was sadly oppressed. The factory system had
recently begun. The independent hand and home work of the earlier
centuries was being replaced by power and machine work. The
steam-engine and the labor-saving machine, while bringing blessings to
mankind, had brought curses also. Workmen were crowded into factories
and mines, and were poorly paid, ill-treated, ill-housed, over-worked.
Innocent little children were forced to perform hard labor when they
should have been at play or at school. The whole system was one of
white slavery of the most oppressive kind.
To-day this state of affairs no longer exists. Wages have risen, the
hours of labor have decreased, the comfort of the artisan has grown,
what were once luxuries beyond his reach have now become necessaries
of life. Young children are not permitted to work, and older ones not
beyond their strength. With the influences which have brought this
about we are not here concerned. Their consideration must be left to
a later chapter. It is enough here to state the important development
that has taken place.
Perhaps the greatest triumph of the nineteenth century has been in
the domain of invention. For ages past men have been aiding the work
of their hands with the work of their brains. But the progress of
invention continued slow and halting, and many tools centuries old were
in common use until the nineteenth century dawned. The steam-engine
came earlier, and it is this which has stimulated all the rest. A power
was given to man enormously greater than that of his hands, and he at
once began to devise means of applying it. Several of the important
machines used in manufacture were invented before 1800, but it was
after that year that the great era of invention began, and words are
hardly strong enough to express the marvelous progress which has since
taken place.
[=The Era of Wonderful Inventions=]
To attempt to name all the inventions of the nineteenth century would
be like writing a dictionary. Those of great importance might be named
by the hundreds; those which have proved epoch-making by the dozens. To
manufacture, to agriculture, to commerce, to all fields of human labor,
they extend, and their name is legion. Standing on the summit of this
century and looking backward, its beginning appears pitifully poor and
meager. Around us to-day are hundreds of busy workshops, filled with
machinery, pouring out finished products with extraordinary speed, men
no longer makers of goods, but waiters upon machines. In the fields the
grain is planted and harvested, the grass cut and gathered, the ground
ploughed and cultivated, everything done by machines. Looking back for
a century, what do we see? Men in the fields with the scythe and the
sickle, in the barn with the flail, working the ground with rude old
ploughs and harrows, doing a hundred things painfully by hand which now
they do easily and rapidly by machines. Verily the rate of progress on
the farm has been marvelous.
[=The Fate of the Horse and the Sail=]
The above are only a few of the directions of the century's progress.
In some we may name, the development has been more extraordinary
still. Let us consider the remarkable advance in methods of travel.
In the year 1800, as for hundreds and even thousands of years before,
the horse was the fastest means known of traveling by land, the
sail of traveling by sea. A hundred years more have passed over our
heads, and what do we behold? On all sides the powerful, and swift
locomotive, well named the iron-horse, rushes onward, bound for the
ends of the earth, hauling men and goods to right and left with a speed
and strength that would have seemed magical to our forefathers. On
the ocean the steam engine performs the same service, carrying great
ships across the Atlantic in less than a week, and laughing at the
puny efforts of the sail. The horse, for ages indispensable to man, is
threatened with banishment. Electric power has been added to that of
steam. The automobile carriage is coming to take the place of the horse
carriage. The steam plough is replacing the horse plough. The time
seems approaching when the horse will cease to be seen in our streets,
and may be relegated to the zoological garden.
In the conveyance of news the development is more like magic than fact.
A century ago news could not be transported faster than the horse could
run or the ship could sail. Now the words of men can be carried through
space faster than one can breathe. By the aid of the telephone a man
can speak to his friend a thousand miles away. And with the phonograph
we can, as it were, bottle up speech, to be spoken, if desired, a
thousand years in the future. Had we whispered those things to our
forefathers of a century past we should have been set down as wild
romancers or insane fools, but now they seem like every-day news.
These are by no means all the marvels of the century. At its beginning
the constitution of the atmosphere had been recently discovered. In
the preceding period it was merely known as a mysterious gas called
air. To-day we can carry this air about in buckets like so much water,
or freeze it into a solid like ice. In its gaseous state it has long
been used as the power to move ships and windmills. In its liquid state
it may also soon become a leading source of power, and in a measure
replace steam, the great power of the century before.
[=Education, Discovery and Commerce=]
In what else does the beginning of the twentieth stand far in advance
of that of the nineteenth century? We may contrast the tallow candle
with the electric light, the science of to-day with that of a century
ago, the methods and the extension of education and the dissemination
of books with those of the year 1800. Discovery and colonization of the
once unknown regions of the world have gone on with marvelous speed.
The progress in mining has been enormous, and the production of gold
in the nineteenth century perhaps surpasses that of all previous time.
Production of all kinds has enormously increased, and commerce now
extends to the utmost regions of the earth, bearing the productions of
all climes to the central seats of civilization, and supplying distant
and savage tribes with the products of the loom and the mine.
Such is a hasty review of the condition of affairs at the end of the
nineteenth century as compared with that existing at its beginning. No
effort has been made here to cover the entire field, but enough has
been said to show the greatness of the world's progress, and we may
fairly speak of this century as the Glorious Nineteenth.
[Illustration: DEATH OF MARAT
Never was there a more worthy act of murder than that
of the monster Marat, the most savage of the leaders
of the Reign of Terror, by the knife of the devoted
maiden, Charlotte Corday. She boldly avowed her guilt
and its purpose, and suffered death by the guillotine,
July 17, 1793.]
[Illustration: THE LAST VICTIMS OF THE REIGN OF TERROR--
(FROM THE PAINTING BY MULLER)]
CHAPTER I.
The Threshold of the Century.
[=The Age we Live in and its Great Events=]
After its long career of triumph and disaster, glory and shame, the
world stands to-day at the end of an old and the beginning of a new
century, looking forward with hope and backward with pride, for it has
just completed the most wonderful hundred years it has ever known, and
has laid a noble foundation for the twentieth century, now at its dawn.
There can be no more fitting time than this to review the marvelous
progress of the closing century, through a portion of which all of
us have lived, many of us through a great portion of it. Some of the
greatest of its events have taken place before our own eyes; in some of
them many now living have borne a part; to picture them again to our
mental vision cannot fail to be of interest and profit to us all.
[=True History and the Things which Make it=]
When, after a weary climb, we find ourselves on the summit of a lofty
mountain, and look back from that commanding altitude over the ground
we have traversed, what is it that we behold? The minor details of the
scenery, many of which seemed large and important to us as we passed,
are now lost to view, and we see only the great and imposing features
of the landscape, the high elevations, the town-studded valleys, the
deep and winding streams, the broad forests. It is the same when,
from the summit of an age, we gaze backward over the plain of time.
The myriad of petty happenings are lost to sight, and we see only the
striking events, the critical epochs, the mighty crises through which
the world has passed. These are the things that make true history, not
the daily doings in the king's palace or the peasant's hut. What we
should seek to observe and store up in our memories are the turning
points in human events, the great thoughts which have ripened into
noble deeds, the hands of might which have pushed the world forward
in its career; not the trifling occurrences which signify nothing,
the passing actions which have borne no fruit in human affairs. It is
with such turning points, such critical periods in the history of the
nineteenth century, that this work proposes to deal; not to picture the
passing bubbles on the stream of time, but to point out the great ships
which have sailed up that stream laden deep with a noble freight.
This is history in its deepest and best aspect, and we have set our
camera to photograph only the men who have made and the events which
constitute this true history of the nineteenth century.
[=Two of the World's Greatest Events=]
On the threshold of the century with which we have to deal two grand
events stand forth; two of those masterpieces of political evolution
which mold the world and fashion the destiny of mankind. These are,
in the Eastern hemisphere, the French Revolution; in the Western
hemisphere, the American Revolution and the founding of the republic
of the United States. In the whole history of the world there are no
events that surpass these in importance, and they may fitly be dwelt
upon as main foundation stones in the structure we are seeking to
build. The French Revolution shaped the history of Europe for nearly a
quarter century after 1800. The American Revolution shaped the history
of America for a still longer period, and is now beginning to shape
the history of the world. It is important therefore that we dwell on
those two events sufficiently to show the part they have played in the
history of the age. Here, however, we shall confine our attention to
the Revolution in France. That in America must be left to the American
section of our work.
[=The Feudal System and Its Abuses=]
The Mediæval Age was the age of Feudalism, that remarkable system of
government based on military organization which held western Europe
captive for centuries. The State was an army, the nobility its captains
and generals, the king its commander-in-chief, the people its rank and
file. As for the horde of laborers, they were hardly considered at all.
They were the hewers of wood and drawers of water for the armed and
fighting class, a base, down-trodden, enslaved multitude, destitute of
rights and privileges, their only mission in the world to provide food
for and pay taxes to their masters, and often doomed to starve in the
midst of the food which their labor produced.
France, the country in which the Feudal system had its birth, was
the country in which it had the longest lease of life. It came down
to the verge of the nineteenth century with little relief from its
terrible exactions. We see before us in that country the spectacle of a
people steeped in misery, crushed by tyranny, robbed of all political
rights, and without a voice to make their sufferings known; and of an
aristocracy lapped in luxury, proud, vain, insolent, lavish with the
people's money, ruthless with the people's blood, and blind to the
spectre of retribution which rose higher year by year before their eyes.
One or two statements must suffice to show the frightful injustice that
prevailed. The nobility and the Church, those who held the bulk of
the wealth of the community, were relieved of all taxation, the whole
burden of which fell upon the mercantile and laboring classes--an
unfair exaction that threatened to crush industry out of existence. And
to picture the condition of the peasantry, the tyranny of the feudal
customs, it will serve to repeat the oft-told tale of the peasants who,
after their day's hard labor in the fields, were forced to beat the
ponds all night long in order to silence the croaking of the frogs that
disturbed some noble lady's slumbers. Nothing need be added to these
two instances to show the oppression under which the people of France
lay during the long era of Feudalism.
[=The Climax of Feudalism in France=]
This era of injustice and oppression reached its climax in the closing
years of the eighteenth century, and went down at length in that
hideous nightmare of blood and terror known as the French Revolution.
Frightful as this was, it was unavoidable. The pride and privilege of
the aristocracy had the people by the throat, and only the sword or
the guillotine could loosen their hold. In this terrible instance the
guillotine did the work.
It was the need of money for the spendthrift throne that precipitated
the Revolution. For years the indignation of the people had been
growing and spreading; for years the authors of the nation had been
adding fuel to the flame. The voices of Voltaire, Rousseau and a dozen
others had been heard in advocacy of the rights of man, and the people
were growing daily more restive under their load. But still the lavish
waste of money wrung from the hunger and sweat of the people went on,
until the king and his advisers found their coffers empty and were
without hope of filling them without a direct appeal to the nation at
large.
[=The States General is Convened=]
It was in 1788 that the fatal step was taken. Louis XVI, King of
France, called a session of the States General, the Parliament of the
kingdom, which had not met for more than a hundred years. This body
was composed of three classes, the representatives of the nobility, of
the church, and of the people. In all earlier instances they had been
docile to the mandate of the throne, and the monarch, blind to the
signs of the times, had no thought but that this assembly would vote
him the money he asked for, fix by law a system of taxation for his
future supply, and dissolve at his command.
He was ignorant of the temper of the people. They had been given a
voice at last, and were sure to take the opportunity to speak their
mind. Their representatives, known as the Third Estate, were made
up of bold, earnest, indignant men, who asked for bread and were
not to be put off with a crust. They were twice as numerous as the
representatives of the nobles and the clergy, and thus held control
of the situation. They were ready to support the throne, but refused
to vote a penny until the crying evils of the State were reformed.
They broke loose from the other two Estates, established a separate
parliament under the name of the National Assembly, and begun that
career of revolution which did not cease until it had brought monarchy
to an end in France and set all Europe aflame.
[=The Fall of the Bastille=]
The court sought to temporize with the engine of destruction which it
had called into existence, prevaricated, played fast and loose, and
with every false move riveted the fetters of revolution more tightly
round its neck. In July, 1789, the people of Paris took a hand in the
game. They rose and destroyed the Bastille, that grim and terrible
State prison into which so many of the best and noblest of France had
been cast at the pleasure of the monarch and his ministers, and which
the people looked upon as the central fortress of their oppression and
woe.
With the fall of the Bastille discord everywhere broke loose, the
spirit of the Revolution spread from Paris through all France, and the
popular Assembly, now the sole law-making body of the State, repealed
the oppressive laws of which the people complained, and with a word
overturned abuses many of which were a thousand years old. It took
from the nobles their titles and privileges, and reduced them to the
rank of simple citizens. It confiscated the vast landed estates of the
church, which embraced nearly one-third of France. It abolished the
tithes and the unequal taxes, which had made the clergy and nobles rich
and the people poor. At a later date, in the madness of reaction, it
enthroned the Goddess of Reason and sought to abolish religion and all
the time-honored institutions of the past.
The Revolution grew, month by month and day by day. New and more
radical laws were passed; moss-grown abuses were swept away in an
hour's sitting; the king, who sought to escape, was seized and held as
a hostage; and war was boldly declared against Austria and Prussia,
which showed a disposition to interfere. In November, 1792, the
French army gained a brilliant victory at Jemmapes, in Belgium, which
eventually led to the conquest of that kingdom by France. It was the
first important event in the career of victory which in the coming
years was to make France glorious in the annals of war.
[Illustration: MARIE ANTOINETTE LED TO EXECUTION
The hapless wife of Louis XVI, of France, imprisoned
during the Revolution in the prisons of the Temple and
Conciergerie, separated from her family and friends,
and treated to great indignities, died at length under
the knife of the guillotine, October 16, 1793.]
[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF RIVOLI
Rivoli is a village of Venetia, Italy, on the western
bank of the Adige; population, about 1,000. On January
14 and 15, 1797, Napoleon Bonaparte here, in his first
campaign as commander-in-chief, gained a great victory
over the Austrians commanded by Alvinczy, who lost
20,000 prisoners.]
