capital. Having begun a retreat, he was pursued by Eugene, and
defeated on the Piave, with great loss, on the 8th of May.
Escaping thence, without further molestation, to Villach, in
Carinthia, he received intelligence of the fall of Vienna,
together with a letter from the Archduke Charles, of the 15th
of May, directing him to move with all his forces upon Lintz,
to act on the rear and communications of Napoleon. Instead of
obeying these orders, he thought proper to march into Hungary,
abandoning the Tyrol and the whole projected operations on the
Upper Danube to their fate. His disobedience was disastrous to
the fortunes of his house, for it caused the fruits of the
victory at Aspern to be lost. He might have arrived, with
50,000 men, on the 24th or 25th, at Lintz, where no one
remained but Bernadotte and the Saxons, who were incapable of
offering any serious resistance. Such a force, concentrated on
the direct line of Napoleon's communications, immediately
after his defeat at Aspern, on the 22nd, would have deprived
him of all means of extricating himself from the most perilous
situation in which he had yet been placed since ascending the
consular throne. After totally defeating Jellachich in the
valley of the Muhr, Eugene desisted from his pursuit of the
army of Italy, and joined Napoleon at Vienna. The Archduke
John united his forces at Raab with those of the Hungarian
insurrection, under his brother, the Palatine. The viceroy
again marched against him, and defeated him at Raab on the
14th of June. The Palatine remained with the Hungarian
insurrection in Komorn; Archduke John moved on to Presburg. In
the north, the Archduke Ferdinand, who had advanced as far as
Warsaw, had been driven back by the Poles: under Poniatowsky,
and by a Russian force sent by the Emperor Alexander to their
aid, which, on this success, invaded Galicia."
W. K. Kelly,
History of the House of Austria (Continuation of Coxe),
chapter 4.
ALSO IN:
Sir A. Alison,
History of Europe, 1789-1815,
chapter 56-57 (volume 12).
Duke de Rovigo,
Memoirs,
volume 2, part 2, chapters 3-12.
Baron Jomini,
Life of Napoleon,
chapter 14 (volume 3).
Baron de Marbot,
Memoirs,
volume 1, chapters 42-48.
GERMANY: A. D. 1809 (April-July).
Risings against the French in the North.
"A general revolt against the French had nearly taken place in
Saxony and Westphalia, where the enormous burdens imposed on
the people, and the insolence of the French troops, had
kindled a deadly spirit of hostility against the oppressors.
Everywhere the Tugendbund were in activity; and the advance of
the Austrians towards Franconia and Saxony, at the beginning
of the war, blew up the flame. The two first attempts at
insurrection, headed respectively by Katt, a Prussian officer
(April 3), and Dornberg, a Westphalian colonel (April 23),
proved abortive; but the enterprise of the celebrated Schill
was of a more formidable character.
{1519}
This enthusiastic patriot, then a colonel in the Prussian
army, had been compromised in the revolt of Dornberg; and
finding himself discovered, he boldly raised the standard
(April 29) at the head of 600 soldiers. His force speedily
received accessions, but failing in his attempts on Wittenberg
and Magdeburg, he moved towards the Baltic, in hope of succour
from the British cruisers, and at last threw himself into
Stralsund. Here he was speedily invested; the place was
stormed (May 31), and the gallant Schill slain in the assault,
a few hours only before the appearance of the British vessels
--the timely arrival of which might have secured the place,
and spread the rising over all Northern Germany. The Duke of
Brunswick-Oels, with his 'black band' of volunteers, had at
the same time invaded Saxony from Bohemia; and though then
obliged to retreat, he made a second incursion in June,
occupied Dresden and Leipsic, and drove the King of Westphalia
into France. After the battle of Wagram he made his way across
all Northern Germany, and was eventually conveyed, with his
gallant followers, still 2,000 strong, to England."
Epitome of Alison's History of Europe,
sections 525-526.
GERMANY: A. D. 1809 (July-September).
Napoleon's victory at Wagram.
The Peace of Schonbrunn.
Immense surrender of Austrian territory.
