Part 23

In fine, completely to acquit the debt of gratitude, at that period so painful to remember, when persecution, exile, death, compelled so many Frenchmen to flee their native land, the inhabitants of Belgium, always tender-hearted, always benevolent, opened their hospitable doors to our unfortunate proscribed countrymen, and more than one brave man, already preserved by them from the vengeance of foreigners, was a second time saved by their generous hands from the fury of enemies still more implacable.]

At the moment, when Bulow's corps penetrated our right, I was at head-quarters at the farm of Caillou.

One of the grand marshal's aides-de-camp came from him, to inform the Duke of Bassano, that the Prussians were proceeding in that direction. The duke, having received orders from the Emperor to remain there, would not quit the place, and we resigned ourselves to wait the event. In fact, the enemy's dragoons soon made themselves masters of the little wood, that covered the farm, and attacked our people sword in hand. Our guard repulsed them with their muskets; but, returning in greater number, they assailed us anew, and compelled us, in spite of the stoicism of M. de Bassano, to yield up the place to them very speedily. The imperial carriages, furnished with able horses, carried us rapidly from the enemy's pursuit. The duke was not so fortunate: his carriage, having poor horses, received several shots; and he was at length forced to escape on foot, and take refuge in mine.

The cessation of the firing, and the precipitate retreat of the wreck of the army, too powerfully confirmed to us the fatal issue of the battle. We inquired on all sides after the Emperor, but no one could satisfy our painful anxiety. Some assured us, that he had been taken prisoner; others, that he was killed. To put an end to the anxiety that overwhelmed us, I took the horse of the principal of our attendants (chef de nos équipages), and, accompanied by one of our principal piqueurs, named Chauvin, who had returned with Napoleon from the island of Elba, I hastened back toward Mont St. Jean. After having in vain wearied a multitude of officers with questions, I met a page, young Gudin, who assured me, that the Emperor must have quitted the field of battle. I still pushed on. Two cuirassiers, raising their sabres, stopped me. "Where are you going?"--"I am going to meet the Emperor."--"You lie; you are a royalist; you are going to rejoin the English." I know not how the business would have ended, had not a superior officer of the guard, sent by heaven, fortunately known me, and extricated me from the difficulty. He assured me, that the Emperor, whom he had escorted a long way, must be before. I returned to the Duke of Bassano. The certainty, that the Emperor was safe and sound, alleviated our sorrows for a few moments: but they soon resumed all their strength. He must have been no Frenchman, who could behold with dry eyes our dreadful catastrophe. The army itself, after recovering from its first impressions, forgot the perils with which it was still menaced, to meditate with sadness on the future. Its steps were dejected, its looks dismayed; not a word, not a complaint, was heard to interrupt its painful meditations. You would have said it was accompanying a funeral procession, and attending the obsequies of its glory and of its country.

The capture and plundering of the baggage of the army had suspended for a moment the enemy's pursuit. They came up with us at Quatre Bras, and fell upon our equipage. At the head of the convoy marched the military chest, and after it our carriage. Five other carriages, that immediately followed us, were attacked and sabred. Ours, by miracle, effected its escape. Here were taken the Emperor's clothes: the superb diamond necklace, that the princess Borghese had given him; and his landau, that in 1813 had escaped the disasters of Moscow.

The Prussians, raging in pursuit of us, treated with unexampled barbarity those unfortunate beings, whom they were able to overtake. Except a few steady old soldiers, most of the rest had thrown away their arms, and were without defence; but they were not the less massacred without pity. Four Prussians killed General ...... in cold blood, after having taken from him his arms. Another general, whose name also I cannot call to mind, surrendered to an officer: and this officer had the cowardice still more than the cruelty, to run him through the body. A colonel, to avoid falling into their hands, blew out his brains. Twenty other officers, of various ranks, imitated the example. An officer of cuirassiers, seeing them approach, said: "They shall have neither me, nor my horse." With one of his pistols he shot his horse dead; with the other, himself. A thousand acts of despair, not less heroic, illustrate this fatal day.