[=King and Queen Under the Guillotine=]
The hostility of the surrounding nations added to the revolutionary
fury in France. Armies were marching to the rescue of the king, and
the unfortunate monarch was seized, reviled and insulted by the mob,
and incarcerated in the prison called the Temple. The queen, Marie
Antoinette, daughter of the Emperor of Austria, was likewise haled from
the palace to the prison. In the following year, 1793, king and queen
alike were taken to the guillotine and their royal heads fell into
the fatal basket. The Revolution was consummated, the monarchy was at
an end, France had fallen into the hands of the people, and from them
it descended into the hands of a ruthless and blood-thirsty mob.
[=The Reign of Terror=]
At the head of this mob of revolutionists stood three men, Danton,
Marat, and Robespierre, the triumvirate of the Reign of Terror, under
which all safety ceased in France, and all those against whom the
least breath of suspicion arose were crowded into prison, from which
hosts of them made their way to the dreadful knife of the guillotine.
Multitudes of the rich and noble had fled from France, among them
Lafayette, the friend and aid of Washington in the American Revolution,
and Talleyrand, the acute statesman who was to play a prominent part in
later French history.
Marat, the most savage of the triumvirate, was slain in July, 1793,
by the knife of Charlotte Corday, a young woman of pious training,
who offered herself as the instrument of God for the removal of this
infamous monster. His death rather added to than stayed the tide of
blood, and in April, 1794, Danton, who sought to check its flow, fell
a victim to his ferocious associate. But the Reign of Terror was
nearing its end. In July the Assembly awoke from its stupor of fear,
Robespierre was denounced, seized, and executed, and the frightful
carnival of bloodshed came to an end. The work of the National Assembly
had been fully consummated; Feudalism was at an end, monarchy in France
had ceased, and a republic had taken its place, and a new era for
Europe had dawned.
[=The Wars of the French Revolution=]
Meanwhile a foreign war was being waged. England had formed a coalition
with most of the nations of Europe, and France was threatened by land
with the troops of Holland, Prussia, Austria, Spain and Portugal,
and by sea with the fleet of Great Britain. The incompetency of her
assailants saved her from destruction. Her generals who lost battles
were sent to prison or to the guillotine, the whole country rose as one
man in defence, and a number of brilliant victories drove her enemies
from her borders and gave the armies of France a position beyond the
Rhine.
These wars soon brought a great man to the front, Napoleon Bonaparte,
a son of Corsica, with whose nineteenth century career we shall deal
at length in the following chapters, but of whose earlier exploits
something must be said here. His career fairly began in 1794, when,
under the orders of the National Convention--the successor of the
National Assembly--he quelled the mob in the streets of Paris with
loaded cannon and put a final end to the Terror which had so long
prevailed.
Placed at the head of the French army in Italy, he quickly astonished
the world by a series of the most brilliant victories, defeating the
Austrians and the Sardinians wherever he met them, seizing Venice, the
city of the lagoon, and forcing almost all Italy to submit to his arms.
A republic was established here and a new one in Switzerland, while
Belgium and the left bank of the Rhine were held by France.
[=Napoleon in Italy and Egypt.=]
His wars here at an end, Napoleon's ambition led him to Egypt,
inspired by great designs which he failed to realize. In his absence
anarchy arose in France. The five Directors, then at the head of the
Government, had lost all authority, and Napoleon, who had unexpectedly
returned, did not hesitate to overthrow them and the Assembly which
supported them. A new government, with three Consuls at its head, was
formed, Napoleon as First Consul holding almost royal power. Thus
France stood in 1800, at the end of the Eighteenth Century.
[=England as a Centre of Industry and Commerce.=]
In the remainder of Europe there was nothing to compare with the
momentous convulsion which had taken place in France. England had gone
through its two revolutions more than a century before, and its people
were the freest of any in Europe. Recently it had lost its colonies
in America, but it still held in that continent the broad domain of
Canada, and was building for itself a new empire in India, while
founding colonies in twenty other lands. In commerce and manufactures
it entered the nineteenth century as the greatest nation on the earth.
The hammer and the loom resounded from end to end of the island, mighty
centres of industry arose where cattle had grazed a century before,
coal and iron were being torn in great quantities from the depths of
the earth, and there seemed everywhere an endless bustle and whirr.
The ships of England haunted all seas and visited the most remote
ports, laden with the products of her workshops and bringing back raw
material for her factories and looms. Wealth accumulated, London became
the money market of the world, the riches and prosperity of the island
kingdom were growing to be a parable among the nations of the earth.
On the continent of Europe, Prussia, which has now grown so great,
had recently emerged from its mediæval feebleness, mainly under the
powerful hand of Frederick the Great, whose reign extended until 1786,
and whose ambition, daring, and military genius made him a fitting
predecessor of Napoleon the Great, who so soon succeeded him in the
annals of war. Unscrupulous in his aims, this warrior king had torn
Silesia from Austria, added to his kingdom a portion of unfortunate
Poland, annexed the principality of East Friesland, and lifted Prussia
into a leading position among the European states.
[=The Condition of the German States=]
Germany, now--with the exception of Austria--a compact empire, was
then a series of disconnected states, variously known as kingdoms,
principalities, margravates, electorates, and by other titles, the
whole forming the so-called Holy Empire, though it was "neither
holy nor an empire." It had drifted down in this fashion from the
Middle Ages, and the work of consolidation had but just begun, in the
conquests of Frederick the Great. A host of petty potentates ruled the
land, whose states, aside from Prussia and Austria, were too weak to
have a voice in the councils of Europe. Joseph II., the titular emperor
of Germany, made an earnest and vigorous effort to combine its elements
into a powerful unit; but he signally failed, and died in 1790, a
disappointed and embittered man.
Austria, then far the most powerful of the German states, was from 1740
to 1780 under the reign of a woman, Maria Theresa, who struggled in
vain against her ambitious neighbor, Frederick the Great, his kingdom
being extended ruthlessly at the expense of her imperial dominions.
Austria remained a great country, however, including Bohemia and
Hungary among its domains. It was lord of Lombardy and Venice in Italy,
and was destined to play an important but unfortunate part in the
coming Napoleonic wars.
[=Dissension in Italy and Decay in Spain=]
The peninsula of Italy, the central seat of the great Roman Empire,
was, at the opening of the nineteenth century, as sadly broken up
as Germany, a dozen weak states taking the place of the one strong
one that the good of the people demanded. The independent cities of
the mediæval period no longer held sway, and we hear no more of wars
between Florence, Genoa, Milan, Pisa and Rome; but the country was
still made up of minor states--Lombardy, Venice and Sardinia in the
north, Naples in the south, Rome in the centre, and various smaller
kingdoms and dukedoms between. The peninsula was a prey to turmoil and
dissension. Germany and France had made it their fighting ground for
centuries, Spain had filled the south with her armies, and the country
had been miserably torn and rent by these frequent wars and those
between state and state, and was in a condition to welcome the coming
of Napoleon, whose strong hand for the time promised the blessing of
peace and union.
Spain, not many centuries before the greatest nation in Europe, and,
as such, the greatest nation on the globe, had miserably declined in
power and place at the opening of the nineteenth century. Under the
emperor Charles I. it had been united with Germany, while its colonies
embraced two-thirds of the great continent of America. Under Philip
II. it continued powerful in Europe, but with his death its decay set
in. Intolerance checked its growth in civilization, the gold brought
from America was swept away by more enterprising states, its strength
was sapped by a succession of feeble monarchs, and from first place it
fell into a low rank among the nations of Europe. It still held its
vast colonial area, but this proved a source of weakness rather than
of strength, and the people of the colonies, exasperated by injustice
and oppression, were ready for the general revolt which was soon to
take place. Spain presented the aspect of a great nation ruined by its
innate vices, impoverished by official venality and the decline of
industry, and fallen into the dry rot of advancing decay.
[=The Partition of Poland by the Robber Nations.=]
Of the nations of Europe which had once played a prominent part, one
was on the point of being swept from the map. The name of Poland, which
formerly stood for a great power, now stands only for a great crime.
The misrule of the kings, the turbulence of the nobility, and the
enslavement of the people had brought that state into such a condition
of decay that it lay like a rotten log amid the powers of Europe.
The ambitious nations surrounding--Russia, Austria, and Prussia--took
advantage of its weakness, and in 1772 each of them seized the portion
of Poland that bordered on its own territories. In the remainder of
the kingdom the influence of Russia grew so great that the Russian
ambassador at Warsaw became the real ruler in Poland. A struggle
against Russia began in 1792, Kosciusko, a brave soldier who had fought
under Washington in America, being at the head of the patriots. But
the weakness of the king tied the hands of the soldiers, the Polish
patriots left their native land in despair, and in the following year
Prussia and Russia made a further division of the state, Russia seizing
a broad territory with more than 3,000,000 inhabitants.
In 1794 a new outbreak began. The patriots returned and a desperate
struggle took place. But Poland was doomed. Suvoroff, the greatest of
the Russian generals, swept the land with fire and sword. Kosciusko
fell wounded, crying, "Poland's end has come," and Warsaw was taken and
desolated by its assailants. The patriot was right; the end had come.
What remained of Poland was divided up between Austria, Prussia, and
Russia, and only a name remained.
[=Russia and Turkey.=]
There are two others of the powers of Europe of which we must speak,
Russia and Turkey. Until the seventeenth century Russia had been a
domain of barbarians, weak and disunited, and for a long period the
vassal of the savage Mongol conquerors of Asia. Under Peter the Great
(1689-1725) it rose into power and prominence, took its place among
civilized states, and began that career of conquest and expansion which
is still going on. At the end of the eighteenth century it was under
the rule of Catharine II., often miscalled Catharine the Great, who
died in 1796, just as Napoleon was beginning his career. Her greatness
lay in the ability of her generals, who defeated Turkey and conquered
the Crimea, and who added the greater part of Poland to her empire.
Her strength of mind and decision of character were not shared by her
successor, Paul I., and Russia entered the nineteenth century under the
weakest sovereign of the Romanoff line.
Turkey, once the terror of Europe, and sending its armies into the
heart of Austria, was now confined within the boundaries it had long
before won, and had begun its long struggle for existence with its
powerful neighbor, Russia. At the beginning of the nineteenth century
it was still a powerful state, with a wide domain in Europe, and
continued to defy the Christians who coveted its territory and sought
its overthrow. But the canker-worm of a weak and barbarous government
was at its heart, while its cruel treatment of its Christian subjects
exasperated the strong powers of Europe and invited their armed
interference.
As regards the world outside of Europe and America, no part of it had
yet entered the circle of modern civilization. Africa was an almost
unknown continent; Asia was little better known; and the islands of
the Eastern seas were still in process of discovery. Japan, which was
approaching its period of manumission from barbarism, was still closed
to the world, and China lay like a huge and helpless bulk, fast in the
fetters of conservatism and blind self-sufficiency.
CHAPTER II.
Napoleon Bonaparte; The Man of Destiny.
The first fifteen years of the nineteenth century in Europe yield us
the history of a man, rather than of a continent. France was the centre
of Europe; Napoleon, the Corsican, was the centre of France. All the
affairs of all the nations seemed to gather around this genius of war.
He was respected, feared, hated; he had risen with the suddenness of a
thundercloud on a clear horizon, and flashed the lightnings of victory
in the dazzled eyes of the nations. All the events of the period were
concentrated into one great event, and the name of that event was
Napoleon. He seemed incarnate war, organized destruction; sword in hand
he dominated the nations, and victory sat on his banners with folded
wings. He was, in a full sense, the man of destiny, and Europe was his
prey.
[=A Remarkable Man and a Wonderful Career=]
Never has there been a more wonderful career. The earlier great
conquerors began life at the top; Napoleon began his at the bottom.
Alexander was a king; Cæsar was an aristocrat of the Roman republic;
Napoleon rose from the people, and was not even a native of the land
which became the scene of his exploits. Pure force of military genius
lifted him from the lowest to the highest place among mankind, and
for long and terrible years Europe shuddered at his name and trembled
beneath the tread of his marching legions. As for France, he brought it
glory, and left it ruin and dismay.
We have briefly epitomized Napoleon's early career, his doings in the
Revolution, in Italy, and in Egypt, unto the time that France's worship
of his military genius raised him to the rank of First Consul, and gave
him in effect the power of a king. No one dared question his word,
the army was at his beck and call, the nation lay prostrate at his
feet--not in fear but in admiration. Such was the state of affairs in
France in the closing year of the eighteenth century. The Revolution
was at an end; the Republic existed only as a name; Napoleon was the
autocrat of France and the terror of Europe. From this point we resume
the story of his career.
[=The Enemies and Friends of France.=]
The First Consul began his reign with two enemies in the field, England
and Austria. Prussia was neutral, and he had won the friendship of
Paul, the emperor of Russia, by a shrewd move. While the other nations
refused to exchange the Russian prisoners they held, Napoleon sent
home 6,000 of these captives, newly clad and armed, under their own
leaders, and without demanding ransom. This was enough to win to his
side the weak-minded Paul, whose delight in soldiers he well knew.
Napoleon now had but two enemies in arms to deal with. He wrote letters
to the king of England and the emperor of Austria, offering peace. The
answers were cold and insulting, asking France to take back her Bourbon
kings and return to her old boundaries. Nothing remained but war.
Napoleon prepared for it with his usual rapidity, secrecy, and keenness
of judgment.
There were two French armies in the field in the spring of 1800,
Moreau commanding in Germany, Massena in Italy. Switzerland, which was
occupied by the French, divided the armies of the enemy, and Napoleon
determined to take advantage of the separation of their forces, and
strike an overwhelming blow. He sent word to Moreau and Massena to keep
the enemy in check at any cost, and secretly gathered a third army,
whose corps were dispersed here and there, while the powers of Europe
were aware only of the army of reserve at Dijon, made up of conscripts
and invalids.
[=Movements of the Armies in Germany and Italy=]
Meanwhile the armies in Italy and Germany were doing their best to
obey orders. Massena was attacked by the Austrians before he could
concentrate his troops, his army was cut in two, and he was forced to
fall back upon Genoa, in which city he was closely besieged, with a
fair prospect of being conquered by starvation if not soon relieved.
Moreau was more fortunate. He defeated the Austrians in a series of
battles and drove them back on Ulm, where he blockaded them in their
camp. All was ready for the great movement which Napoleon had in view.