"The operation of establishing the bridges between the French
camp and the left bank of the Danube commenced on the night of
the 30th of June; and during the night of the 4th of July the
whole French army, passing between the villages of Enzersdorf
and Muhlleuten, debouched on the Marchfeld, wheeling to their
left. Napoleon was on horseback in the midst of them by
daylight; all the Austrian fortifications erected to defend
the former bridge were turned, the villages occupied by their
army taken, and the Archduke Charles was menaced both in flank
and rear, the French line of battle appuyed on Enzersdorf
being at a right angle to his left wing. Under these
circumstances the Archduke, retiring his left, attempted to
outflank the French right, while Napoleon bore down upon his
centre at Wagram. This village became the scene of a
sanguinary struggle, and one house only remained standing when
night closed in. The Archduke sent courier after courier to
hasten the advance of his brother, between whom and himself
was Napoleon, whose line on the night of the 5th extended from
Loibersdorf on the right to some two miles beyond Wagram on
the left. Napoleon passed the night in massing his centre,
still determining to manœuvre by his left in order to throw
back the Archduke Charles on that side before the Archduke
John could come up on the other. At six o'clock on the morning
of the 6th of July he commanded the attack in person.
Disregarding all risk, he appeared throughout the day in the
hottest of the fire, mounted on a snow-white charger,
Euphrates, a present from the Shah of Persia. The Archduke
Charles as usual committed the error which Napoleon's enemies
had not even yet learned was invariably fatal to them:
extending his line too greatly he weakened his centre, at the
same time opening tremendous assaults on the French wings,
which suffered dreadfully. Napoleon ordered Lauriston to
advance upon the Austrian centre with a hundred guns,
supported by two whole divisions of infantry in column. The
artillery, when within half cannon-shot, opened a terrific
fire: nothing could withstand such a shock. The infantry, led
by Macdonald, charged; the Austrian line was broken and the
centre driven back in confusion. The right, in a panic,
retrograded; the French cavalry then bore down upon them and
decided the battle, the Archduke still fighting to secure his
retreat, which he at length effected in tolerably good order.
By noon the whole Austrian army was abandoning the contest.
Their defeat so demoralized them that the Archduke John, who
came up on Napoleon's right before the battle was over, was
glad to retire with the rest, unnoticed by the enemy. That
evening the Marchfeld and Wagram were in possession of the
French. The population of Vienna had watched the battle from
the roofs and ramparts of the city, and saw the retreat of
their army with fear and gloom. Between 300,000 and 400,000
men were engaged, and the loss on both sides was nearly equal.
About 20,000 dead and 30,000 wounded strewed the ground; the
latter were conveyed to the hospitals of Vienna. ... Twenty
thousand Austrians were taken prisoners, but the number would
have been greater had the French cavalry acted with their
usual spirit. Bernadotte, issuing a bulletin, almost assuming
to himself the sole merit of the victory, was removed from his
command. Macdonald was created a marshal of the empire on the
morning after the battle. ... The battle of Wagram was won
more by good fortune than skill. Napoleon's strategy was at
fault, and had the Austrians fought as stoutly as they did at
Aspern, Napoleon would have been signally defeated. Had the
Archduke John acted promptly and vigorously, he might have
united with his brother's left--which was intact--and
overwhelmed the French. ... The defeated army retired to
Znaim, followed by the French; but further resistance was
abandoned by the Emperor of Austria. The Archduke Charles
solicited an armistice on the 9th; hostilities ceased, and
Napoleon returned to the palace of Schonbrunn while the
plenipotentiaries settled the terms of peace. ... English
Ministers displayed another instance of their customary spirit
of procrastination. Exactly eight days after the armistice of
Znaim, which assured them that Austria was no longer in a
position to profit by or co-operate with their proceedings,
they sent more than 80,000 fighting men, under the command of
Lord Chatham, to besiege Antwerp. ...
See ENGLAND: A. D. 1809 (JULY-DECEMBER).
Operations against Naples proved equally abortive. ... In
Spain alone English arms were successful. Sir Arthur Wellesley
won the battle of Talavera on the 28th of July. ...
See SPAIN: A. D. 1809 (FEBRUARY-JULY).
