A History of the Nations and Empires Involved and a Study of the Events Culminating in The Great Conflict Part 7

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 it with his usual rapidity, secrecy, and keenness of judgment.

THE CAMPAIGN IN ITALY

There were two French armies in the field in the spring of 1800, Moreau commanding in Germany, Ma.s.sena 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 Ma.s.sena 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. 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 pa.s.ses across the mountains seemed favorable to his purpose, especially those of the St. Bernard, the Simplon and Mount 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 pa.s.s, 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 faltering at hards.h.i.+ps and perils.

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.

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 pa.s.ses one by one joined Napoleon. On June 9th Marshal 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 VICTORY AR 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 pa.s.sages open to the enemy. Suddenly attacked and taken by surprise, his army was defeated and driven back in retreat in the first stage of the battle. But Napoleon was not the man to accept defeat. Hurrying up Desaix, one of his most trusted generals, with his corps, he flung these fresh troops upon the enemy, following up the a.s.sault with the dragoons of Kellermann. The result was a disastrous rout of the Austrians, who were driven from the field, leaving thousands of dead, and other thousands of prisoners in the hands of the enemy.

A few days afterwards on the 19th, Moreau in Germany won a brilliant victory at Hockstadt, near Blemheim, 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.

MOREAU AT HOHENLINDEN

What followed must be briefly detailed. Only a truce, not a peace, had followed the victories of Napoleon and Moreau, and five months later, Austria refusing to make peace without the concurrence of England, the war began again. Moreau winning another famous victory on the plains of Hohenlinden, the Austrians losing 8,000 in killed and wounded and 12,000 in prisoners.

Moreau advanced to Vienna, where the emperor was forced to sign an armistice, giving up to France the valley of the Danube, the country of the Tyrol, a number of fortresses and large magazines of war material. This truce was followed by a peace in February, 1801. It was one that left Napoleon the idol of France, the terror of Europe, and the admiration of the world. He had proved himself the mate of Caesar and Alexander as a conqueror.

THE CONSUL MADE EMPEROR

The events that followed must be briefly epitomized. For nearly the only time in his career Napoleon had a period of peace. In this he showed himself an autocratic but able ruler, making himself king in everything but name, restoring the old court customs and etiquette, but not interfering with the liberties and privileges which the people had won by the Revolution. Feudalism had been definitely overthrown and Napoleon's supremacy in the state was one that recognized the popular freedom.

The culmination of Napoleon's ambition came in 1804, when he followed the example of Caesar, the Roman conqueror, seeking the crown as a reward for his victories. Like Caesar, he had his enemies, but, more fortunate than Caesar, he escaped their plots and was elected Emperor of the French by an almost unanimous vote of the people. The Pope was obliged to come to Paris at the fiat of the new autocrat and to anoint him as emperor, the sanction of the Church being thus given to his new dignity. His empire was one founded upon modern ideas, one called into existence by the votes of a free people, not resting upon the necks of a nation of serfs.

THE CODE NAPOLEON

During his brief respite from war Napoleon's activity was great, his statesmans.h.i.+p notable. Great public works, monuments to his glory, were constructed, wide schemes of public improvement were entered upon, and important changes were made in the financial system that provided the great sums needed for these enterprises.

The most important of these evidences of intellectual activity was the Code Napoleon, the first organized code of French law and still the basis of jurisprudence in France. This, first promulgated in 1801 as the civil code of France, had its t.i.tle changed to Code Napoleon in 1804, and as such stands as one of the greatest monuments to the mental capacity of this extraordinary man.

The period of peace during which these events took place was one of brief endurance. It practically ended in 1803, when Great Britain, Napoleon's most persistent foe, again declared war. But actual war did not begin until two years later.

The Emperor's role in this period was one of threat. England had been invaded and conquered from France once before. It might be again. Like William of Normandy, Napoleon prepared a large fleet and strong army and threatened an invasion of the island kingdom.

This might possibly have been successful but for the shrewd policy of William Pitt, the British Prime Minister, who organized a coalition of Napoleon's enemies in Europe which gave him a new use for his army.

CAMPAIGN OF 1805

The coalition embraced Austria, Prussia, Russia, Sweden and Norway, with Great Britain at their back. The bold Corsican had roused nearly all Europe against him. He dealt with it in his usual alert and successful manner.