Twenty centuries before Hannibal had led his army across the great
mountain barrier of the Alps, and poured down like an avalanche upon
the fertile plains of Italy. The Corsican determined to repeat this
brilliant achievement and emulate Hannibal's career. Several passes
across the mountains seemed favorable to his purpose, especially those
of the St. Bernard, the Simplon and Mont Cenis. Of these the first
was the most difficult; but it was much the shorter, and Napoleon
determined to lead the main body of his army over this ice-covered
mountain pass, despite its dangers and difficulties. The enterprise was
one to deter any man less bold than Hannibal or Napoleon, but it was
welcome to the hardihood and daring of these men, who rejoiced in the
seemingly impossible and spurned at hardships and perils.
[=Napoleon Crosses the Alps at St. Bernard Pass=]
The task of the Corsican was greater than that of the Carthaginian. He
had cannon to transport, while Hannibal's men carried only swords and
spears. But the genius of Napoleon was equal to the task. The cannon
were taken from their carriages and placed in the hollowed-out trunks
of trees, which could be dragged with ropes over the ice and snow.
Mules were used to draw the gun-carriages and the wagon-loads of food
and munitions of war. Stores of provisions had been placed at suitable
points along the road.
Thus prepared, Napoleon, on the 16th of May, 1800, began his remarkable
march, while smaller divisions of the army were sent over the Simplon,
the St. Gothard and Mont Cenis passes. It was an arduous enterprise.
The mules proved unequal to the task given to them; the peasants
refused to aid in this severe work; the soldiers were obliged to
harness themselves to the cannon, and drag them by main strength over
the rocky and ice-covered mountain path. The First Consul rode on a
mule at the head of the rear-guard, serene and cheerful, chatting with
his guide as with a friend, and keeping up the courage of the soldiers
by his own indomitable spirit.
A few hours' rest at the hospice of St. Bernard, and the descent was
begun, an enterprise even more difficult than the ascent. For five
days the dread journey continued, division following division, corps
succeeding corps. The point of greatest peril was reached at Aosta,
where, on a precipitous rock, stood the little Austrian fort of Bard,
its artillery commanding the narrow defile.
It was night when the vanguard reached this threatening spot. It was
passed in dead silence, tow being wrapped round the wheels of the
carriages and a layer of straw and refuse spread on the frozen ground,
while the troops followed a narrow path over the neighboring mountains.
By daybreak the passage was made and the danger at an end.
[=The Situation in Italy=]
The sudden appearance of the French in Italy was an utter surprise
to the Austrians. They descended like a torrent into the valley,
seized Ivry, and five days after reaching Italy met and repulsed an
Austrian force. The divisions which had crossed by other passes one
by one joined Napoleon. Melas, the Austrian commander, was warned
of the danger that impended, but refused to credit the seemingly
preposterous story. His men were scattered, some besieging Massena, in
Genoa, some attacking Suchet on the Var. His danger was imminent, for
Napoleon, leaving Massena to starve in Genoa, had formed the design of
annihilating the Austrian army at one tremendous blow.
[Illustration: NAPOLEON CROSSING THE ALPS
The renowned exploit of Hannibal leading an army
across the lofty and frozen passes of the Alps, was
emulated by Napoleon in 1800, when he led his army
across the St. Bernard Pass, descended like a torrent
on the Austrians in Italy, and defeated them in the
great battle of Marengo.]
[Illustration: NAPOLEON AND THE MUMMY OF PHARAOH
Strange thoughts must have passed through the mind of
him soon to be Emperor of France, in gazing on the
shriveled form of one of the great monarchs of old
Egypt. Did he not ask himself then: what are glory and
power worth, if this is the end of kingly greatness?]
The people of Lombardy, weary of the Austrian yoke, and hoping for
liberty under the rule of France, received the new-comers with
transport, and lent them what aid they could. On June 9th, Marshall
Lannes met and defeated the Austrians at Montebello, after a hot
engagement. "I heard the bones crackle like a hailstorm on the roofs,"
he said. On the 14th, the two armies met on the plain of Marengo, and
one of the most famous of Napoleon's battles began.
[=The Famous Field of Marengo=]
Napoleon was not ready for the coming battle, and was taken by
surprise. He had been obliged to break up his army in order to guard
all the passages open to the enemy. When he entered, on the 13th, the
plain between the Scrivia and the Bormida, near the little village of
Marengo, he was ignorant of the movements of the Austrians, and was not
expecting the onset of Melas, who, on the following morning, crossed
the Bormida by three bridges, and made a fierce assault upon the
divisions of generals Victor and Lannes. Victor was vigorously attacked
and driven back, and Marengo was destroyed by the Austrian cannon.
Lannes was surrounded by overwhelming numbers, and, fighting furiously,
was forced to retreat. In the heat of the battle Bonaparte reached the
field with his guard and his staff, and found himself in the thick of
the terrific affray and his army virtually beaten.
The retreat continued. It was impossible to check it. The enemy pressed
enthusiastically forward. The army was in imminent danger of being
cut in two. But Napoleon, with obstinate persistence, kept up the
fight, hoping for some change in the perilous situation. Melas, on
the contrary,--an old man, weary of his labors, and confident in the
seeming victory,--withdrew to his headquarters at Alessandria, whence
he sent off despatches to the effect that the terrible Corsican had at
length met defeat.
He did not know his man. Napoleon sent an aide-de-camp in all haste
after Desaix, one of his most trusted generals, who had just returned
from Egypt, and whose corps he had detached towards Novi. All depended
upon his rapid return. Without Desaix the battle was lost. Fortunately
the alert general did not wait for the messenger. His ears caught the
sound of distant cannon and, scenting danger, he marched back with the
utmost speed.
Napoleon met his welcome officer with eyes of joy and hope. "You see
the situation," he said, rapidly explaining the state of affairs. "What
is to be done?"
[=A Great Battle Lost and Won=]
"It is a lost battle," Desaix replied. "But there are some hours of
daylight yet. We have time to win another."
While he talked with the commander, his regiments had hastily formed,
and now presented a threatening front to the Austrians. Their presence
gave new spirit to the retreating troops.
"Soldiers and friends," cried Napoleon to them, "remember that it is my
custom to sleep upon the field of battle."
Back upon their foes turned the retreating troops, with new animation,
and checked the victorious Austrians. Desaix hurried to his men and
placed himself at their head.
"Go and tell the First Consul that I am about to charge," he said to an
aide. "I need to be supported by cavalry."
A few minutes afterwards, as he was leading his troops irresistibly
forward, a ball struck him in the breast, inflicting a mortal wound. "I
have been too long making war in Africa; the bullets of Europe know me
no more," he sadly said. "Conceal my death from the men; it might rob
them of spirit."
The soldiers had seen him fall, but, instead of being dispirited,
they were filled with fury, and rushed forward furiously to avenge
their beloved leader. At the same time Kellermann arrived with his
dragoons, impetuously hurled them upon the Austrian cavalry, broke
through their columns, and fell upon the grenadiers who were wavering
before the troops of Desaix. It was a death-stroke. The cavalry and
infantry together swept them back in a disorderly retreat. One whole
corps, hopeless of escape, threw down its arms and surrendered. The
late victorious army was everywhere in retreat. The Austrians were
crowded back upon the Bormida, here blocking the bridges, there
flinging themselves into the stream, on all sides flying from the
victorious French. The cannon stuck in the muddy stream and were left
to the victors. When Melas, apprised of the sudden change in the
aspect of affairs, hurried back in dismay to the field, the battle was
irretrievably lost, and General Zach, his representative in command,
was a prisoner in the hands of the French. The field was strewn with
thousands of the dead. The slain Desaix and the living Kellermann had
turned the Austrian victory into defeat and saved Napoleon.
[=The Result of the Victory of Marengo=]
A few days afterwards, on the 19th, Moreau in Germany won a brilliant
victory at Hochstadt, near Blenheim, took 5,000 prisoners and twenty
pieces of cannon, and forced from the Austrians an armed truce which
left him master of South Germany. A still more momentous armistice was
signed by Melas in Italy, by which the Austrians surrendered Piedmont,
Lombardy, and all their territory as far as the Mincio, leaving France
master of Italy. Melas protested against these severe terms, but
Napoleon was immovable.
"I did not begin to make war yesterday," he said. "I know your
situation. You are out of provisions, encumbered with the dead,
wounded, and sick, and surrounded on all sides. I could exact
everything. I ask only what the situation of affairs demands. I have no
other terms to offer."
[=Napoleon Returns to France=]
During the night of the 2d and 3d of July, Napoleon re-entered Paris,
which he had left less than two months before. Brilliant ovations met
him on his route, and all France would have prostrated itself at his
feet had he permitted. He came crowned with the kind of glory which is
especially dear to the French, that gained on field of battle.
Five months afterwards, Austria having refused to make peace without
the concurrence of England, and the truce being at an end, another
famous victory was added to the list of those which were being
inscribed upon the annals of France. On the 3d of December the veterans
under Moreau met an Austrian army under the Archduke John, on the plain
of Hohenlinden, across which ran the small river Iser.
[=Moreau and the Great Battle of Hohenlinden=]
The Austrians marched through the forest of Hohenlinden, looking for no
resistance, and unaware that Moreau's army awaited their exit. As they
left the shelter of the trees and debouched upon the plain, they were
attacked by the French in force. Two divisions had been despatched to
take them in the rear, and Moreau held back his men to give them the
necessary time. The snow was falling in great flakes, yet through it
his keen eyes saw some signs of confusion in the hostile ranks.
"Richepanse has struck them in the rear," he said, "the time has come
to charge."
Ney rushed forward at the head of his troops, driving the enemy in
confusion before him. The centre of the Austrian army was hemmed in
between the two forces. Decaen had struck their left wing in the rear
and forced it back upon the Inn. Their right was driven into the
valley. The day was lost to the Austrians, whose killed and wounded
numbered 8,000, while the French had taken 12,000 prisoners and
eighty-seven pieces of cannon.
The victorious French advanced, sweeping back all opposition, until
Vienna, the Austrian capital, lay before them, only a few leagues away.
His staff officers urged Moreau to take possession of the city.
"That would be a fine thing to do, no doubt," he said; "but to my fancy
to dictate terms of peace will be a finer thing still."
[=The Peace of Luneville=]
The Austrians were ready for peace at any price. On Christmas day,
1800, an armistice was signed which delivered to the French the valley
of the Danube, the country of the Tyrol, a number of fortresses, and
immense magazines of war materials. The war continued in Italy till the
end of December, when a truce was signed there and the conflict was at
an end.
Thus the nineteenth century dawned with France at truce with all her
foes except Great Britain. In February, 1801, a treaty of peace between
Austria and France was signed at Luneville, in which the valley of
the Etsch and the Rhine was acknowledged as the boundary of France.
Austria was forced to relinquish all her possessions in Italy, except
the city of Venice and a portion of Venetia; all the remainder of North
Italy falling into the hands of France. Europe was at peace with the
exception of the hostile relations still existing between England and
France.
[=The Peace of Amiens=]
The war between these two countries was mainly confined to Egypt,
where remained the army which Napoleon had left in his hasty return
to France. As it became evident in time that neither the British land
forces nor the Turkish troops could overcome the French veterans in the
valley of the Nile, a treaty was arranged which stipulated that the
French soldiers, 24,000 in all, should be taken home in English ships,
with their arms and ammunition, Egypt being given back to the rule of
the Sultan. This was followed by the peace of Amiens (March 27, 1802),
between England and France, and the long war was, for the time, at an
end. Napoleon had conquered peace.
During the period of peaceful relations that followed Napoleon was by
no means at rest. His mind was too active to yield him long intervals
of leisure. There was much to be done in France in sweeping away the
traces of the revolutionary insanity. One of the first cares of the
Consul was to restore the Christian worship in the French churches and
to abolish the Republican festivals. But he had no intention of giving
the church back its old power and placing another kingship beside
his own. He insisted that the French church should lose its former
supremacy and sink to the position of a servant of the Pope and of the
temporal sovereign of France.
Establishing his court as First Consul in the Tuileries, Napoleon began
to bring back the old court fashions and etiquette, and attempted to
restore the monarchical customs and usages. The elegance of royalty
reappeared, and it seemed almost as if monarchy had been restored.
A further step towards the restoration of the kingship was soon taken.
Napoleon, as yet Consul only for ten years, had himself appointed
Consul for life, with the power of naming his successor. He was king
now in everything but the name. But he was not suffered to wear his new
honor in safety. His ambition had aroused the anger of the republicans,
conspiracies rose around him, and more than once his life was in
danger. On his way to the opera house an infernal machine was exploded,
killing several persons but leaving him unhurt.
[Illustration: NAPOLEON BONAPARTE]
[Illustration: MEETING OF TWO SOVEREIGNS
Pope Pius VII, at the request, almost the command, of
Napoleon, came from Rome to France in 1804 to crown
the great conqueror Emperor of the French. He was very
ceremoniously received by Napoleon, and treated with
every outward show of honor. Years afterwards he was
brought to France and forced to reside there, as the
virtual captive of the Emperor.]
[=The Punishment of the Conspirators and the Assassination of the
Duke d'Enghien=]
Other plots were organized, and Fouché, the police-agent of the time,
was kept busy in seeking the plotters, for whom there was brief
mercy when found. Even Moreau, the victor at Hohenlinden, accused of
negotiating with the conspirators, was disgraced, and exiled himself
from France. Napoleon dealt with his secret enemies with the same
ruthless energy as he did with his foes in the field of battle.
His rage at the attempts upon his life, indeed, took a form that has
been universally condemned. The Duke d'Enghien, a royalist French
nobleman, grandson of the Prince of Condé, who was believed by Napoleon
to be the soul of the royalist conspiracies, ventured too near the
borders of France, and was seized in foreign territory, taken in haste
to Paris, and shot without form of law or a moment's opportunity for
defence. The outrage excited the deepest indignation throughout Europe.
No name was given it but murder, and the historians of to-day speak of
the act by no other title.
The opinion of the world had little effect upon Napoleon. He was a law
unto himself. The death of one man or of a thousand men weighed nothing
to him where his safety or his ambition was concerned. Men were the
pawns he used in the great game of empire, and he heeded not how many
of them were sacrificed so that he won the game.
[=Napoleon Crowned Emperor of the French=]
The culmination of his ambition came in 1804, when the hope he had long
secretly cherished, that of gaining the imperial dignity was realized.