A treaty of peace, between France and Austria was signed on
the 14th of October at Vienna [sometimes called the Treaty of
Vienna, but more commonly the Peace of Schonbrunn]. The
Emperor of Austria ceded Salzburg and a part of Upper Austria
to the Confederation of the Rhine; part of Bohemia, Cracow,
and Western Galicia to the King of Saxony as Grand Duke of
Warsaw; part of Eastern Galicia to the Emperor of Russia; and
Trieste, Carniola, Friuli, Villach, and some part of Croatia
and Dalmatia to France: thus connecting the kingdom of Italy
with Napoleon's Illyrian possessions, making him master of the
entire coast of the Adriatic, and depriving Austria of its
last seaport. It was computed that the Emperor Francis gave up
territory to the amount of 45,000 square miles, with a
population of nearly 4,000,000. He also paid a large
contribution in money."
R. H. Horne,
Life of Napoleon,
chapter 32.
{1520}
"The cessions made directly to Napoleon were the county of
Görtz, or Goricia, and that of Montefalcone, forming the
Austrian Friuli; the town and government of Trieste, Carniola,
the circle of Villach in Carinthia, part of Croatia and
Dalmatia, and the lordship of Räzuns in the Grison territory.
All these provinces, with the exception of Räzuns, were
incorporated by a decree of Napoleon, with Dalmatia and its
islands, into a single state with the name of the Illyrian
Provinces. They were never united with France, but always
governed by Napoleon as an independent state. A few districts
before possessed by Napoleon were also incorporated with them:
as Venetian Istria and Dalmatia with the Bocca di Cattaro,
Ragusa, and part of the Tyrol. ... The only other articles of
the treaty of much importance are the recognition by Austria
of any changes made, or to be made, in Spain, Portugal, and
Italy; the adherence of the Emperor to the prohibitive system
adopted by France and Russia, and his engaging to cease all
correspondence and relationship with Great Britain. By a
decree made at Ratisbon, April 24th, 1809, Napoleon had
suppressed the Teutonic Order in all the States belonging to
the Rhenish Confederation, reannexed its possessions to the
domains of the prince in which they were situated, and
incorporated Mergentheim, with the rights, domains, and
revenues attached to the Grand Mastership of the Order, with
the Kingdom of Würtemberg. These dispositions were confirmed
by the Treaty of Schönbrunn. The effect aimed at by the Treaty
of Schönbrunn was to surround Austria with powerful states,
and thus to paralyse all her military efforts. ... The Emperor
of Russia ... was very ill satisfied with the small portion of
the spoils assigned to him, and the augmentation awarded to
the duchy of Warsaw. Hence the first occasion of coldness
between him and Napoleon, whom he suspected of a design to
reestablish the Kingdom of Poland."
T. H. Dyer,
History of Modern Europe,
book 7, chapter 14 (volume 4).
ALSO IN:
Sir A. Alison,
History of Europe, 1789-1815,
chapters 59-60 (volume 13).
General Count M. Dumas,
Memoirs,
chapter 13 (volume 2).
E. Baines,
History of the Wars of the French Revolution,
book 4, chapter 9 (volume 3).
J. C. Ropes,
The First Napoleon,
lecture 4.
GERMANY: A. D. 1809-1810.
Humboldt's reform of Public Instruction in Prussia.
See EDUCATION, MODERN:
EUROPEAN COUNTRIES.-PRUSSIA: A. D. 1809.
GERMANY: A. D. 1809-1810 (April-February).
The revolt in the Tyrol.
Heroic struggle of Andrew Hofer and his countrymen.
"The Tyrol, for centuries a possession of Austria, was ceded
to Bavaria by the Peace of Presburg in 1805. The Bavarians
made many innovations, in the French style, some good and some
bad; but the mountaineers, clinging to their ancient ways,
resisted them all alike. They hated the Bavarians as foreign
masters forced upon them; and especially detested the military
conscription, to which Austria had never subjected them. The
priests had an almost unlimited influence over these faithful
Catholics, and the Bavarians, who treated them rudely, were
regarded as innovators and allies of revolutionary France.
