Recollections of the Private Life of Napoleon - Volume 11 , livre ebook

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pubOne.info present you this new edition. During the second day of the battle of Dresden, at the end of which the Emperor had the attack of fever I mentioned in the preceding chapter, the King of Naples, or rather Marshal Murat, performed prodigies of valor. Much has been said of this truly extraordinary prince; but only those who saw him personally could form a correct idea of him, and even they never knew him perfectly until they had seen him on a field of battle. There he seemed like those great actors who produce a complete illusion amid the fascinations of the stage, but in whom we no longer find the hero when we encounter them in private life. While at Paris I attended a representation of the death of 'Hector' by Luce de Lancival, and I could never afterwards hear the verses recited in which the author describes the effect produced on the Trojan army by the appearance of Achilles without thinking of Prince Murat; and it may be said without exaggeration that his presence produced exactly this effect the moment he showed himself in front of the Austrian lines

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Publié par	Pub One Info
Date de parution	06 novembre 2010
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9782819949251
Langue	English

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RECOLLECTIONS OF THE PRIVATE LIFE OF NAPOLEON,V11
By CONSTANT
PREMIER VALET DE CHAMBRE
TRANSLATED BY WALTER CLARK
1895
CHAPTER XV.
During the second day of the battle of Dresden, atthe end of which the Emperor had the attack of fever I mentioned inthe preceding chapter, the King of Naples, or rather Marshal Murat,performed prodigies of valor. Much has been said of this trulyextraordinary prince; but only those who saw him personally couldform a correct idea of him, and even they never knew him perfectlyuntil they had seen him on a field of battle. There he seemed likethose great actors who produce a complete illusion amid thefascinations of the stage, but in whom we no longer find the herowhen we encounter them in private life. While at Paris I attended arepresentation of the death of 'Hector' by Luce de Lancival, and Icould never afterwards hear the verses recited in which the authordescribes the effect produced on the Trojan army by the appearanceof Achilles without thinking of Prince Murat; and it may be saidwithout exaggeration that his presence produced exactly this effectthe moment he showed himself in front of the Austrian lines. He hadan almost gigantic figure, which alone would have sufficed to makehim remarkable, and in addition to this sought every possible meansto draw attention to himself, as if he wished to dazzle those who,might have intended to attack him. His regular and strongly markedfeatures, his handsome blue eyes rolling in their orbits, enormousmustaches, and black hair falling in long ringlets over the collarof a kurtka with narrow sleeves, struck the attention at firstsight. Add to this the richest and most elegant costume which onewould wear even at the theater, — a Polish coat richly embroidered,and encircled by a gilded belt from which hung the scabbard of alight sword, with a straight and pointed blade, without edge andwithout guard; large amaranth-colored pantaloons embroidered ingold on the seams, and nankeen boots; a large hat embroidered ingold with a border of white feathers, above which floated fourlarge ostrich plumes with an exquisite heron aigrette in the midst;and finally the king's horse, always selected from the strongestand handsomest that could be found, was covered with an elegantlyembroidered sky-blue cloth which extended to the ground, and washeld in place by a Hungarian or Turkish saddle of the richestworkmanship, together with a bridle and stirrups not lessmagnificent than the rest of the equipment. All these thingscombined made the King of Naples a being apart, an object of terrorand admiration. But what, so to speak, idealized him was his trulychivalrous bravery, often carried to the point of recklessness, asif danger had no existence for him. In truth, this extreme couragewas by no means displeasing to the Emperor; and though he perhapsdid not always approve of the manner in which it was displayed, hisMajesty rarely failed to accord it his praise, especially when hethought necessary to contrast it with the increasing prudence shownby some of his old companions in arms.
On the 28th the Emperor visited the battlefield,which presented a frightful spectacle, and gave orders thateverything possible should be done to alleviate the sufferings ofthe wounded, and also of the inhabitants and peasants who had beenravaged and pillaged, and their fields and houses burned, and thenascended the heights from which he could follow the course of theenemy's retreat. Almost all the household followed him in thisexcursion. A peasant was brought to him from Nothlitz, a smallvillage where the Emperor Alexander and the King of Prussia hadtheir headquarters during the two preceding days. This peasant,when questioned by the Duke of Vicenza, said he had seen a greatpersonage brought into Nothlitz, who had been wounded the eveningbefore on the staff of the allies. He was on horseback, and besidethe Emperor of Russia, at the moment he was struck. The Emperor ofRussia appeared to take the deepest interest in his fate. He hadbeen carried to the headquarters of Nothlitz on lances of theCossacks interlaced, and to cover him they could find only a cloakwet through with the rain. On his arrival at Nothlitz the EmperorAlexander's surgeon came to perform the amputation, and had himcarried on an extending chair to Dippoldiswalde, escorted byseveral Austrian, Prussian, and Russian detachments.