He imitated the example of Cæsar, the Roman conqueror, in seeking the
crown as a reward for his victories, and was elected emperor of the
French by an almost unanimous vote. That the sanction of the church
might be obtained for the new dignity, the Pope was constrained to come
to Paris, and there anointed him emperor on December 2, 1804.
The new emperor hastened to restore the old insignia of royalty.
He surrounded himself with a brilliant court, brought back the
discarded titles of nobility, named the members of his family princes
and princesses, and sought to banish every vestige of republican
simplicity. Ten years before he had begun his career in the streets of
Paris by sweeping away with cannon-shot the mob that rose in support of
the Reign of Terror. Now he had swept away the Republic of France and
founded a French empire, with himself at its head as Napoleon I.
But though royalty was restored, it was not a royalty of the old type.
Feudalism was at an end. The revolution had destroyed the last relics
of that effete and abominable system, and it was an empire on new and
modern lines which Napoleon had founded, a royalty voted into existence
by a free people, not resting upon a nation of slaves.
[=The Great Works Devised By the New Emperor=]
The new emperor did not seek to enjoy in leisure his new dignity. His
restless mind impelled him to broad schemes of public improvement. He
sought glory in peace as actively as in war. Important changes were
made in the management of the finances in order to provide the great
sums needed for the government, the army, and the state. Vast contracts
were made for road and canal building, and ambitious architectural
labors were set in train. Churches were erected, the Pantheon was
completed, triumphal arches were built, two new bridges were thrown
over the Seine, the Louvre was ordered to be finished, the Bourse to
be constructed, and a temple consecrated to the exploits of the army
(now the church of the Madeleine) to be built. Thousands of workmen
were kept busy in erecting these monuments to his glory, and all France
resounded with his fame.
Among the most important of these evidences of his activity of
intellect was the formation of the _Code Napoleon_, the first organized
code of French law, and still the basis of jurisprudence in France.
First promulgated in 1801, as the Civil Code of France, its title was
changed to the _Code Napoleon_ in 1804, and as such it stands as one
of the greatest monuments raised by Napoleon to his glory. Thus the
Consul, and subsequently the Emperor, usefully occupied himself in the
brief intervals between his almost incessant wars.
CHAPTER III.
Europe in the Grasp of the Iron Hand.
[=England Declares War=]
The peace of Amiens, which for an interval left France without an open
enemy in Europe, did not long continue. England failed to carry out
one of the main provisions of this treaty, holding on to the island
of Malta in despite of the French protests. The feeling between the
two nations soon grew bitter, and in 1803 England again declared war
against France. William Pitt, the unyielding foe of Napoleon, came
again to the head of the ministry in 1804, and displayed all his old
activity in organizing coalitions against the hated Corsican. The war
thus declared was to last, so far as England was concerned, until
Napoleon was driven from his throne. It was conducted by the English
mainly through the aid of money paid to their European allies, and the
activity of their fleet. The British Channel remained an insuperable
obstacle to Napoleon in his conflict with his island foe, and the
utmost he could do in the way of revenge was to launch his armies
against the allies of Great Britain, and to occupy Hanover, the domain
of the English king on the continent. This he hastened to do.
[=Great Preparations for the Invasion of England=]
The immunity of his persistent enemy was more than the proud conqueror
felt disposed to endure. Hitherto he had triumphed over all his foes in
the field. Should these haughty islanders contemn his power and defy
his armies? He determined to play the role of William of Normandy,
centuries before, and attack them on their own shores. This design he
had long entertained, and began actively to prepare for as soon as war
was declared. An army was encamped at Boulogne, and a great flotilla
prepared to convey it across the narrow sea. The war material gathered
was enormous in quantity; the army numbered 120,000 men, with 10,000
horses; 1,800 gunboats of various kinds were ready; only the support of
the fleet was awaited to enable the crossing to be achieved in safety.
We need not dwell further upon this great enterprise, since it failed
to yield any result. The French admiral whose concurrence was depended
upon took sick and died, and the great expedition was necessarily
postponed. Before new plans could be laid the indefatigable Pitt had
succeeded in organizing a fresh coalition in Europe, and Napoleon found
full employment for his army on the continent.
In April, 1805, a treaty of alliance was made between England and
Russia. On the 9th of August, Austria joined this alliance. Sweden
subsequently gave in her adhesion, and Prussia alone remained neutral
among the great powers. But the allies were mistaken if they expected
to take the astute Napoleon unawares. He had foreseen this combination,
and, while keeping the eyes of all Europe fixed upon his great
preparations at Boulogne, he was quietly but effectively laying his
plans for the expected campaign.
[=Rapid March on Austria=]
The Austrians had hastened to take the field, marching an army into
Bavaria and forcing the Elector, the ally of Napoleon, to fly from
his capital. The French emperor was seemingly taken by surprise, and
apparently was in no haste, the Austrians having made much progress
before he left his palace at Saint Cloud. But meanwhile his troops
were quietly but rapidly in motion, converging from all points towards
the Rhine, and by the end of September seven divisions of the army,
commanded by Napoleon's ablest Generals,--Ney, Murat, Lannes, Soult
and others,--were across that stream and marching rapidly upon the
enemy. Bernadotte led his troops across Prussian territory in disdain
of the neutrality of that power, and thereby gave such offence to King
Frederick William as to turn his mind decidedly in favor of joining the
coalition.
[=The Surrender of General Mack=]
Early in October the French held both banks of the Danube, and before
the month's end they had gained a notable triumph. Mack, one of the
Austrian commanders, with remarkable lack of judgment, held his
army in the fortress of Ulm while the swiftly advancing French were
cutting off every avenue of retreat, and surrounding his troops. An
extraordinary result followed. Ney, on the 14th, defeated the Austrians
at Elchingen, cutting off Mack from the main army and shutting him up
hopelessly in Ulm. Five days afterwards the despairing and incapable
general surrendered his army as prisoners of war. Twenty-three thousand
soldiers laid their weapons and banners at Napoleon's feet and eighteen
generals remained as prisoners in his hands. It was a triumph which
in its way atoned for a great naval disaster which took place on
the succeeding day, when Nelson, the English admiral, attacked and
destroyed the whole French fleet at Trafalgar.
The succeeding events, to the great battle that closed the campaign,
may be epitomized. An Austrian army had been dispatched to Italy under
the brave and able Archduke Charles. Here Marshal Massena commanded
the French and a battle took place near Caldiero on October 30th. The
Austrians fought stubbornly, but could not withstand the impetuosity of
the French, and were forced to retreat and abandon northern Italy to
Massena and his men.
[Illustration: DEATH OF LORD NELSON--BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR, OCTOBER 21,
1805
The greatest sea fight in history is represented by the above
engraving. It was off Cape Trafalgar, southern coast of Spain, that
Lord Nelson met and defeated the combined French and Spanish fleets,
vastly his superior in number of vessels and men. This victory sounded
the key note in the decline of Napoleon's power and changed the destiny
of Europe. "It is glorious to die in the moment of victory." Nelson
fell and died as he heard the words telling him that the naval power of
France and Spain were destroyed and he gained at once the double honor
of victory and Westminster Abbey.]
[Illustration: MURAT AT BATTLE OF JENA
General Murat was the Sheridan of France, the most
dashing and daring cavalry leader in Napoleon's
armies. Napoleon said of him: "It was really a
magnificent sight to see him in battle, heading the
cavalry." At Jena he played an efficient part in
breaking the ranks of the Prussians.]
In the north the king of Prussia, furious at the violation of his
neutral territory by the French under Bernadotte, gave free passage
to the Russian and Swedish troops, and formed a league of friendship
with the Czar Alexander. He then dispatched his minister Haugwitz to
Napoleon, with a demand that concealed a threat, requiring him, as a
basis of peace, to restore the former treaties in Germany, Switzerland,
Italy and Holland.
With utter disregard of this demand Napoleon advanced along the Danube
towards the Austrian states, meeting and defeating the Austrians and
Russians in a series of sanguinary conflicts. The Russian army was
the most ably commanded, and its leader Kutusoff led it backward in
slow but resolute retreat, fighting only when attacked. The French
under Mortier were caught isolated on the left bank of the Danube, and
fiercely assailed by the Russians, losing heavily before they could be
reinforced.
[=The Advance on Vienna=]
Despite all resistance, the French continued to advance, Murat soon
reaching and occupying Vienna, the Austrian capital, from which
the emperor had hastily withdrawn. Still the retreat and pursuit
continued, the allies retiring to Moravia, whither the French, laden
with an immense booty from their victories, rapidly followed. Futile
negotiations for peace succeeded, and on the 1st of December, the two
armies, both concentrated in their fullest strength (92,000 of the
allies to 70,000 French) came face to face on the field of Austerlitz,
where on the following day was to be fought one of the memorable
battles in the history of the world.
[=The Eve Before Austerlitz=]
The Emperor Alexander had joined Francis of Austria, and the two
monarchs, with their staff officers, occupied the castle and village
of Austerlitz. Their troops hastened to occupy the plateau of Pratzen,
which Napoleon had designedly left free. His plans of battle was
already fully made. He had, with the intuition of genius, foreseen
the probable manoeuvers of the enemy, and had left open for them
the position which he wished them to occupy. He even announced their
movement in a proclamation to his troops.
"The positions that we occupy are formidable," he said, "and while the
enemy march to turn my right they will present to me their flank."
This movement to the right was indeed the one that had been decided
upon by the allies, with the purpose of cutting off the road to Vienna
by isolating numerous corps dispersed in Austria and Styria. It had
been shrewdly divined by Napoleon in choosing his ground.
The fact that the 2d of December was the anniversary of the coronation
of their emperor filled the French troops with ardor. They celebrated
it by making great torches of the straw which formed their beds and
illuminating their camp. Early the next morning the allies began
their projected movement. To the joy of Napoleon his prediction was
fulfilled, they were advancing towards his right. He felt sure that the
victory was in his hands.
[=The Greatest of Napoleon's Victories=]
He held his own men in readiness while the line of the enemy deployed.
The sun was rising, its rays gleaming through a mist, which dispersed
as it rose higher. It now poured its brilliant beams across the field,
the afterward famous "sun of Austerlitz." The movement of the allies
had the effect of partly withdrawing their troops from the plateau of
Pratzen. At a signal from the emperor the strongly concentrated centre
of the French army moved forward in a dense mass, directing their march
towards the plateau, which they made all haste to occupy. They had
reached the foot of the hill before the rising mist revealed them to
the enemy.
The two emperors watched the movement without divining its intent. "See
how the French climb the height without staying to reply to our fire,"
said Prince Czartoryski, who stood near them.
The emperors were soon to learn why their fire was disdained. Their
marching columns, thrown out one after another on the slope, found
themselves suddenly checked in their movement, and cut off from the two
wings of the army. The allied force had been pierced in its centre,
which was flung back in disorder, in spite of the efforts of Kutusoff
to send it aid. At the same time Davout faced the Russians on the
right, and Murat and Lannes attacked the Russian and Austrian squadrons
on the left, while Kellermann's light cavalry dispersed the squadrons
of the Uhlans.
The Russian guard, checked in its movement, turned towards Pratzen,
in a desperate effort to retrieve the fortune of the day. It was
incautiously pursued by a French battalion, which soon found itself
isolated and in danger. Napoleon perceived its peril and hastily sent
Rapp to its support, with the Mamelukes and the chasseurs of the guard.
They rushed forward with energy and quickly drove back the enemy,
Prince Repnin remaining a prisoner in their hands.
The day was lost to the allies. Everywhere disorder prevailed and their
troops were in retreat. An isolated Russian division threw down its
arms and surrendered. Two columns were forced back beyond the marshes.
The soldiers rushed in their flight upon the ice of the lake, which the
intense cold had made thick enough to bear their weight.
[=The Dreadful Lake Horror=]
And now a terrible scene was witnessed. War is merciless; death is
its aim; the slaughter of an enemy by any means is looked upon as
admissible. By Napoleon's order the French cannon were turned upon the
lake. Their plunging balls rent and splintered the ice under the feet
of the crowd of fugitives. Soon it broke with a crash, and the unhappy
soldiers, with shrill cries of despair, sunk to death in the chilling
waters beneath, thousands of them perishing. It was a frightful
expedient--one that would be deemed a crime in any other code than the
merciless one of war.
A portion of the allied army made a perilous retreat along a narrow
embankment which separated the two lakes of Melnitz and Falnitz, their
exposed causeway swept by the fire of the French batteries. Of the
whole army, the corps of Prince Bagration alone withdrew in order of
battle.
All that dreadful day the roar of battle had resounded. At its close
the victorious French occupied the field; the allied army was pouring
back in disordered flight, the dismayed emperors in its midst;
thousands of dead covered the fatal field, the groans of thousands
of wounded men filled the air. More than 30,000 prisoners, including
twenty generals, remained in Napoleon's hands, and with them a hundred
and twenty pieces of cannon and forty flags, including the standards of
the Imperial Guard of Russia.
[=Treaty of Peace with Austria=]
The defeat was a crushing one. Napoleon had won the most famous of
his battles. The Emperor Francis, in deep depression, asked for an
interview and an armistice. Two days afterward the emperors,--the
conqueror and the conquered,--met and an armistice was granted. While
the negotiations for peace continued Napoleon shrewdly disposed of
the hostility of Prussia by offering the state of Hanover to that
power and signing a treaty with the king. On December 26th a treaty of
peace between France and Austria was signed at Presburg. The Emperor
Francis yielded all his remaining possessions in Italy, and also the
Tyrol, the Black Forest, and other districts in Germany, which Napoleon
presented to his allies, Bavaria, Wurtemberg, and Baden; whose monarchs
were still more closely united to Napoleon by marriages between their
children and relatives of himself and his wife Josephine. Bavaria
and Wurtemberg were made kingdoms, and Baden was raised in rank to a
grand-duchy. The three months' war was at an end. Austria had paid
dearly for her subserviency to England. Of the several late enemies
of France, only two remained in arms, Russia and England. And in the
latter Pitt, Napoleon's greatest enemy, died during the next month,
leaving the power in the hands of Fox, an admirer of the Corsican.