Thus the country submitted restlessly to the yoke of the Rhine
League until the spring of 1809. A secret understanding was
maintained with Austria and the Archduke John, and the people
never abandoned the hope of returning to their Austrian
allegiance. When the great war of 1809 began, the Emperor
Francis summoned all his people to arms. The Tyrolese answered
the call. ... They are a people trained in early life to the
use of arms, and to activity, courage, and ready devices in
hunting, and in traveling on their mountain paths. Austria
could be sure of the faithfulness of the Tyrol, and made haste
to occupy the country. When the first troops were seen entering
the passes, the people arose and drove away the Bavarian
garrisons. The alarm was soon sounded through the deepest
ravines of the land. Never was there a more united people, and
each troop or company chose its own officers, in the ancient
German style, from among their strongest and best men. Their
commanders were hunters, shepherds, priests: the former
gamekeeper, Speckbacher; the innkeeper, Martin Teimer; the
fiery Capuchin monk, Haspinger, whose sole weapon in the field
was a huge ebony crucifix, and many more of like peaceful
occupations. At the head of the whole army was a man who, like
Saul, towered by a head above all others, while his handsome
black beard fell to his girdle--Andrew Hofer, formerly an
innkeeper at Passeyr--a man of humble piety and simple
faithfulness, who fairly represented the people he led. He
regarded the war as dutiful service to his religion, his
emperor, and his country. The whole land soon swarmed with
little bands of men, making their way to Innsprück (April,
1809), whence the Bavarian garrison fled. Meanwhile a small
French corps came from Italy to relieve them. Though fired
upon by the peasants from every ravine and hill, they passed
the Brenner, and reached the Iselberg, near Innsprück. But
here they were surrounded on every side, and forced to
surrender. The first Austrian soldiers, under General
Chasteler, then reached the capital, and their welcome was a
popular festival. The liberators, as the Tyrolese soldiers
regarded themselves, committed no cruelties, but carried on
their enterprise in the spirit of a national jubilee. The
tidings of the disasters at Regensburg [Ratisbon] now came
upon them like a thunderbolt. The withdrawal of the Austrian
army then left the Tyrol without protection. Napoleon treated
the war as a mutiny, and set a price upon Chasteler's head.
Neither Chasteler nor any of the Austrian officers with him
understood the warfare of the peasantry. The Tyrolese were
left almost wholly to themselves, but they resolved to defend
their mountains. On May 11 the Bavarians under Wrede again set
out, from Salzburg, captured the pass of the Strub after a
bloody fight, and then climbed into the valley of the Inn.
They practiced frightful cruelties in their way. A fierce
struggle took place at the little village of Schwatz; the
Bavarians burned the place, and marched to Innsprück.
Chasteler withdrew, and the Bavarians and French, under Wrede
and Lefevre, entered the capital. The country again appeared
to be subdued. But cruelty had embittered the people. Wrede
was recalled, with his corps, by Napoleon; and now Hofer, with
his South Tyrolese, recrossed the Brenner Pass. Again the
general alarm was given, the leaders called to arms, and again
every pass, every wall of rock, every narrow road was seized.
The struggle took place at the Iselberg.
{1521}
The Bavarians, 7,000 in number, were defeated with heavy loss.
The Tyrol now remained for several months undisturbed, during
the campaign around Vienna. After the battle of Aspern, an
imperial proclamation formally assured the Tyrolese that they
should never be severed from the Austrian Empire; and that no
peace should be signed unless their indissoluble union with
the monarchy were recognized. The Tyrolese quietly trusted the
emperor's promise, until the armistice of Znaim. But in this
the Tyrol was not mentioned, and the French and their allies
prepared to chastise the loyal and abandoned country."
C. T. Lewis,
History of Germany,
chapter 28.