We continued our retreat to Charleroi. The further we advanced, the more difficult it became. They who preceded us, whether to impede the enemy, or through treachery, obstructed the way, and at every step we had to break through barricades. When halting for a moment, I heard cries and moanings at our side. I went to the place, and found they came from a ditch on the road-side, into which two large waggon-loads of wounded men had been overturned. These unfortunate people, tumbled in a heap under the waggons, that were upset upon them, implored the compassion of those who passed by; but their feeble voices, drowned by the noise of the carriages, had not been heard. We all set to work, and succeeded in extricating them from their tombs. Some were still breathing; but the greater number were stifled. The joy of these poor wretches affected us to tears; but it was of short duration--we were forced to leave them.

Still pursued and harassed by the enemy, we arrived at Charleroi, which place was so encumbered, and in such confusion, that we were obliged to leave behind us our carriage and our baggage. The secret portfolio of the cabinet was carried off by the keeper of the portfolio; the other important papers were destroyed; and we left only some letters and reports of no moment, which were afterwards printed at Brussels. The Duke of Bassano and I were continuing our journey on foot, when I saw some piqueurs with led horses of the Emperor's, and I ordered them, to bring them to us. Such was the respect of the duke for every thing belonging to Napoleon, that he hesitated to avail himself of this good fortune. Happily for him, I succeeded in overcoming his scruples; for the Prussians had come up with us, and the firing of musketry informed us, that they were engaging only a few paces behind us. We were equally obliged to abandon the military chest. The gold in it was distributed among the Emperor's domestics; all of whom faithfully delivered it to him.

The Emperor, accompanied by his aides-decamp and a few orderly officers, on quitting the field of battle, had taken the road to Charleroi. On his arrival at this place, he attempted to rally a few troops; but his efforts were vain, and, after having given orders to several generals, he continued his course.

Count Lobau, the generals of the guards Petit and Pelet de Morvan, and a number of other officers, equally endeavoured to form the army anew. With swords drawn, they stopped the troops on their way, and forced them, to draw up in order of battle; but scarcely were they formed, when they dispersed again immediately. The artillery, that had been able to be brought off, alone preserved its structure unshaken. The brave gunners, feeling the same attachment to their guns as soldiers to their colours, followed them quietly. Obliged by the roads being so much encumbered, to halt at every step, they saw the tide of the army flow by them without regret: it was their duty, to remain by their guns; and they remained, without considering, that their devotion might cost them their liberty or their lives.

By chance M. de Bassano and I took the road to Philippeville. We learned, with a joy of which we did not think ourselves any longer susceptible, that the Emperor was in the town. We ran to him. When he saw me, he condescended to present me his hand. I bathed it with my tears. The Emperor himself could not suppress his emotion: a large tear, escaping from his eyes, betrayed the efforts of his soul.

The Emperor caused orders to be despatched to generals Rapp, Lecourbe, and Lamarque, to proceed by forced marches to Paris, and to the commanders of fortified towns, to defend themselves to the last extremity. He afterward dictated to me two letters to Prince Joseph. One, intended to be communicated to the council of ministers, related but imperfectly the fatal issue of the battle: the other, for the prince alone, gave him a recital, unhappily too faithful, of the rout of the army. He concluded however: "All is not lost. I suppose I shall have left, on re-assembling my forces, a hundred and fifty thousand men. The federates and national guards, who have heart, will supply me with a hundred thousand men; the dépôt battalions, with fifty thousand. Thus I shall have three hundred thousand soldiers, to oppose to the enemy immediately. I shall supply the artillery with horses by means of those kept as articles of luxury. I shall levy a hundred thousand conscripts. I shall arm them with the muskets of the royalists and ill-disposed national guards. Dauphiny, the Lyonese, Burgundy, Lorraine, and Champagne, I shall levy in mass. I shall overwhelm the enemy: but it is necessary for me to be assisted, and not perplexed. I am going to Laon. No doubt I shall find men there. I have heard nothing of Grouchy; if he be not taken, as I am afraid he is, in three days time I may have fifty thousand men. With these I could keep the enemy employed, and give time to Paris and France, to do their duty. The English march slowly. The Prussians are afraid of the peasantry, and dare not advance too far. Every thing may yet be repaired. Write me word of the effect, that the horrible result of this rash enterprise produces in the chamber. I believe the deputies will feel, that it is their duty on this great occasion, to join with me, in order to save France. Prepare them, to second me worthily."