Napoleon was at the summit of his glory and success.
[=Napoleon Awards Kingdoms to His Brothers and Adherents=]
Napoleon's political changes did not end with the partial dismemberment
of Austria. His ambition to become supreme in Europe and to rule
everywhere lord paramount, inspired him to exalt his family, raising
his relatives to the rank of kings, but keeping them the servants of
his imperious will. Holland lost its independence, Louis Bonaparte
being named its king. Joachim Murat, brother-in-law of the emperor, was
given a kingdom on the lower Rhine, with Düsseldorf as its capital.
A stroke of Napoleon's pen ended the Bourbon monarchy in Naples,
and Joseph Bonaparte was sent thither as king, with a French army
to support him. Italy was divided into dukedoms, ruled over by the
marshals and adherents of the emperor, whose hand began to move the
powers of Europe as a chess-player moves the pieces upon his board.
The story of his political transformations extends farther still. By
raising the electors of Bavaria and Wurtemberg to the rank of kings,
he had practically brought to an end the antique German Empire--which
indeed had long been little more than a name. In July, 1806, he
completed this work. The states of South and West Germany were
organized into a league named the Confederation of the Rhine, under the
protection of Napoleon. Many small principalities were suppressed and
their territories added to the larger ones, increasing the power of the
latter, and winning the gratitude of their rulers for their benefactor.
The empire of France was in this manner practically extended over
Italy, the Netherlands, and the west and south of Germany. Francis
II., lord of the "Holy Roman Empire," now renounced the title which
these radical changes had made a mockery, withdrew his states from the
imperial confederation of Germany, and assumed the title of Francis
I. of Austria. The Empire of Germany, once powerful, but long since
reduced to a shadowy pretence, finally ceased to exist.
[=The Hostile Irritation of Prussia=]
These autocratic changes could not fail to arouse the indignation of
the monarchs of Europe and imperil the prevailing peace. Austria was in
no condition to resume hostilities, but Prussia, which had maintained
a doubtful neutrality during the recent wars grew more and more
exasperated as these high-handed proceedings went on. A league which
the king of Prussia sought to form with Saxony and Hesse-Cassel was
thwarted by Napoleon; who also, in negotiating for peace with England,
offered to return Hanover to that country, without consulting the
Prussian King, to whom this electorate had been ceded. Other causes of
resentment existed, and finally Frederick William of Prussia, irritated
beyond control, sent a so-called "ultimatum" to Napoleon, demanding the
evacuation of South Germany by the French. As might have been expected,
this proposal was rejected with scorn, whereupon Prussia broke off all
communication with France and began preparations for war.
[=The Prussian Armies in the Field=]
The Prussians did not know the man with whom they had to deal. It
was an idle hope that this state could cope alone with the power
of Napoleon and his allies, and while Frederick William was slowly
preparing for the war which he had long sought to avoid, the French
troops were on the march and rapidly approaching the borders of his
kingdom. Saxony had allied itself with Prussia under compulsion, and
had added 20,000 men to its armies. The elector of Hesse-Cassel had
also joined the Prussians, and furnished them a contingent of troops.
But this hastily levied army, composed of men few of whom had ever seen
a battle, seemed hopeless as matched with the great army of war-worn
veterans which Napoleon was marching with his accustomed rapidity
against them. Austria, whom the Prussian King had failed to aid, now
looked no passively at his peril. The Russians, who still maintained
hostile relations with France, held their troops immovable upon the
Vistula. Frederick William was left to face the power of Napoleon alone.
[=March of the French Upon Prussia=]
The fate of the campaign was quickly decided. Through the mountain
passes of Franconia Napoleon led his forces against the Prussian
army, which was divided into two corps, under the command of the Duke
of Brunswick and the Prince of Hohenlohe. The troops of the latter
occupied the road from Weimar to Jena. The heights which commanded the
latter town were seized by Marshal Lannes on his arrival. A second
French corps, under Marshals Davout and Bernadotte, marched against the
Duke of Brunswick and established themselves upon the left bank of the
Saale.
On the morning of the 4th of October, 1806, the conflict at Jena, upon
which hung the destiny of the Prussian kingdom, began. The troops under
the Prince of Hohenlohe surpassed in number those of Napoleon, but
were unfitted to sustain the impetuosity of the French assault. Soult
and Augereau, in command of the wings of the French army, advanced
rapidly, enveloping the Prussian forces and driving them back by the
vigor of their attack. Then on the Prussian center the guard and the
reserves fell in a compact mass whose tremendous impact the enemy
found it impossible to endure. The retreat became a rout. The Prussian
army broke into a mob of fugitives, flying in terror before Napoleon's
irresistible veterans.
[=Defeat of the Prussians at Jena and Auerstadt=]
They were met by Marshal Biechel with an army of 20,000 men, advancing
in all haste to the aid of the Prince of Hohenlohe. Throwing his
men across the line of flight, he did his utmost to rally the
fugitives. His effort was a vain one. His men were swept away by the
panic-stricken mass and pushed back by the triumphant pursuers. Weimar
was reached by the French and the Germans simultaneously, the former
seizing prisoners in such numbers as seriously to hinder their pursuit.
While this battle was going on, another was in progress near Auerstadt,
where Marshal Davout had encountered the forces of the Duke of
Brunswick, with whom was Frederick William, the king. Bernadotte,
ordered by the emperor to occupy Hamburg, had withdrawn his troops,
leaving Davout much outnumbered by the foe. But heedless of this,
he threw himself across their road in the defile of Koesen, and
sustained alone the furious attack made upon him by the duke. Throwing
his regiments into squares, he poured a murderous fire on the charging
troops, hurling them back from his immovable lines. The old duke fell
with a mortal wound. The king and his son led their troops to a second,
but equally fruitless, attack. Davout, taking advantage of their
repulse, advanced and seized the heights of Eckartsberga, where he
defended himself with his artillery. Frederick William, discouraged by
this vigorous resistance, retired towards Weimar with the purpose of
joining his forces with those of the Prince of Hohenlohe and renewing
the attack.
Davout's men were too exhausted to pursue, but Bernadotte was
encountered and barred the way, and the disaster at Jena was soon
made evident by the panic-stricken mass of fugitives, whose flying
multitude, hotly pursued by the French, sought safety in the ranks of
the king's corps, which they threw into confusion by their impact.
It was apparent that the battle was irretrievably lost. Night was
approaching. The king marched hastily away, the disorder in his ranks
increasing as the darkness fell. In that one fatal day he had lost his
army and placed his kingdom itself in jeopardy. "They can do nothing
but gather up the _débris_," said Napoleon.
[=The Demoralization of the Prussian Forces=]
The French lost no time in following up the defeated army, which had
broken into several divisions in its retreat. On the 17th, Duke Eugene
of Wurtemberg and the reserves under his command were scattered in
defeat. On the 28th, the Prince of Hohenlohe, with the 12,000 men whom
he still held together, was forced to surrender. Blucher, who had
seized the free city of Lübeck, was obliged to follow his example. On
all sides the scattered _débris_ of the army was destroyed, and on
October 27th Napoleon entered in triumph the city of Berlin, his first
entry into an enemy's capital.
[=Napoleon Divides the Spoils of Victory=]
The battle ended, the country occupied, the work of revenge of the
victor began. The Elector of Hesse was driven from his throne and his
country stricken from the list of the powers of Europe. Hanover and the
Hanseatic towns were occupied by the French. The English merchandise
found in ports and warehouses was seized and confiscated. A heavy war
contribution was laid upon the defeated state. Severe taxes were laid
upon Hamburg, Bremen and Leipzig, and from all the leading cities the
treasures of art and science were carried away to enrich the museums
and galleries of France.
Saxony, whose alliance with Prussia had been a forced one, was alone
spared. The Saxon prisoners were sent back free to their sovereign, and
the elector was granted a favorable peace and honored with the title
of king. In return for these favors he joined the Confederation of the
Rhine, and such was his gratitude to Napoleon that he remained his
friend and ally in the trying days when he had no other friend among
the powers of Europe.
The harsh measures of which we have spoken were not the only ones taken
by Napoleon against his enemies. England, the most implacable of his
foes, remained beyond his reach, mistress of the seas as he was lord
of the land. He could only meet the islanders upon their favorite
element, and in November 21, 1806, he sent from Berlin to Talleyrand,
his Minister of Foreign Affairs, a decree establishing a continental
embargo against Great Britain.
[=The Embargo on British Commerce=]
"The British Islanders," said this famous edict of reprisal, "are
declared in a state of blockade. All commerce and all correspondence
with them are forbidden." All letters or packets addressed to an
Englishman or written in English were to be seized; every English
subject found in any country controlled by France was to be made a
prisoner of war; all commerce in English merchandise was forbidden,
and all ships coming from England or her colonies were to be refused
admittance to any port.
It is hardly necessary to speak here of the distress caused, alike in
Europe and elsewhere, by this war upon commerce, in which England did
not fail to meet the harsh decrees of her opponent by others equally
severe. The effect of these edicts upon American commerce is well
known. The commerce of neutral nations was almost swept from the seas.
One result was the American war of 1812, which for a time seemed as
likely to be directed against France as Great Britain.
[=Frederick William a Fugitive in the Russian Camp=]
Meanwhile Frederick William of Prussia was a fugitive king. He refused
to accept the harsh terms of the armistice offered by Napoleon, and in
despair resolved to seek, with the remnant of his army, some 25,000 in
number, the Russian camp, and join his forces with those of Alexander
of Russia, still in arms against France.
Napoleon, not content while an enemy remained in arms, with inflexible
resolution resolved to make an end of all his adversaries, and meet in
battle the great empire of the north. The Russian armies then occupied
Poland, whose people, burning under the oppression and injustice to
which they had been subjected, gladly welcomed Napoleon's specious
offers to bring them back their lost liberties, and rose in his aid
when he marched his armies into their country.
Here the French found themselves exposed to unlooked-for privations.
They had dreamed of abundant stores of food, but discovered that the
country they had invaded was, in this wintry season, a desert; a series
of frozen solitudes incapable of feeding an army, and holding no reward
for them other than that of battle with and victory over the hardy
Russians.
[=The French in the Dreary Plains of Poland=]
Napoleon advanced to Warsaw, the Polish capital. The Russians were
entrenched behind the Narew and the Ukra. The French continued to
advance. The Russians were beaten and forced back in every battle,
several furious encounters took place, and Alexander's army fell
back upon the Pregel, intact and powerful still, despite the French
successes. The wintry chill and the character of the country seriously
interfered with Napoleon's plans, the troops being forced to make their
way through thick and rain-soaked forests, and march over desolate
and marshy plains. The winter of the north fought against them like
a strong army and many of them fell dead without a battle. Warlike
movements became almost impossible to the troops of the south, though
the hardy northerners, accustomed to the climate, continued their
military operations.
By the end of January the Russian army was evidently approaching in
force, and immediate action became necessary. The cold increased. The
mud was converted into ice. On January 30, 1807, Napoleon left Warsaw
and marched in search of the enemy. General Bennigsen retreated,
avoiding battle, and on the 7th of February entered the small town of
Eylau, from which his troops were pushed by the approaching French. He
encamped outside the town, the French in and about it; it was evident
that a great battle was at hand.
The weather was cold. Snow lay thick upon the ground and still fell in
great flakes. A sheet of ice covering some small lakes formed part of
the country upon which the armies were encamped, but was thick enough
to bear their weight. It was a chill, inhospitable country to which the
demon of war had come.
[Illustration: BATTLE OF EYLAU
The battle fought at Eylau, in East Prussia, February
8, 1807, between the Russians and French, was the most
indecisive engagement in Napoleon's career. Both sides
claimed victory, but the Russians retreated in the
night. A dense snowfall occurred during the battle,
and nearly led to the defeat of the French.]
[Illustration: BATTLE OF FRIEDLAND
The sanguinary engagement at Friedland, a small town
in East Prussia, fought on June 14, 1807, ended in the
defeat of the Russians under Bennigsen by Napoleon's
army. It lead to the Peace of Tilsit, and the end of
a long and desperate war.]
[=The Frightful Struggle at Eylau=]
Before daybreak on the 8th Napoleon was in the streets of Eylau,
forming his line of battle for the coming engagement. Soon the
artillery of both armies opened, and a rain of cannon balls began to
decimate the opposing ranks. The Russian fire was concentrated on the
town, which was soon in flames. That of the French was directed
against a hill which the emperor deemed it important to occupy. The
two armies, nearly equal in numbers,--the French having 75,000 to the
Russian 70,000,--were but a short distance apart, and the slaughter
from the fierce cannonade was terrible.
A series of movements on both sides began, Davout marching upon
the Russian flank and Augereau upon the centre, while the Russians
manoeuvred as if with a purpose to outflank the French on the left.
At this interval an unlooked-for obstacle interfered with the French
movements, a snow-fall beginning, which grew so dense that the armies
lost sight of each other, and vision was restricted to a few feet. In
this semi-darkness the French columns lost their way, and wandered
about uncertainly. For half an hour the snow continued to fall. When
it ceased the French army was in a critical position. Its cohesion was
lost; its columns were straggling about and incapable of supporting
one another; many of its superior officers were wounded. The Russians,
on the contrary, were on the point of executing a vigorous turning
movement, with 20,000 infantry, supported by cavalry and artillery.
"Are you going to let me be devoured by these people?" cried Napoleon
to Murat, his eagle eye discerning the danger.
[=Murat's Mighty Charge=]
He ordered a grand charge of all the cavalry of the army, consisting
of eighty squadrons. With Murat at their head, they rushed like an
avalanche on the Russian lines, breaking through the infantry and
dispersing the cavalry who came to its support. The Russian infantry
suffered severely from this charge, its two massive lines being rent
asunder, while the third fell back upon a wood in the rear. Finally
Davout, whose movement had been hindered by the weather, reached the
Russian rear, and in an impetuous charge drove them from the hilly
ground which Napoleon wished to occupy.
The battle seemed lost to the Russians. They began a retreat, leaving
the ground strewn thickly with their dead and wounded. But at this
critical moment a Prussian force, some 8,000 strong, which was being
pursued by Marshal Ney, arrived on the field and checked the French
advance and the Russian retreat. Benningsen regained sufficient
confidence to prepare for final attack, when he was advised of the
approach of Ney, who was two or three hours behind the Prussians. At
this discouraging news a final retreat was ordered.