"In the mouth of July, an army of 40,000 French and Bavarians
attacked the Tyrol from the German side; while from Italy,
General Rusca, with 18,000 men, entered from Clagenfurth, on
the southern side of the Tyrolese Alps. Undismayed by this
double and formidable invasion, they assailed the invaders as
they penetrated into their fastnesses, defeated and destroyed
them. The fate of a division of 10,000 men, belonging to the
French and Bavarian army, which entered the Upper Innthal, or
Valley of the Inn, will explain in part the means by which
these victories were obtained. The invading troops advanced in
a long column up a road bordered on the one side by the river
Inn, there a deep and rapid torrent, where cliffs of immense
height overhang both road and river. The vanguard was
permitted to advance unopposed as far as Prutz, the object of
their expedition. The rest of the army were therefore induced
to trust themselves still deeper in this tremendous pass,
where the precipices, becoming more and more narrow as they
advanced, seemed about to close above their heads. No sound
but of the screaming of the eagles disturbed from, their
eyries, and the roar of the river, reached the ears of the
soldier, and on the precipices, partly enveloped in a hazy
mist, no human forms showed themselves. At length the voice of
a man was heard calling across the ravine, 'Shall we
begin?'--'No,' was returned in an authoritative tone of voice,
by one who, like the first speaker, seemed the inhabitant of
some upper region. The Bavarian detachment halted, and sent to
the general for orders;' when presently was heard the terrible
signal, 'In the name of the Holy Trinity, cut all loose!' Huge
rocks, and trunks of trees, long prepared and laid in heaps
for the purpose, began now to descend rapidly in every
direction, while the deadly fire of the Tyrolese, who never
throw away a shot, opened from every bush, crag, or corner of
rock, which would afford the shooter cover. As this dreadful
attack was made on the whole line at once, two-thirds of the
enemy were instantly destroyed; while the Tyrolese, rushing
from their shelter, with swords, spears, axes, scythes, clubs
and all other rustic instruments which could be converted into
weapons, beat down and routed the shattered remainder. As the
vanguard, which had reached Prutz, was obliged to surrender,
very few of the 10,000 invaders are computed to have
extricated themselves from the fatal pass. But not all the
courage of the Tyrolese, not all the strength of their
country, could possibly enable them to defend themselves, when
the peace with Austria had permitted Buonaparte to engage his
whole immense means for the acquisition of these mountains.
Austria too--Austria herself, in whose cause they had
incurred all the dangers of war, instead of securing their
indemnity by some stipulations in the treaty, sent them a cold
exhortation to lay down their arms. Resistance, therefore, was
abandoned as fruitless; Hofer, chief commander of the
Tyrolese, resigned his command, and the Bavarians regained the
possession of a country which they could never have won back
by their own efforts. Hofer, and about thirty chiefs of these
valiant defenders of their country, were put to death
[February, 1810], in poor revenge for the loss their bravery
had occasioned. But their fame, as their immortal spirit, was
beyond the power of the judge alike and executioner; and the
place where their blood was shed, becomes sacred to the
thoughts of freedom, as the precincts of a temple to those of
religion."
Sir W. Scott,
Life of Napoleon,
volume 2, chapter 7.
ALSO IN:
Sir A. Alison,
History of Europe, 1789-1815,
chapter 58 (volume 12).
History of Hofer
(Quarterly Review, July, 1817).
C. H. Hall,
Life of Andrew Hofer.
GERMANY: A. D. 1810.
Annexation of the Hanse Towns and territory on the North Sea
to France.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1810 (FEBRUARY-DECEMBER).
GERMANY: A. D. 1810-1812.
Marriage of the Archduchess Marie Louise
of Austria to Napoleon.
Alliance of German powers with Napoleon against Russia.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1810-1812.
GERMANY: A. D. 1812.
The Russian campaign of Napoleon and its disastrous ending.
See RUSSIA: A. D. 1812 (JUNE-SEPTEMBER),
(SEPTEMBER), and (OCTOBER-DECEMBER).
GERMANY: A. D. 1812-1813.
The Teutonic uprising against Napoleon.
Beginning of the War of Liberation.
Alliance of Prussia and Russia.