On learning these particulars the Emperor waspersuaded that the Prince von Schwarzenberg was the person inquestion. “He was a brave man, ” said he; “and I regret him. ” Thenafter a silent pause, “It is then he, ” resumed his Majesty, “whois the victim of the fatality! I have always been oppressed by afeeling that the events of the ball were a sinister omen, but it isvery evident now that it was he whom the presage indicated. ”
While the Emperor gave himself up to theseconjectures, and recalled his former presentiments, prisoners whowere brought before his Majesty had been questioned; and he learnedfrom their reports that the Prince von Schwarenzberg had not beenwounded, but was well, and was directing the retreat of theAustrian grand army. Who was, then, the important personage struckby a French cannonball? Conjectures were renewed on this point,when the Prince de Neuchatel received from the King of Saxony acollar unfastened from the neck of a wandering dog which had beenfound at Nothlitz. On the collar was written these words, “I belongto General Moreau. ” This furnished, of course, only a supposition;but soon exact information arrived, and confirmed thisconjecture.
Thus Moreau met his death the first occasion onwhich he bore arms against his native country, — he who had sooften confronted with impunity the bullets of the enemy. Historyhas judged him severely; nevertheless, in spite of the coldnesswhich had so long divided them, I can assert that the Emperor didnot learn without emotion the death of Moreau, notwithstanding hisindignation that so celebrated a French general could have taken uparms against France, and worn the Russian cockade. This unexpecteddeath produced an evident effect in both camps, though our soldierssaw in it only a just judgment from Heaven, and an omen favorableto the Emperor. However that may be, these are the particulars,which I learned a short time after, as they were related by thevalet de chambre of General Moreau.
The three sovereigns of Russia, Austria, and Prussiahad been present on the 27th at the battle on the heights ofNothlitz, but had retired as soon as they saw that the battle waslost. That very day General Moreau was wounded by a cannon-ballnear the intrenchments in front of Dresden, and about four o'clockin the afternoon was conveyed to Nothlitz, to the country house ofa merchant named Salir, where the Emperors of Austria and Russiahad established their headquarters. Both limbs of the general wereamputated above the knee. After the amputation, as he requestedsomething to eat and a cup of tea, three eggs were brought him on aplate; but he took only the tea. About seven o'clock he was placedon a litter, and carried to Passendorf by Russian soldiers, andpassed the night in the country house of M. Tritschier, grandmaster of forests. There he took only another cup of tea, andcomplained greatly of the sufferings he endured. The next day, the28th of August, at four o'clock in the morning, he was conveyed,still by Russian soldiers, from Passendorf to Dippodiswalde, wherehe took a little white bread and a glass of lemonade at the houseof a baker named Watz. An hour after he was carried nearer to thefrontiers of Bohemia, borne by Russian soldiers in the body of acoach taken off the wheels. During the entire route he incessantlyuttered cries which the extremity of his sufferings drew fromhim.
These are the details which I learned in regard toMoreau; and, as is well known, he did not long survive his wound.The same ball which broke both his legs carried off an arm fromPrince Ipsilanti, then aide-de-camp to the Emperor Alexander; sothat if the evil that is done can be repaired by the evil received,it might be said that the cannon-shot which tore away from usGeneral Kirgener and Marshal Duroc was this day sent back on theenemy. But alas! it is a sad sort of consolation that is drawn fromreprisals.
It may be seen from the above, and especially fromthe seemingly decisive benefits arising from the battle of Dresden,that since the resumption of hostilities, in every place where ourtroops had been sustained by the all-powerful presence of theEmperor, they had obtained successes; but unfortunately this wasnot the case at points distant from the main line of operations.Nevertheless, seeing the allies routed by the army which hecommanded in person, and certain, moreover, that General Vandammehad held the position which he had indicated to him through GeneralHaxo, his Majesty returned to his first idea of marching on Berlin,and already even had disposed his troops with this intention, whenthe fatal news arrived that Vandamme, the victim of his ownrashness, had disappeared from the field of battle, and his tenthousand men, surrounded on all sides, and overwhelmed by numbers,had been cut to pieces. It was believed that Vandamme was dead, andit was not until later we learned that he had been taken prisonerwith a part of his troop. It was learned also that Vandamme,incited by his natural intrepidity, and unable to resist a desireto attack the enemy whom he saw within his grasp, had left hisintrenchments to make the attack. He had conquered at first, butwhen after his victory he attempted to resume his former positionhe found it occupied, as the Prussians had seized it; and though hefought with all the abandon of despair, it was all in vain, andGeneral Kleist, proud of this fine trophy, conducted him in triumphto Prague. It was while speaking of this audacious attack ofVandamme that the Emperor used this expression, which has been sojustly admired, “For a retreating enemy it