[=The Cost of Victory Frightful=]
The French were left masters of the field, though little attempt was
made to pursue the menacing columns of the enemy, who withdrew in
military array. It was a victory that came near being a defeat, and
which, indeed, both sides claimed. Never before had Napoleon been so
stubbornly withstood. His success had been bought at a frightful cost,
and Königsberg, the old Prussian capital, the goal of his march, was
still covered by the compact columns of the allies. The men were in no
condition to pursue. Food was wanting, and they were without shelter
from the wintry chill. Ney surveyed the terrible scene with eyes of
gloom. "What a massacre," he exclaimed; "and without result."
So severe was the exhaustion on both sides from this great battle that
it was four months before hostilities were resumed. Meanwhile Danzig,
which had been strongly besieged, surrendered, and more than 30,000 men
were released to reinforce the French army. Negotiations for peace went
slowly on, without result, and it was June before hostilities again
became imminent.
Eylau, which now became Napoleon's headquarters, presented a very
different aspect at this season from that of four months before. Then
all was wintry desolation; now the country presented a beautiful scene
of green woodland, shining lakes, and attractive villages. The light
corps of the army were in motion in various directions, their object
being to get between the Russians and their magazines and cut off
retreat to Königsberg. On June 13th Napoleon, with the main body of
his army, marched towards Friedland, a town on the River Alle, in the
vicinity of Königsberg, towards which the Russians were marching. Here,
crossing the Alle, Benningsen drove from the town a regiment of French
hussars which had occupied it, and fell with all his force on the corps
of Marshal Lannes, which alone had reached the field.
[=Napoleon on the Field of Friedland=]
Lannes held his ground with his usual heroic fortitude, while sending
successive messengers for aid to the emperor. Noon had passed when
Napoleon and his staff reached the field at full gallop, far in advance
of the troops. He surveyed the field with eyes of hope. "It is the 14th
of June, the anniversary of Marengo," he said; "it is a lucky day for
us."
"Give me only a reinforcement," cried Oudinot, "and we will cast all
the Russians into the water."
This seemed possible. Bennigsen's troops were perilously concentrated
within a bend of the river. Some of the French generals advised
deferring the battle till the next day, as the hour was late, but
Napoleon was too shrewd to let an advantage escape him.
"No," he said, "one does not surprise the enemy twice in such a
blunder." He swept with his field-glass the masses of the enemy before
him, then seized the arm of Marshal Ney. "You see the Russians and the
town of Friedland," he said. "March straight forward; seize the town;
take the bridges, whatever it may cost. Do not trouble yourself with
what is taking place around you. Leave that to me and the army."
The troops were coming in rapidly, and marching to the places assigned
them. The hours moved on. It was half-past five in the afternoon when
the cannon sounded the signal of the coming fray.
[=The Assault of the Indomitable Ney=]
Meanwhile Ney's march upon Friedland had begun. A terrible fire from
the Russians swept his ranks as he advanced. Aided by cavalry and
artillery, he reached a stream defended by the Russian Imperial Guard.
Before those picked troops the French recoiled in temporary disorder;
but the division of General Dupont, marching briskly up, broke the
Russian guard, and the pursuing French rushed into the town. In a short
time it was in flames and the fugitive Russians were cut off from the
bridges, which were seized and set on fire.
[=The Total Defeat of the Russians=]
The Russians made a vigorous effort to recover their lost ground,
General Gortschakoff endeavoring to drive the French from the town, and
other corps making repeated attacks on the French centre. All their
efforts were in vain. The French columns continued to advance. By ten
o'clock the battle was at an end. Many of the Russians had been drowned
in the stream, and the field was covered with their dead, whose numbers
were estimated by the boastful French bulletins at 15,000 or 18,000
men, while they made the improbable claim of having lost no more than
500 dead. Königsberg, the prize of victory, was quickly occupied by
Marshal Soult, and yielded the French a vast quantity of food, and a
large store of military supplies which had been sent from England for
Russian use. The King of Prussia had lost the whole of his possessions
with the exception of the single town of Memel.
[=The Emperors at Tilsit and the Fate of Prussia=]
Victorious as Napoleon had been, he had found the Russians no
contemptible foes. At Eylau he had come nearer defeat than ever before
in his career. He was quite ready, therefore, to listen to overtures
for peace, and early in July a notable interview took place between
him and the Czar of Russia at Tilsit, on the Niemen, the two emperors
meeting on a raft in the centre of the stream. What passed between them
is not known. Some think that they arranged for a division of Europe
between their respective empires, Alexander taking all the east and
Napoleon all the west. However that was, the treaty of peace, signed
July 8th, was a disastrous one for the defeated Prussian king, who
was punished for his temerity in seeking to fight Napoleon alone by
the loss of more than half his kingdom, while in addition a heavy war
indemnity was laid upon his depleted realms.
He was forced to yield all the countries between the Rhine and the
Elbe, to consent to the establishment of a dukedom of Warsaw, under
the supremacy of the king of Saxony, and to the loss of Danzig and the
surrounding territory, which were converted into a free State. A new
kingdom, named Westphalia, was founded by Napoleon, made up of the
territory taken from Prussia and the states of Hesse, Brunswick and
South Hanover. His youngest brother, Jerome Bonaparte, was made its
king. It was a further step in his policy of founding a western empire.
Louisa, the beautiful and charming queen of Frederick William, sought
Tilsit, hoping by the seduction of her beauty and grace of address to
induce Napoleon to mitigate his harsh terms. But in vain she brought
to bear upon him all the resources of her intellect and her attractive
charm of manner. He continued cold and obdurate, and she left Tilsit
deeply mortified and humiliated.
[=Denmark and Sweden=]
In northern Europe only one enemy of Napoleon remained. Sweden retained
its hostility to France, under the fanatical enmity of Gustavus
IV., who believed himself the instrument appointed by Providence to
reinstate the Bourbon monarchs upon their thrones. Denmark, which
refused to ally itself with England, was visited by a British fleet,
which bombarded Copenhagen and carried off all the Danish ships of war,
an outrage which brought this kingdom into close alliance with France.
The war in Sweden must have ended in the conquest of that country, had
not the people revolted and dethroned their obstinate king. Charles
XIII., his uncle, was placed on the throne, but was induced to adopt
Napoleon's marshal Bernadotte as his son. The latter, as crown prince,
practically succeeded the incapable king in 1810.
[=The Pope a Captive at Fontainebleau=]
Events followed each other rapidly. Napoleon, in his desire to add
kingdom after kingdom to his throne, invaded Portugal and interfered
in the affairs of Spain, from whose throne he removed the last of
the Bourbon kings, replacing him by his brother, Joseph Bonaparte.
The result was a revolt of the Spanish people which all his efforts
proved unable to quell, aided, as they were eventually, by the
power of England. In Italy his intrigues continued. Marshal Murat
succeeded Joseph Bonaparte on the throne of Naples. Eliza, Napoleon's
sister, was made queen of Tuscany. The temporal sovereignty of the
Pope was seriously interfered with and finally, in 1809, the pontiff
was forcibly removed from Rome and the states of the Church were
added to the French territory, Pius VII., the pope, was eventually
brought to France and obliged to reside at Fontainebleau, where he
persistently refused to yield to Napoleon's wishes or perform any act
of ecclesiastical authority while held in captivity.
These various arbitrary acts had their natural result, that of active
hostility. The Austrians beheld them with growing indignation, and
at length grew so exasperated that, despite their many defeats, they
decided again to dare the power and genius of the conqueror. In April,
1809, the Vienna Cabinet once more declared war against France and
made all haste to put its armies in the field. Stimulated by this, a
revolt broke out in the Tyrol, the simple-minded but brave and sturdy
mountaineers gathering under the leadership of Andreas Hofer, a man of
authority among them, and welcoming the Austrian troops sent to their
aid.
[=Andreas Hofer and the War in the Tyrol=]
As regards this war in the Tyrol, there is no need here to go into
details. It must suffice to say that the bold peasantry, aided by the
natural advantages of their mountain land, for a time freed themselves
from French dominion, to the astonishment and admiration of Europe.
But their freedom was of brief duration, fresh troops were poured into
the country, and though the mountaineers won more than one victory,
they proved no match for the power of their foes. Their country was
conquered, and Hofer, their brave leader, was taken by the French and
remorselessly put to death by the order of Napoleon.
[=The Army of Napoleon Marches Upon Austria=]
The struggle in the Tyrol was merely a side issue in the new war with
Austria, which was conducted on Napoleon's side with his usual celerity
of movement. The days when soldiers are whisked forward at locomotive
speed had not yet dawned, yet the French troops made extraordinary
progress on foot, and war was barely declared before the army of
Napoleon covered Austria. This army was no longer made up solely of
Frenchmen. The Confederation of the Rhine practically formed part of
Napoleon's empire, and Germans now fought side by side with Frenchmen;
Marshal Lefebvre leading the Bavarians, Bernadotte the Saxons, Augereau
the men of Baden, Wurtemberg, and Hesse. On the other hand, the
Austrians were early in motion, and by the 10th of April the Archduke
Charles had crossed the Inn with his army and the King of Bavaria,
Napoleon's ally, was in flight from his capital.
The quick advance of the Austrians had placed the French army in
danger. Spread out over an extent of twenty-five leagues, it ran
serious risk of being cut in two by the rapidly marching troops of
the Archduke. Napoleon, who reached the front on the 17th, was not
slow to perceive the peril and to take steps of prevention. A hasty
concentration of his forces was ordered and vigorously begun.
"Never was there need for more rapidity of movement than now," he wrote
to Massena. "Activity, activity, speed!"
[=A Grave Peril Overcome=]
Speed was the order of the day. The French generals ably seconded the
anxious activity of their chief. The soldiers fairly rushed together. A
brief hesitation robbed the Austrians of the advantage which they had
hoped to gain. The Archduke Charles, one of the ablest tacticians ever
opposed to Napoleon, had the weakness of over-prudence, and caution
robbed him of the opportunity given him by the wide dispersion of the
French.
[=The Battle of Eckmühl and the Capture of Ratisbon=]
He was soon and severely punished for his slowness. On the 19th
Davout defeated the Austrians at Fangen and made a junction with the
Bavarians. On the 20th and 21st Napoleon met and defeated them in a
series of engagements. Meanwhile the Archduke Charles fell on Ratisbon,
held by a single French regiment, occupied that important place, and
attacked Davout at Eckmühl. Here a furious battle took place. Davout,
outnumbered, maintained his position for three days. Napoleon, warned
of the peril of his marshal, bade him to hold on to the death, as
he was hastening to his relief with 40,000 men. The day was well
advanced when the emperor came up and fell with his fresh troops on
the Austrians, who, still bravely fighting, were forced back upon
Ratisbon. During the night the Archduke wisely withdrew and marched for
Bohemia, where a large reinforcement awaited him. On the 23d Napoleon
attacked the town, and carried it in spite of a vigorous defence. His
proclamation to his soldiers perhaps overestimated the prizes of this
brief but active campaign, which he declared to be a hundred cannon,
forty flags, all the enemy's artillery, 50,000 prisoners, a large
number of wagons, etc. Half this loss would have fully justified the
Archduke's retreat.
[=The Campaign In Italy=]
In Italy affairs went differently. Prince Eugene Beauharnais, for
the first time in command of a French army, found himself opposed by
the Archduke John, and met with a defeat. On April 16th, seeking to
retrieve his disaster, he attacked the Archduke, but the Austrians
bravely held their positions, and the French were again obliged to
retreat. General Macdonald, an officer of tried ability, now joined
the prince, who took up a defensive position on the Adige, whither the
Austrians marched. On the 1st of May Macdonald perceived among them
indications of withdrawal from their position.
"Victory in Germany!" he shouted to the prince. "Now is our time for a
forward march!"
He was correct, the Archduke John had been recalled in haste to aid his
brother in the defence of Vienna, on which the French were advancing in
force.
The campaign now became a race for the capital of Austria. During its
progress several conflicts took place, in each of which the French
won. The city was defended by the Archduke Maximilian with an army of
over 15,000 men, but he found it expedient to withdraw, and on the
13th the troops of Napoleon occupied the place. Meanwhile Charles had
concentrated his troops and was marching hastily towards the opposite
side of the Danube, whither his brother John was advancing from Italy.
It was important for Napoleon to strike a blow before this junction
could be made. He resolved to cross the Danube in the suburbs of the
capital itself, and attack the Austrians before they were reinforced.
In the vicinity of Vienna the channel of the river is broken by many
islets. At the island of Lobau, the point chosen for the attempt, the
river is broad and deep, but Lobau is separated from the opposite bank
by only a narrow branch, while two smaller islets offered themselves as
aids in the construction of bridges, there being four channels, over
each of which a bridge was thrown.
[=The Bridges over the Danube=]
The work was a difficult one. The Danube, swollen by the melting
snows, imperilled the bridges, erected with difficulty and braced by
insufficient cordage. But despite this peril the crossing began, and on
May 20th Marshal Massena reached the other side and posted his troops
in the two villages of Aspern and Essling, and along a deep ditch that
connected them.
As yet only the vanguard of the Austrians had arrived. Other corps soon
appeared, and by the afternoon of the 21st the entire army, from 70,000
to 80,000 strong, faced the French, still only half their number, and
in a position of extreme peril, for the bridge over the main channel of
the river had broken during the night, and the crossing was cut off in
its midst.
Napoleon, however, was straining every nerve to repair the bridge, and
Massena and Lannes, in command of the advance, fought like men fighting
for their lives. The Archduke Charles, the ablest soldier Napoleon had
yet encountered, hurled his troops in masses upon Aspern, which covered
the bridge to Lobau. Several times it was taken and retaken, but the
French held on with a death grip, all the strength of the Austrians
seeming insufficient to break the hold of Lannes upon Essling. An
advance in force, which nearly cut the communication between the two
villages, was checked by an impetuous cavalry charge, and night fell,
leaving the situation unchanged.