"During Napoleon's march on Moscow and his fatal return,
Macdonald remained on the Lower Dwina, before Riga, with an
observation corps of Prussians and Poles, nor had he ever
received an order to retreat from Napoleon. Learning of the
misfortunes of the grand army, he went from the Dwina towards
the Niemen. As he passed through Courland, General York,
commander of the Prussian troops, allowed him to lead the way
with the Poles, and then signed an agreement of neutrality
with the Russians (December 30, 1812). The Prussian troops,
from a military spirit of honor, had fought the Russians
bravely; they retained some scruples relative to the worthy
marshal under whom they served, and forsook without betraying
him, that is, they left him time to escape. This was a most
important event and the beginning of the inevitable defection
of Germany. The attitude of Czar Alexander decided General
York; the former was completely dazzled by his triumphs, and
aspired to nothing less than to destroy Napoleon and liberate
Europe, even France! With mingled enthusiasm and calculation,
he promised all things to all men; on returning to Wilna, he
granted an amnesty for all acts committed in Poland against
Russian authority. On the one hand, he circulated a rumor that
he was about to make himself King of Poland, and, on the other
hand, he announced to the Prussians that he was ready to
restore the Polish provinces taken from them by Napoleon. He
authorized ex-Minister Stein to take possession, as we may
say, of Old Prussia, just evacuated by the French, and to
promise the speedy enfranchisement of Germany, protesting, at
the same time, that he would not dispute 'the legitimate
greatness' of France.
{1522}
The French army, on hearing of York's defection, left
Königsberg with ten or twelve thousand sick men and eight or
ten thousand armed troops, withdrawing to the Vistula and
thence to Warta and Posen. General Rapp had succeeded in
gathering at Dantzic, the great French depot of stores and
reserves, 25,000 men, few of whom had gone through the Russian
campaign, and a division of almost equal numbers occupied
Berlin. The French had in all barely 80,000 men, from Dantzic
to the Rhine, not including their Austrian and Saxon allies,
who had fallen back on Warsaw and seemed disposed to fight no
more. Murat, to whom Napoleon confided the remains of the
grand army, followed the Emperor's example and set out to
defend his Neapolitan kingdom, leaving the chief command to
Prince Eugene. Great agitation prevailed around the feeble
French forces still occupying Germany. The Russians
themselves, worn out, did not press the French very hotly; but
York and Stein, masters of Königsberg, organized and armed Old
Prussia without awaiting authorization from the king, who was
not considered as a free agent, being under foreign rule.
Pamphlets, proclamations, and popular songs were circulated
everywhere, provoking the people to rebellion. The idea of
German union ran like wildfire from the Niemen to the Rhine;
federal union, not unity in a single body or state, which was
not thought of then."
H. Martin,
Popular History of France from 1789,
volume 2, chapter 16.
"The king of Prussia had suddenly abandoned Berlin [January,
1813], which was still in the hands of the French, for
Breslau, whence he declared war against France. A conference
also took place between him and the emperor Alexander at
Calisch [Kalisch], and, on the 28th of February, 1813, an
offensive and defensive alliance was concluded between them.
The hour for vengeance had at length arrived. The whole
Prussian nation, eager to throw off the hated yoke of the
foreigner, to obliterate their disgrace in 1806, to regain
their ancient name, cheerfully hastened to place their lives
and property at the service of the impoverished government.
The whole of the able-bodied population was put under arms.
The standing army was increased: to each regiment were
appended troops of volunteers, Jaegers, composed of young' men
belonging to the higher classes, who furnished their own
equipments: a numerous Landwehr, a sort of militia, was, as in
Austria, raised besides the standing army, and measures were
even taken to call out, in case of necessity, the heads of
families and elderly men remaining at home, under the name of
the Landsturm. The enthusiastic people, besides furnishing the
customary supplies and paying the taxes, contributed to the
full extent of their means towards defraying the immense
expense of this general arming. Every heart throbbed high with
pride and hope. ... More loudly than even in 1809 in Austria
was the German cause now discussed, the great name of the
German empire now invoked in Prussia, for in that name alone
could all the races of Germany be united against their
hereditary foe. The celebrated proclamation, promising
external and internal liberty to Germany, was, with this view,