The Emperor added with his own hand: "Courage, and firmness."

While I was despatching these letters, he dictated to M. de Bassano instructions for the major-general. When he had finished, he threw himself on a sorry bed, and ordered preparations to be made for our departure.

A postchaise half broken to pieces, a few waggons and some straw, had just been prepared, as nothing better was to be had, for Napoleon and us; when some carriages belonging to Marshal Soult entered the town. These we seized upon. The enemy having already some scouts in the neighbourhood of Philippeville and Marienbourg, two or three hundred fugitives of all sorts were collected, to form an escort for the Emperor. He set off with General Bertrand in a calash. It was thus Charles XII. fled before his conquerors after the battle of Pultowa.

The Emperor's suite was in two other calashes. One, in which I was, contained M. de Bassano, General Drouot, General Dejean, and M. de Canisy, first equerry: the other was occupied by Messrs. de Flahaut, Labedoyère, Corbineau, and de Bissi, aides-de-camp.

The Emperor stopped beyond Rocroi, to take some refreshment. We were all in a pitiable state: our eyes swelled with tears, our countenances haggard, our clothes covered with blood or dust, rendered us objects of compassion and horror to one another. We conversed on the critical situation, in which the Emperor and France would find themselves. Labedoyère, in the abundant candour of a young and inexperienced heart, persuaded himself, that our dangers would unite all parties, and that the chambers would display a grand and salutary energy. "The Emperor," said he, "without stopping on the road, should repair directly to the seat of the national representation; frankly avow his disasters; and, like Philip Augustus, offer to die as a soldier, and resign the crown to the most worthy. The two chambers will revolt at the idea of abandoning Napoleon, and join with him, to save France."--"Do not imagine," answered I, "that we live still in those days, when misfortune was sacred. The chamber, far from pitying Napoleon, and generously coming to his assistance, will accuse him of having ruined France, and endeavour to save it by sacrificing him."--"Heaven preserve us from such a misfortune!" exclaimed Labedoyère: "if the chambers separate themselves from the Emperor, all is over with us. The enemy will be at Paris in a week. The next day we shall see the Bourbons; and then what will become of liberty, and of all those who have embraced the national cause? As for me, my fate is not doubtful. I shall be the first man shot."--"The Emperor is a lost man, if he set his foot in Paris:" replied M. de Flahaut: "there is but one step he can take, to save himself and France; and this is, to treat with the allies, and cede the crown to his son. But, in order to treat, he must have an army; and perhaps at this very moment, while we are talking, most of the generals are already thinking of sending in their submissions to the king."--"So much the more reason is there," resumed Labedoyère, "why he should hasten to make common cause with the chambers and the nation; and set out without loss of time."--"And I maintain with M. de Flahaut," rejoined I, "that the Emperor is lost, if he set foot in Paris. He has never been forgiven for having abandoned his army in Egypt, in Spain, at Moscow: still less would he be pardoned for leaving it here, in the centre of France."

These different opinions, blamed or approved, supplied us with subjects for discussion; when a person came to inform us, that the English were at la Capelle, four or five leagues from us. With this General Bertrand was instantly made acquainted: but the Emperor continued talking with the Duke of Bassano, and we had infinite trouble, to make him resume his journey.

We arrived at Laon. The Emperor alighted at the foot of the walls. Our defeat was already known. A detachment of the national guard came to meet the Emperor. "Our brothers and sons," said the commanding officer to him, "are in the garrison towns, but dispose of us, sire; we are ready to die for our country, and for you." The Emperor thanked him heartily. Some peasants came round us, and gaped at us with stupid looks: they often shouted, "Long live the Emperor!" but these shouts annoyed us. In prosperity they are pleasing; after a battle lost they wound the heart.