At dawn of the next day more than 70,000 French had crossed the stream;
Marshal Davout's corps, with part of the artillery and most of the
ammunition, being still on the right bank. At this critical moment the
large bridge, against which the Austrians had sent fireships, boats
laden with stone and other floating missiles, broke for the third time,
and the engineers of the French army were again forced to the most
strenuous and hasty exertions for its repair.
[=The Great Struggle of Essling and Aspern=]
[=Napoleon Forced to his First Retreat=]
The struggle of the day that had just begun was one of extraordinary
valor and obstinacy. Men went down in multitudes; now the Austrians,
now the French, were repulsed; the Austrians, impetuously assailed,
slowly fell back; and Lannes was preparing for a vigorous movement
designed to pierce their centre, when word was brought Napoleon that
the great bridge had again yielded to the floating _débris_, carrying
with it a regiment of cuirassiers, and cutting off the supply of
ammunition. Lannes was at once ordered to fall back upon the villages,
and simultaneously the Austrians made a powerful assault on the French
centre, which was checked with great difficulty. Five times the charge
was renewed, and though the enemy was finally repelled, it became
evident that Napoleon, for the first time in his career, had met with a
decided check. Night fell at length, and reluctantly he gave the order
to retreat. He had lost more than a battle, he had lost the brilliant
soldier Lannes, who fell with a mortal wound. Back to the island
of Lobau marched the French; Massena, in charge of the rear-guard,
bringing over the last regiments in safety. More than 40,000 men lay
dead and wounded on that fatal field, which remained in Austrian
hands. Napoleon, at last, was obliged to acknowledge a repulse, if not
a defeat, and the nations of Europe held up their heads with renewed
hope. It had been proved that the Corsican was not invincible.
Some of Napoleon's generals, deeply disheartened, advised an immediate
retreat, but the emperor had no thought of such a movement. It would
have brought a thousand disasters in its train. On the contrary, he
held the island of Lobau with a strong force, and brought all his
resources to bear on the construction of a bridge that would defy the
current of the stream. At the same time reinforcements were hurried
forward, until by the 1st of July, he had around Vienna an army of
150,000 men. The Austrians had probably from 135,000 to 140,000. The
archduke had, moreover, strongly fortified the positions of the recent
battle, expecting the attack upon them to be resumed.
[Illustration: THE ORDER TO CHARGE AT FRIEDLAND
At the decisive battle of Friedland, the Russian army
was incautiously drawn up within a loop of the river.
Napoleon was quick to perceive their mistake, and in
a terrible charge he carried the town, burned the
bridges, and then used his whole army to drive the
Russians into the stream.]
[Illustration: NAPOLEON AND THE QUEEN OF PRUSSIA AT TILSIT
(FROM THE PAINTING BY GROS)
Tilsit is a city of about 25,000 inhabitants in Eastern
Prussia. Here the Treaty of Peace between the French
and Russian Emperors and also between France and
Prussia was signed in July, 1807.]
[=The Second Crossing of the Danube=]
Napoleon had no such intention. He had selected the heights ranging
from Neusiedl to Wagram, strongly occupied by the Austrians, but not
fortified, as his point of attack, and on the night of July 4th bridges
were thrown from the island of Lobau to the mainland, and the army
which had been gathering for several days on the island began its
advance. It moved as a whole against the heights of Wagram, occupying
Aspern and Essling in its advance.
[=The Victory at Wagram=]
The great battle began on the succeeding day. It was hotly contested
at all points, but attention may be confined to the movement against
the plateau of Wagram, which had been entrusted to Marshal Davout.
The height was gained after a desperate struggle; the key of the
battlefield was held by the French; the Austrians, impetuously assailed
at every point, and driven from every point of vantage, began a
retreat. The Archduke Charles had anxiously looked for the coming of
his brother John, with the army under his command. He waited in vain,
the laggard prince failed to appear, and retreat became inevitable. The
battle had already lasted ten hours, and the French held all the strong
points of the field; but the Austrians withdrew slowly and in battle
array, presenting a front that discouraged any effort to pursue. There
was nothing resembling a rout.
The Archduke Charles retreated to Bohemia. His forces were dispersed
during the march, but he had 70,000 men with him when Napoleon reached
his front at Znaim, on the road to Prague, on the 11th of July. Further
hostilities were checked by a request for a truce, preliminary to a
peace. The battle, already begun, was stopped, and during the night
an armistice was signed. The vigor of the Austrian resistance and the
doubtful attitude of the other powers made Napoleon willing enough to
treat for terms.
[=The Peace of Vienna=]
The peace, which was finally signed at Vienna, October 14, 1809,
took from Austria 50,000 square miles of territory and 3,000,000
inhabitants, together with a war contribution of $85,000,000, while
her army was restricted to 150,000 men. The overthrow of the several
outbreaks which had taken place in north Germany, the defeat of a
British expedition against Antwerp, and the suppression of the revolt
in the Tyrol, ended all organized opposition to Napoleon, who was once
more master of the European situation.
Raised by this signal success to the summit of his power, lord
paramount of Western Europe, only one thing remained to trouble the
mind of the victorious emperor. His wife, Josephine, was childless; his
throne threatened to be left without an heir. Much as he had seemed
to love his wife, the companion of his early days, when he was an
unknown and unconsidered subaltern, seeking humbly enough for military
employment in Paris, yet ambition and the thirst for glory were always
the ruling passions in his nature, and had now grown so dominant as to
throw love and wifely devotion utterly into the shade. He resolved to
set aside his wife and seek a new bride among the princesses of Europe,
hoping in this way to leave an heir of his own blood as successor to
his imperial throne.
Negotiations were entered into with the courts of Europe to obtain a
daughter of one of the proud royal houses as the spouse of the plebeian
emperor of France. No maiden of less exalted rank than a princess of
the imperial families of Russia or Austria was high enough to meet
the ambitious aims of this proud lord of battles, and negotiations
were entered into with both, ending in the selection of Maria Louisa,
daughter of the Emperor Francis of Austria, who did not venture to
refuse a demand for his daughter's hand from the master of half his
dominions.
[=The Divorce of Josephine and Marriages of Maria
Louisa=]
Napoleon was not long in finding a plea for setting aside the wife
of his days of poverty and obscurity. A defect in the marriage was
alleged, and the transparent farce went on. The divorce of Josephine
has awakened the sympathy of a century. It was, indeed, a piteous
example of state-craft, and there can be no doubt that Napoleon
suffered in his heart while yielding to the dictates of his unbridled
ambition. The marriage with Maria Louisa, on the 2d of April, 1810, was
conducted with all possible pomp and display, no less than five queens
carrying the train of the bride in the august ceremony. The purpose of
the marriage did not fail; the next year a son was born to Napoleon.
But this imperial youth, who was dignified with the title of King of
Rome, was destined to an inglorious life, as an unconsidered tenant of
the gilded halls of his imperial grandfather of Austria.
CHAPTER IV.
The Decline and Fall of Napoleon's Empire.
[=The Causes of the Rise and Decline of Napoleon's Power=]
Ambition, unrestrained by caution, uncontrolled by moderation, has
its inevitable end. An empire built upon victory, trusting solely to
military genius, prepares for itself the elements of its overthrow.
This fact Napoleon was to learn. In the outset of his career he opposed
a new art of war to the obsolete one of his enemies, and his path to
empire was over the corpses of slaughtered armies and the ruins of
fallen kingdoms. But year by year they learned his art, in war after
war their resistance grew more stringent, each successive victory was
won with more difficulty and at greater cost, and finally, at the
crossing of the Danube, the energy and genius of Napoleon met their
equal, and the standards of France went back in defeat. It was the
tocsin of fate. His career of victory had culminated. From that day its
decline began.
[=Aims and Intrigues in Portugal and Spain=]
It is interesting to find that the first effective check to Napoleon's
victorious progress came from one of the weaker nations of Europe, a
power which the conqueror contemned and thought to move as one of the
minor pieces in his game of empire. Spain at that time had reached
almost the lowest stage of its decline. Its king was an imbecile;
the heir to the throne a weakling; Godoy, the "Prince of the Peace,"
the monarch's favorite, an ambitious intriguer. Napoleon's armies
had invaded Portugal and forced its monarch to embark for Brazil,
his American domain. A similar movement was attempted in Spain. This
country the base Godoy betrayed to Napoleon, and then, frightened by
the consequences of his dishonorable intrigues, sought to escape with
the king and court to the Spanish dominions in America. His scheme
was prevented by an outbreak of the people of Madrid, and Napoleon,
ambitiously designing to add the peninsula to his empire, induced
both Charles IV. and his son Ferdinand to resign from the throne. He
replaced them by his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, who, on June 6, 1808,
was named King of Spain.
[=The Bold Defiance of the People of Spain=]
Hitherto Napoleon had dealt with emperors and kings, whose overthrow
carried with it that of their people. In Spain he had a new element,
the people itself, to deal with. The very weakness of Spain proved
its strength. Deprived of their native monarchs, and given a king not
of their own choice, the whole people rose in rebellion and defied
Napoleon and his armies. An insurrection broke out in Madrid in which
1,200 French soldiers were slain. Juntas were formed in different
cities, which assumed the control of affairs and refused obedience to
the new king. From end to end of Spain the people sprang to arms and
began a guerilla warfare which the troops of Napoleon sought in vain
to quell. The bayonets of the French were able to sustain King Joseph
and his court in Madrid, but proved powerless to put down the people.
Each city, each district, became a separate centre of war, each had to
be conquered separately, and the strength of the troops was consumed
in petty contests with a people who avoided open warfare and dealt in
surprises and scattered fights, in which victory counted for little and
needed to be repeated a thousand times.
[=Spain's Brilliant Victory and King Joseph's Flight=]
The Spanish did more than this. They put an army in the field which was
defeated by the French, but they revenged themselves brilliantly at
Baylen, in Andalusia, where General Dupont, with a corps 20,000 strong,
was surrounded in a position from which there was no escape, and forced
to surrender himself and his men as prisoners of war.
This undisciplined people had gained a victory over France which none
of the great powers of Europe could match. The Spaniards were filled
with enthusiasm; King Joseph hastily abandoned Madrid; the French
armies retreated across the Ebro. Soon encouraging news came from
Portugal. The English, hitherto mainly confining themselves to naval
warfare and to aiding the enemies of Napoleon with money, had landed
an army in that country under Sir Arthur Wellesley (afterwards Lord
Wellington) and other generals, which would have captured the entire
French army had it not capitulated on the terms of a free passage to
France. For the time being the peninsula of Spain and Portugal was free
from Napoleon's power.
[=The Heroic Defence of Saragossa=]
The humiliating reverse to his arms called Napoleon himself into the
field. He marched at the head of an army into Spain, defeated the
insurgents wherever met, and reinstated his brother on the throne. The
city of Saragossa, which made one of the most heroic defences known in
history, was taken, and the advance of the British armies was checked.
And yet, though Spain was widely overrun, the people did not yield. The
junta at Cadiz defied the French, the guerillas continued in the field,
and the invaders found themselves baffled by an enemy who was felt
oftener than seen.
The Austrian war called away the emperor and the bulk of his troops,
but after it was over he filled Spain with his veterans, increasing
the strength of the army there to 300,000 men, under his ablest
generals, Soult, Massena, Ney, Marmont, Macdonald and others. They
marched through Spain from end to end, yet, though they held all the
salient points, the people refused to submit, but from their mountain
fastnesses kept up a petty and annoying war.
[=Wellington's Career in Portugal and Spain=]
Massena, in 1811, invaded Portugal, where Wellington with an English
army awaited him behind the strong lines of Torres Vedras, which the
ever-victorious French sought in vain to carry by assault. Massena was
compelled to retreat, and Soult, by whom the emperor replaced him,
was no more successful against the shrewd English general. At length
Spain won the reward of her patriotic defence. The Russian campaign
of 1812 compelled the emperor to deplete his army in that country,
and Wellington came to the aid of the patriots, defeated Marmont at
Salamanca, entered Madrid, and forced King Joseph once more to flee
from his unquiet throne.
[=The Reward of Patriotic Valor=]
For a brief interval he was restored by the French army under Soult and
Suchet, but the disasters of the Russian campaign brought the reign of
King Joseph to a final end, and forced him to give up the pretence of
reigning over a people who were unflinchingly determined to have no
king but one of their own choice. The story of the Spanish war ends in
1813, when Wellington defeated the French at Vittoria, pursued them
across the Pyrenees, and set foot upon the soil of France.
[=A Record of Disaster=]
While these events were taking place in Spain the power of Napoleon was
being shattered to fragments in the north. On the banks of the Niemen,
a river that flows between Prussia and Poland, there gathered near the
end of June, 1812, an immense army of more than 600,000 men, attended
by an enormous multitude of non-combatants, their purpose being the
invasion of the empire of Russia. Of this great army, made up of troops
from half the nations of Europe, there reappeared six months later on
that broad stream about 16,000 armed men, almost all that were left of
that stupendous host. The remainder had perished on the desert soil or
in the frozen rivers of Russia, few of them surviving as prisoners in
Russian hands. Such was the character of the dread catastrophe that
broke the power of the mighty conqueror and delivered Europe from his
autocratic grasp.
[=Napoleon and the Czar at Enmity=]
The breach of relations between Napoleon and Alexander was largely due
to the arbitrary and high-handed proceedings of the French emperor,
who was accustomed to deal with the map of Europe as if it represented
his private domain. He offended Alexander by enlarging the duchy of
Warsaw--one of his own creations--and deeply incensed him by extending
the French empire to the shores of the Baltic, thus robbing of his
dominion the Duke of Oldenburg, a near relative of Alexander. On the
other hand the Czar declined to submit the commercial interests of his
country to the rigor of Napoleon's "continental blockade," and made a
new tariff, which interfered with the importation of French and favored
that of English goods. These and other acts in which Alexander chose
to place his own interests in advance of those of Napoleon were as
wormwood to the haughty soul of the latter, and he determined to punish
the Russian autocrat as he had done the other monarchs of Europe who
refused to submit to his dictation.