published at Calisch by Prussia and Russia. Nor was the appeal
vain. It found an echo in every German heart, and such plain
demonstrations of the state of the popular feeling on this
side the Rhine were made, that Davoust sent serious warning to
Napoleon, who contemptuously replied, 'Pah! Germans never can
become Spaniards!' With his customary rapidity he levied in
France a fresh army 300,000 strong, with which he so
completely awed the Rhenish confederation as to compel it once
more to take the field with thousands of Germans against their
brother Germans. The troops, however, reluctantly obeyed, and
even the traitors were but lukewarm, for they doubted of
success. Mecklenburg alone sided with Prussia. Austria
remained neutral. A Russian corps under General Tettenborn had
preceded the rest of the troops and reached the coasts of the
Baltic. As early as the 24th of March, 1813, it appeared in
Hamburg and expelled the French authorities from the city. The
heavily oppressed people of Hamburg, whose commerce had been
totally annihilated by the continental system, gave way to the
utmost demonstrations of delight, received their deliverers
with open arms, revived their ancient rights, and immediately
raised a Hanseatic corps destined to take the field against
Napoleon. Dörnberg, the ancient foe to France, with another
flying squadron took the French division under Morand
prisoner, and the Prussian, Major Hellwig (the same who, in
1806, liberated the garrison of Erfurt), dispersed, with
merely 120 hussars, a Bavarian regiment 1,300 strong and
captured five pieces of artillery. In January, the peasantry
of the upper country had already revolted against the
conscription, and, in February, patriotic proclamations had
been disseminated throughout Westphalia under the signature of
the Baron von Stein. In this month, also, Captain Maas and two
other patriots, who had attempted to raise a rebellion, were
executed. As the army advanced, Stein was nominated chief of
the provisional government of the still unconquered provinces
of Western Germany. The first Russian army, 17,000 strong,
under Wittgenstein, pushed forward to Magdeburg, and, at
Mökern, repulsed 40,000 French who were advancing upon Berlin.
The Prussians, under their veteran general, Blücher, entered
Saxony and garrisoned Dresden, on the 27th of March, 1813,
after an arch of the fine bridge across the Elbe [had] been
uselessly blown up by the French. Blücher, whose gallantry in
the former wars had gained for him the general esteem and
whose kind and generous disposition had won the affection of
the soldiery, was nominated generalissimo of the Prussian
forces, but subordinate in command to Wittgenstein, who
replaced Kutusow as generalissimo of the united forces of
Russia and Prussia. The Emperor of Russia and the King of
Prussia accompanied the army and were received with loud
acclamations by the people of Dresden and Leipzig."
W. Menzel,
History of Germany,
chapter 260 (volume 3).
Bernadotte, the adopted Crown Prince and expectant King of
Sweden, had been finally thrown into the arms of the new
Coalition against Napoleon, by the refusal of the latter to
take Norway from Denmark and give it to Sweden. "The
disastrous retreat of the French from Moscow ... led to the
signature of the Treaty of Stockholm on the 2d of March, 1813,
by which England acceded to the union of Norway to Sweden, and a
Swedish force was sent to Pomerania under General Sandels. On
the 18th of May, 1813, Bernadotte landed at Stralsund."
Lady Bloomfield,
Biographical Sketch of Bernadotte
(Memoir of Lord Bloomfield, volume 1, page 31).
ALSO IN:
J. R. Seeley,
Life and Times of Stein,
part 7 (volume 3).
A. Thiers,
History of the Consulate and the Empire,
book 47 (volume 4).
{1523}
GERMANY: A. D. 1813 (April-May).
Battle of Lützen.
Humiliation of the King of Saxony.
"On the 14th April, Napoleon left Paris to assume the command
of the army. Previous to his departure, with a view, perhaps,
of paying a compliment to the Emperor of Austria, the Empress
Marie Louise was appointed regent in his absence; but Prince
Schwarzenberg, who had arrived on a special mission from
Vienna, was treated only as the commander of an auxiliary
corps, to which orders would immediately be transmitted. On
the 16th he reached Mayence, where, for the last time, vassal
princes assembled courtier-like around him; and on the 20th he
was already at Erfurt, in the midst of his newly-raised army.
The roads were everywhere crowded with troops and artillery,
closing in towards the banks of the Saale. From Italy, Marshal
Bertrand joined with 40,000 men, old trained soldiers; the
Viceroy brought an equal number from the vicinity of
Magdeburg; and Marshal Macdonald having, on the 29th, taken
Merseburg by assault, the whole army, which Bade, the ablest
and most accurate of the authors who have written on this
campaign, estimates at 140,000 men, was assembled for action.