The Emperor was informed, that a considerable number of troops were perceived at a distance. He sent one of his aides-de-camp, to reconnoitre them. They were about three thousand Frenchmen, horse and foot, whom Prince Jerome, Marshal Soult, General Morand, and Generals Colbert, Petit, and Pelet de Morveau, had succeeded in rallying. "Then," said Napoleon, "I will remain at Laon, till the rest of the army joins. I have given orders for all the scattered soldiers to be sent to Laon and Rheims. The gendarmerie and national guard shall scour the country, and collect the laggers; the good soldiers will join of themselves; in four and twenty hours we shall have a nucleus of ten or twelve thousand men. With this little army I will keep the enemy in check, and give Grouchy time to arrive, and the nation to face about." This resolution was strongly combated. "Your Majesty," it was urged, "has seen with your own eyes the complete rout of the army. You know, that the regiments were confounded together; and it is not the work of a few hours, to form them anew. Even supposing, that a nucleus of ten thousand soldiers could be collected, what could your Majesty do with such a handful of men, for the most part destitute of arms and stores? You might stop the enemy at one point; but you could not prevent their advancing at another, as all the roads are open to them. The corps of Marshal Grouchy, if he have crossed the Dyle, must have fallen into the hands of Blucher or of Wellington: if he have not crossed it, and attempt to effect his retreat by way of Namur, the Prussians must necessarily arrive at Gembloux or at Temploux before him, and oppose his passage; while the English will proceed through Tilly and Sombref to his right flank, and cut off all hopes of his saving himself. In this state of things, your Majesty cannot reasonably reckon upon any assistance from his army: he has none. France can only be saved by herself. It is necessary, that all the citizens take arms: and your Majesty's presence at Paris is requisite, to repress your enemies, and animate and direct the zeal of the patriots. The Parisians, when they see your Majesty, will fight without hesitation. If your Majesty remain at a distance from them, a thousand false reports concerning you will be spread: now it will be said, that you are killed; anon, that you are made prisoner, or surrounded. The national guard and federates, disheartened by the fear of being abandoned or betrayed, as they were in 1814, will fight heartlessly, or not at all."

These considerations induced the Emperor, to change his resolution. "Well!" said he, "since you deem it necessary, I will go to Paris; but I am persuaded, that you make me act foolishly. My proper place is here. Hence I could direct what is to be done at Paris, and my brothers would see to the rest."

The Emperor then retired into another room with M. de Bassano and me; and, after having despatched fresh orders to Marshal Soult on the rallying and movements of the army, he put the finishing hand to the bulletin of Mont St. Jean, which had been already sketched at Philippeville. When it was ended, he sent for the grand marshal, General Drouot, and the other aides-de-camp. "Here," said he, "is the bulletin of Mont St. Jean: I wish you to hear it read: if I have omitted any essential circumstances, you will remind me of them; it is not my intention, to conceal any thing. Now, as after the affair of Moscow, the whole truth must be disclosed to France. I might have thrown on Marshal Ney," continued Napoleon, "the blame of part of the misfortunes of that day: but the mischief is done; no more is to be said about it." I read this new twenty-ninth bulletin: a few slight changes, suggested by General Drouot, were assented to by the Emperor; but, from what whim I know not, he would not confess, that his carriages had fallen into the hands of the enemy. "When you get to Paris," said M. de Flahaut to him, "it will be plainly seen, that your carriages have been taken. If you conceal this, you will be charged with disguising truths of more importance; and it is necessary, to tell the whole, or say nothing." The Emperor, after some demur, finally acceded to this advice.

I then read the bulletin a second time; and, every person agreeing in its accuracy, M. de Bassano sent it off to Prince Joseph by a courier extraordinary.

At the moment when it arrived, Paris was resounding with transports of joy, to which the splendid victory of Ligny, and the good news received from the armies of the West and of the Alps, had given rise.

Marshal Suchet, always fortunate, always able, had made himself master of Montmelian, and from one triumph had proceeded to another, till he had driven the Piedmontese from the passes and valleys of Mount Cenis.

General Desaix, one of his lieutenants, had driven back from the side of Jura the enemy's advanced posts, taken Carrouge, crossed the Arva, and, in spite of the difficulty of the country, made himself master of all the defiles in the twinkling of an eye.

The war of la Vendée had justified the Emperor's conjectures.

The Marquis of Roche-jaquelin, ashamed of the defeat at Aisenay, awaited with impatience an opportunity for redeeming the disgrace. Informed, that a fresh English fleet was bringing him arms and stores, he thought this opportunity was arrived; and immediately made preparations to favour the landing announced, and, if necessary, to give battle to the imperialists.