|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 14
--[ Thiers (tome. vi., p. 70) says the title Grande Armee was first
given by Napoleon to the force prepared in 1805 for the campaign
against Austria. The Constitution forbad the First Consul to
command the armies in person. Hence the title, "Army of Reserve,"
gives to the force which fought Marengo.]--
Even foreigners and prisoners were objects of Bonaparte's designing
intentions. I recollect one evening his saying to me; "Bourrienne, write
to the Minister of War, and tell him to select a fine brace of pistols,
of the Versailles manufacture, and send them, in my name, to General
Zach. He dined with me to-day, and highly praised our manufacture of
arms. I should like to give him a token of remembrance; besides,--the,
matter will be talked of at Vienna, and may perhaps do good!"
As soon as the news of the battle of Marengo reached Paris Lucien
Bonaparte, Minister of the Interior, ordered preparations for the
festival, fixed for the 14th of July, in commemoration of the first
Federation. This festival and that of the 1st Vendemiaire were the only
ones preserved by the Consular Government. Indeed, in those memorable
days, when the Revolution appeared in its fairest point of view, France
had never known such joy as that to which the battle of Marengo gave
rise. Still, amidst all this popular transport there was a feeling of
regret. The fame of Desaix, his heroic character, his death, the words
attributed to him and believed to be true, caused mourning to be mingled
with joy. It was agreed to open a subscription for erecting a national
monument to his memory. A reflection naturally arises here upon the
difference between the period referred to and the present time. France
has endowed with nearly a million the children of one of her greatest
orators and most eloquent defenders of public liberty, yet, for the
monument to the memory of Desaix scarcely 20,000 francs were subscribed.
Does not this form a singular contrast with the patriotic munificence
displayed at the death of General Foy? The pitiful monument to Desaix,
on the Place Dauphins, sufficiently attests the want of spirit on the
part of the subscribers. Bonaparte, who was much dissatisfied with it,
gave the name of Desaix to a new quay, the first stone of which was laid
with great solemnity on the 14th of July.
On that day the crowd was immense in the Champ-de-Mars and in the Temple
of Mars, the name which at that the Church of the Invalides still
preserved. Lucien delivered a speech on the encouraging prospects of
France, and Lannes made an appropriate address on presenting to the
Government the flags taken at Marengo. Two more followed; one from an
aide de cramp of Massena, and the other from an aide de camp of Lecourbe;
and after the distribution of some medals the First Consul then delivered
the following address:--
CITIZENS! SOLDIERS!--The flags presented to the Government, in the
presence of the people of this immense capital, attest at once the
genius of the Commanders-in-Chief Moreau, Massena, and Berthier; the
military talents of the generals, their lieutenants; and bravery of
the French soldiers.
On your return to the camp tell your comrades that for the 1st
Vendemiaire, when we shall celebrate the anniversary of the
Republic, the French people expect either peace or, if the enemy
obstinately refuse it, other flags, the fruit of fresh victories.
After this harangue of the First Consul, in which he addressed to the
military in the name of the people, and ascribed to Berthier the glory of
Marengo, a hymn was chanted, the words of which were written by M. de
Fontanes and the music composed by Mehul. But what was most remarkable
in this fete was neither the poetry, music, nor even the panegyrical
eloquence of Lucien, -- it was the arrival at the Champ-de-Mars, after
the ceremony at the Invalides, of the Consular Guard returning from
Marengo. I was at a window of the Ecole-Militaire, and I can never
forget the commotion, almost electrical, which made the air resound with
cries of enthusiasm at their appearance. These soldiers did not defile
before the First Consul in fine uniforms as at a review. Leaving the
field of battle when the firing ceased, they had crossed Lombardy,
Piedmont, Mont Cenis, Savoy, and France in the space of twenty-nine days.
They appeared worn by the fatigue of a long journey, with faces browned
by the summer sun of Italy, and with their arms and clothing showing the
effects of desperate struggles. Do you wish to have an idea of their
appearance? You will find a perfect type in the first grenadier put by
Gerard at one side of his picture of the battle of Austerlitz.
At the time of this fete, that is to say, in the middle of the month of
July, the First Consul could not have imagined that the moderate
conditions he had proposed after the victory would not be accepted by
Austria. In the hope, therefore, of a peace which could not but be
considered probable, he, for the first time since the establishment of
the Consular Government, convoked the deputies of the departments, and
appointed their time of assembling in Paris for the 1st Vendemiaire, a
day which formed the close of one remarkable century and marked the
commencement of another.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|