For a year or two before war was declared Napoleon had been preparing
for the greatest struggle of his life, adding to his army by the most
rigorous methods of conscription and collecting great magazines of
war material, though still professing friendship for Alexander. The
latter, however, was not deceived. He prepared, on his part, for the
threatened struggle, made peace with the Turks, and formed an alliance
with Bernadotte, the crown prince of Sweden, who had good reason to
be offended with his former lord and master. Napoleon, on his side,
allied himself with Prussia and Austria, and added to his army large
contingents of troops from the German states. At length the great
conflict was ready to begin between the two autocrats, the Emperors of
the East and the West, and Europe resounded with the tread of marching
feet.
[=The Invasion of Russia by the Grand Army=]
In the closing days of June the grand army crossed the Niemen, its last
regiments reaching Russian soil by the opening of July. Napoleon, with
the advance, pressed on to Wilna, the capital of Lithuania. On all
sides the Poles rose in enthusiastic hope, and joined the ranks of the
man whom they looked upon as their deliverer. Onward went the great
army, marching with Napoleon's accustomed rapidity, seeking to prevent
the concentration of the divided Russian forces, and advancing daily
deeper into the dominions of the czar.
[=The French Baffled by the Russian Policy=]
The French emperor had his plans well laid. He proposed to meet the
Russians in force on some interior field, win from them one of his
accustomed brilliant victories, crush them with his enormous columns,
and force the dismayed czar to sue for peace on his own terms. But
plans need two sides for their consummation, and the Russian leaders
did not propose to lose the advantage given them by nature. On and on
went Napoleon, deeper and deeper into that desolate land, but the great
army he was to crush failed to loom up before him, the broad plains
still spread onward empty of soldiers, and disquiet began to assail
his imperious soul as he found the Russian hosts keeping constantly
beyond his reach, luring him ever deeper into their vast territory.
In truth Barclay de Tolly, the czar's chief in command, had adopted a
policy which was sure to prove fatal to Napoleon's purpose, that of
persistently avoiding battle and keeping the French in pursuit of a
fleeting will-of-the-wisp, while their army wasted away from natural
disintegration in that inhospitable clime.
He was correct in his views. Desertion, illness, the death of young
recruits who could not endure the hardships of a rapid march in the
severe heat of midsummer, began their fatal work. Napoleon's plan of
campaign proved a total failure. The Russians would not wait to be
defeated, and each day's march opened a wider circle of operations
before the advancing host, whom the interminable plain filled with a
sense of hopelessness. The heat was overpowering, and men dropped from
the ranks as rapidly as though on a field of battle. At Vitebsk the
army was inspected, and the emperor was alarmed at the rapid decrease
in his forces. Some of the divisions had lost more than a fourth of
their men, in every corps the ranks were depleted, and reinforcements
already had to be set on the march.
Onward they went, here and there bringing the Russians to bay in a
minor engagement, but nowhere meeting them in numbers. Europe waited
in vain for tidings of a great battle, and Napoleon began to look upon
his proud army with a feeling akin to despair. He was not alone in
his eagerness for battle. Some of the high-spirited Russians, among
them Prince Bagration, were as eager, but as yet the prudent policy of
Barclay de Tolly prevailed.
[=Smolensk Captured and in Flames=]
On the 14th of August, the army crossed the Dnieper, and marched, now
175,000 strong, upon Smolensk, which was reached on the 16th. This
ancient and venerable town was dear to the Russians, and they made
their first determined stand in its defence, fighting behind its walls
all day of the 17th. Finding that the assault was likely to succeed,
they set fire to the town at night and withdrew, leaving to the French
a city in flames. The bridge was cut, the Russian army was beyond
pursuit on the road to Moscow, nothing had been gained by the struggle
but the ruins of a town.
The situation was growing desperate. For two months the army had
advanced without a battle of importance, and was soon in the heart
of Russia, reduced to half its numbers, while the hoped-for victory
seemed as far off as ever. And the short summer of the north was
nearing its end. The severe winter of that climate would soon begin.
Discouragement everywhere prevailed. Efforts were made by Napoleon's
marshals to induce him to give up the losing game and retreat, but
he was not to be moved from his purpose. A march on Moscow, the old
capital of the empire, he felt sure would bring the Russians to bay.
Once within its walls he hoped to dictate terms of peace.
Napoleon was soon to have the battle for which his soul craved.
Barclay's prudent and successful policy was not to the taste of many of
the Russian leaders, and the czar was at length induced to replace him
by fiery old Kutusoff, who had commanded the Russians at Austerlitz.
A change in the situation was soon apparent. On the 5th of September
the French army debouched upon the plain of Borodino, on the road to
Moscow, and the emperor saw with joy the Russian army drawn up to
dispute the way to the "Holy City" of the Muscovites. The dark columns
of troops were strongly intrenched behind a small stream, frowning
rows of guns threatened the advancing foe, and hope returned to the
emperor's heart.
[=The Battle of Borodino=]
Battle began early on the 7th, and continued all day long, the Russians
defending their ground with unyielding stubbornness, the French
attacking their positions with all their old impetuous dash and energy.
Murat and Ney were the heroes of the day. Again and again the emperor
was implored to send the imperial guard and overwhelm the foe, but he
persistently refused. "If there is a second battle to-morrow," he said,
"what troops shall I fight it with? It is not when one is eight hundred
leagues from home that he risks his last resource."
The guard was not needed. On the following day Kutusoff was obliged to
withdraw, leaving no less than 40,000 dead or wounded on the field.
Among the killed was the brave Prince Bagration. The retreat was an
orderly one. Napoleon found it expedient not to pursue. His own losses
aggregated over 30,000, among them an unusual number of generals, of
whom ten were killed and thirty-nine wounded. Three days proved a brief
time to attend to the burial of the dead and the needs of the wounded.
Napoleon named the engagement the Battle of the Moskwa, from the river
that crossed the plain, and honored Ney, as the hero of the day, with
the title of Prince of Moskwa.
[Illustration: MARSHAL NEY RETREATING FROM RUSSIA
Marshal Ney, who commanded the rear-guard of
Napoleon's army during the retreat from Russia, won
imperishable fame by his brilliant and daring deeds.
Had it not been for his courage and military skill it
is doubtful if a man of that great army would have
escaped from the frozen soil of the north.]
[Illustration: GENERAL BLÜCHER'S FALL AT LIGNY
General Blucher, "Marshal Forward" as he was called,
from his intrepid boldness, was a veteran of over
seventy years of age at the date of the battle of
Waterloo. He was defeated at Ligny, and during the
battle was unhorsed and charged over by the French and
Prussian cavalry. He reached with his troops the field
of Waterloo in time to decide that battle against the
French.]
[=The First Sight of the Holy City of Russia=]
On the 15th the Holy City was reached. A shout of "Moscow! Moscow!"
went up from the whole army as they gazed on the gilded cupolas and
magnificent buildings of that famous city, brilliantly lit up by the
afternoon sun. Twenty miles in circumference, dazzling with the green
of its copper domes and its minarets of yellow stone, the towers
and walls of the famous Kremlin rising above its palaces and gardens,
it seemed like some fabled city of the Arabian Nights. With renewed
enthusiasm the troops rushed towards it, while whole regiments of Poles
fell on their knees, thanking God for delivering this stronghold of
their oppressors into their hands.
[=The Grand Army in the Old Russian Capital=]
It was an empty city into which the French marched; its streets
deserted, its dwellings silent. Its busy life had vanished like a
morning mist. Kutusoff had marched his army through it and left it
to his foes. The inhabitants were gone, with what they could carry
of their treasures. The city, like the empire, seemed likely to be a
barren conquest, for here, as elsewhere, the policy of retreat, so
fatal to Napoleon's hopes, was put into effect. The emperor took up his
abode in the Kremlin, within whose ample precincts he found quarters
for the whole imperial guard. The remainder of the army was stationed
at chosen points about the city. Provisions were abundant, the houses
and stores of the city being amply supplied. The army enjoyed a luxury
of which it had been long deprived, while Napoleon confidently awaited
a triumphant result from his victorious progress.
[=The Burning of the Great City of Moscow.=]
A terrible disenchantment awaited the invader. Early on the following
morning word was brought him that Moscow was on fire. Flames arose
from houses that had not been opened. It was evidently a premeditated
conflagration. The fire burst out at once in a dozen quarters, and
a high wind carried the flames from street to street, from house to
house, from church to church. Russians were captured who boasted that
they had fired the town under orders and who met death unflinchingly.
The governor had left them behind for this fell purpose. The poorer
people, many of whom had remained hidden in their huts, now fled in
terror, taking with them what cherished possessions they could carry.
Soon the city was a seething mass of flames.
The Kremlin did not escape. A tower burst into flames. In vain the
imperial guard sought to check the fire. No fire-engines were to be
found in the town. Napoleon hastily left the palace and sought shelter
outside the city, where for three days the flames ran riot, feeding on
ancient palaces and destroying untold treasures. Then the wind sank and
rain poured upon the smouldering embers. The great city had become a
desolate heap of smoking ruins, into which the soldiers daringly stole
back in search of valuables that might have escaped the flames.
This frightful conflagration was not due to the czar, but to Count
Rostopchin, the governor of Moscow, who was subsequently driven from
Russia by the execrations of those he had ruined. But it served as a
proclamation to Europe of the implacable resolution of the Muscovites
and their determination to resist to the bitter end.
Napoleon, sadly troubled in soul, sent letters to Alexander, suggesting
the advisability of peace. Alexander left his letters unanswered. Until
October 18th the emperor waited, hoping against hope, willing to grant
almost any terms for an opportunity to escape from the fatal trap into
which his overweening ambition had led him. No answer came from the
czar. He was inflexible in his determination not to treat with these
invaders of his country. In deep dejection Napoleon at length gave the
order to retreat--too late, as it was to prove, since the terrible
Russian winter was ready to descend upon them in all its frightful
strength.
[=The Grand Army Begins Its Retreat=]
The army that left that ruined city was a sadly depleted one. It had
been reduced to 103,000 men. The army followers had also become greatly
decreased in numbers, but still formed a host, among them delicate
ladies, thinly clad, who gazed with terrified eyes from their traveling
carriages upon the dejected troops. Articles of plunder of all kinds
were carried by the soldiers, even the wounded in the wagons lying amid
the spoil they had gathered. The Kremlin was destroyed by the rear
guard, under Napoleon's orders, and over the drear Russian plains the
retreat began.
It was no sooner under way than the Russian policy changed. From
retreating, they everywhere advanced, seeking to annoy and cut off the
enemy, and utterly to destroy the fugitive army if possible. A stand
was made at the town of Maloi-Yaroslavitz, where a sanguinary combat
took place. The French captured the town, but ten thousand men lay
dead or wounded on the field, while Napoleon was forced to abandon his
projected line of march, and to return by the route he had followed in
his advance on Moscow. From the bloody scene of contest the retreat
continued, the battlefield of Borodino being crossed, and, by the
middle of November, the ruins of Smolensk reached.
[=The Sad Remnant of the Army of Invasion=]
Winter was now upon the French in all its fury. The food brought from
Moscow had been exhausted. Famine, frost, and fatigue had proved more
fatal than the bullets of the enemy. In fourteen days after reaching
Moscow the army lost 43,000 men, leaving it only 60,000 strong. On
reaching Smolensk it numbered but 42,000, having lost 18,000 more
within eight days. The unarmed followers are said to have still
numbered 60,000. Worse still, the supply of arms and provisions ordered
to be ready at Smolensk was in great part lacking, only rye-flour and
rice being found. Starvation threatened to aid the winter cold in the
destruction of the feeble remnant of the "Grand Army."
Onward went the despairing host, at every step harassed by the
Russians, who followed like wolves on their path. Ney, in command of
the rear-guard, was the hero of the retreat. Cut off by the Russians
from the main column, and apparently lost beyond hope, he made a
wonderful escape by crossing the Dnieper on the ice during the night
and rejoining his companions, who had given up the hope of ever seeing
him again.
[=The Dreadful Crossing of the Beresina=]
On the 26th the ice-cold river Beresina was reached, destined to be
the most terrible point on the whole dreadful march. Two bridges were
thrown in all haste across the stream, and most of the men under arms
crossed, but 18,000 stragglers fell into the hands of the enemy. How
many were trodden to death in the press or were crowded from the bridge
into the icy river cannot be told. It is said that when spring thawed
the ice 30,000 bodies were found and burned on the banks of the stream.
A mere fragment of the great army remained alive. Ney was the last man
to cross that frightful stream.
On the 3d of December Napoleon issued a bulletin which has become
famous, telling the anxious nations of Europe that the grand army
was annihilated, but the emperor was safe. Two days afterwards he
surrendered the command of the army to Murat and set out at all speed
for Paris, where his presence was indispensably necessary. On the 13th
of December some 16,000 haggard and staggering men, almost too weak to
hold the arms to which they still despairingly clung, recrossed the
Niemen, which the grand army had passed in such magnificent strength
and with such abounding resources less than six months before. It was
the greatest and most astounding disaster in the military history of
the world.
This tale of terror may be fitly closed by a dramatic story told by
General Mathieu Dumas, who, while sitting at breakfast in Gumbinnen,
saw enter a haggard man, with long beard, blackened face, and red and
glaring eyes.
"I am here at last," he exclaimed. "Don't you know me?"
"No," said the general. "Who are you?"
"I am the rear-guard of the Grand Army. I have fired the last
musket-shot on the bridge of Kowno. I have thrown the last of our arms
into the Niemen, and came hither through the woods. I am Marshal Ney."
"This is the beginning of the end," said the shrewd Talleyrand, when
Napoleon set out on his Russian campaign. The remark proved true,
the disaster in Russia had loosened the grasp of the Corsican on the
throat of Europe, and the nations, which hated as much as they feared
their ruthless enemy, made active preparations for his overthrow.
While he was in France, actively gathering men and materials for a
renewed struggle, signs of an implacable hostility began to manifest
themselves on all sides in the surrounding states. Belief in the
invincibility of Napoleon had vanished, and little fear was entertained
of the raw conscripts whom he was forcing into the ranks to replace his
slaughtered veterans.
[=Europe in Arms Against Napoleon=]
Prussia was the first to break the bonds of alliance with France, to
ally itself with Russia, and to call its people to arms against their
oppressor. They responded with the utmost enthusiasm, men of all ranks
and all professions hastened to their country's defence, and the noble
and the peasant stood side by side as privates in the same regiment. In
March, 1813, the French left Berlin, which was immediately occupied by
the
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