Quick as were his enemies to come into the field, they were not quick enough for their vigilant foe. The army prepared for the invasion of England was at once set in motion towards the Rhine, and was handled with such skill as to surround at Ulm the Austrian army under General Mack and force its surrender.

This took place in October. On the 1st of December the two armies (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 world's most memorable battles.

BATTLE OF 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 were already fully made. He had, with the intuition of genius, foreseen the probable maneuvers 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.

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 center of the French army moved forward in a dense ma.s.s, 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.

They were soon to learn why their fire was disdained. The allied force, pierced in its center by the French, was flung back in disorder and on all sides broke into a disorderly retreat. The slaughter was frightful. One division, cut off from the army, threw down its arms and surrendered. Two columns rushed upon the ice of a frozen lake. Upon this the fire of the French cannon was turned, the ice splintered and gave way beneath their feet and thousands of the despairing troops perished in the freezing waters. Of the whole army only one corps left the field in order of battle. 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. Thus ended the most famous of Napoleon's battles.

The victory of Austerlitz left Germany in Napoleon's hands, and the remodeling of the map of Europe was one of the greatest that has ever taken place at any one time. Kingdoms were formed and placed under Napoleon's brothers or favorite generals. His changes in the states of Germany were numerous and radical. Those of south and west Germany were organized into the Confederation of the Rhine, under his protection. Many of the small princ.i.p.alities were suppressed and their territories added to the larger states. As to the "Holy Roman Empire," a once powerful organization which had long since sunk into a mere shadow, it finally ceased to exist. The empire of France was extended by these and other changes until is spread over Italy, the Netherlands and the south and west of Germany.

Changes so great as these could scarcely be made without exciting bitter opposition. Prussia had been seriously affected by Napoleon's map-making, and in the end its king, Frederick William, became so exasperated that he broke off all communication with France and began to prepare for war.

THE CONQUEST OF PRUSSIA

It is by no means impossible that Napoleon had been working for this. It is certain that he was quick to take advantage of it.

While the Prussian king was slowly collecting his troops and war material, the veterans of France were already on the march and approaching the borders of Prussia. The hasty levies of "Frederick William were no match for the war-hardened French, the Russians failed to come to their aid, and on the 4th of October, 1806, the two armies met at Jena.

The Prussians proved incapable of withstanding the impetuous attack of the French and were soon broken and in panic and flight. Nothing could stop them. Reinforcements coming up, 20,000 in number, were thrown across their path, but in vain, being swept away by the fugitives and pushed back by the triumphant pursuers.

At the same time another battle was in progress near Auerstadt between Marshal Davoust and the forces of the Duke of Brunswick.

This, too, ended in victory for the French. The king had been with the duke and was borne back by the flying host, the two bodies of fugitives finally coalescing. In that one fatal day Frederick William had lost his army and placed his kingdom in jeopardy. "They can do nothing but gather up the debris," said Napoleon.

The occupation of Berlin, the Prussian capital, quickly followed, and the war ended with new map-making which greatly reduced the influence of Prussia as a European Power.

THE INVASION OF POLAND

Russia was still in arms, and occupied Poland. Thither the victorious French now advanced, making Warsaw, the Polish capital, the goal of their march. The Russians were beaten and forced back in every battle, and the Poles, hoping to regain their lost liberties, gladly rose in aid of the invader. But the French army found itself exposed to serious privations. The country was a frozen desert, incapable of supplying food for an army. The wintry chill and the desolate character of the country seriously interfered with Napoleon's plans, the troops being obliged 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.

EYLAU AND FRIEDLAND

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 Benningsen 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.

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 b.a.l.l.s 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.

Nature, which had so far acted to check the advance of the French in Poland, now threatened their defeat and destruction. A snow-fall began, so thick and dense that the armies lost sight of each other, the French columns losing their way in the gloom.

When the snow ceased, after a half-hour's fall, the French army was in a critical position. It was in a wandering and disorganized state, while the Russians were on the point of executing a vigorous turning movement.

Yet the genius of Napoleon turned the scale. He ordered a grand charge of all the cavalry of his army, driving the Russians back, occupying a hilly ground in their rear, and in the end handling them so vigorously that a final retreat began.

Thus ended the most indecisive of Napoleon's victories, one which had almost been a defeat and which left both armies so exhausted that months pa.s.sed before either was in condition to resume the war. It was the month of June before the armies were again put in motion. Now the wintry desolation was replaced by a scene of green woodland, s.h.i.+ning lakes and attractive villages, the conditions being far more favorable for warlike operations.