With this mighty force Napoleon determined to seek out the
enemy, and bring them quickly to battle. The Russian and
Prussian armies were no sooner united, after the alliance
concluded between the sovereigns, than they crossed the Elbe,
occupied Dresden, which the King of Saxony had abandoned, and
advanced to the banks of the Saale. General Blücher commanded
the Prussians, and Count Wittgenstein the Russian corps; and,
death having closed the career of old Marshal Kutusoff, ...
the command of both armies devolved upon the last mentioned
officer. Informed of the rapid advance of the French, the
allied monarchs joined their forces, which were drawn together
in the plains between the Saale and the Elbe; their numerous
cavalry giving them perfect command of this wide and open
country. Napoleon, always anxious for battle, determined to
press on towards Leipzig, behind which he expected to find the
Allied army, who, as it proved, were much nearer than he
anticipated. At the passage of the Rippach, a small stream
that borders the wide plain of Lützen, he already encountered
a body of Russian cavalry and artillery under Count
Winzingerode; and as the French were weak in horse, they had
to bring the whole of Marshal Ney's corps into action before
they could oblige the Russians to retire. Marshal Bessieres,
the commander of the Imperial Guard, was killed. ... On the
evening of the 1st of May, Napoleon established his quarters
in the small town of Lützen. The Allies, conscious of the vast
numerical superiority of the French, did not intend to risk a
general action on the left bank of the Elbe; but the length of
the hostile column of march, which extended from beyond
Naumberg almost to the gates of Leipzig, induced Scharnhorst
to propose an advance from the direction of Borna and Pegau
against the right flank of the enemy, and a sudden attack on
the centre of their line in the plain of Lützen. It was
expected that a decisive blow might be struck against this
centre, and the hostile army broken before the distant wings
could close up and take an effective part in the battle. The
open nature of the country, well adapted to the action of
cavalry, which formed the principal strength of the Allies,
spoke in favour of the plan. ... The bold attempt was
immediately resolved upon, and the onset fixed for the
following morning. The annals of war can hardly offer a plan
of battle more skilfully conceived than the one of which we
have here spoken; but unfortunately the execution fell far
short of the admirable conception. Napoleon, with his Guards
and the corps of Lauriston, was already at the gates of
Leipzig, preparing for an attack on the city, when about one
o'clock [May 2] the roar of artillery burst suddenly on the
ear, and gathering thicker and thicker as it rolled along,
proclaimed that a general action was engaged in the plain of
Lützen,--proclaimed that the army was taken completely at
fault, and placed in the most imminent peril. ... The Allies,
who, by means of their numerous cavalry, could easily mask
their movement, had advanced unobserved into the plain of
Lützen," and the action was begun by a brigade of Blücher's
corps attacking the French in the village of Great-Görschen
(Gross-Görschen). "Reinforcements ... poured in from both
sides, and the narrow and intersected ground between the
villages became the scene of a most murderous and
closely-contested combat of infantry. ... But no attempt was
made to employ the numerous and splendid cavalry, that stood
idly exposed, on open plain, to the shot of the French
artillery. ... When night put an end to the combat,
Great-Görschen was the sole trophy of the murderous fight that
remained in the hands of the Allies. ... On the side of the
Allies, 2,000 Russians and 8,000 Prussians had been killed or
wounded: among the slain was Prince Leopold of Hessen-Homburg;
among the wounded was the admirable Scharnhorst, who died a
few weeks afterwards. ... The loss sustained by the French is
not exactly known; but ... Jomini tells us that the 3d corps,
to which he was attached as chief of the staff, had alone 500
officers and 12,000 men 'hors de combat.' Both parties laid
claim to the victory: the French, because the Allies retired
on the day after the action; the Allies, because they remained
masters of part of the captured battlefield, had taken two
pieces of artillery, and 800 prisoners. ... The Allies
alleged, or pretended perhaps, that it was their intention to
renew the action on the following morning: in the Prussian
army every man, from the king to the humblest soldier, was
anxious indeed to continue the fray; and the wrath of Blücher,
who deemed victory certain, was altogether boundless when he
found the retreat determined upon. But ... opinion has, by
degrees, justified Count Wittgenstein's resolution to recross
the Elbe and fall back on the reinforcements advancing to join
the army. ... On the 8th of May, Napoleon held his triumphal
entrance into Dresden. ... On the advance of the Allies, the
Saxon monarch had retired to Ratisbon, and from thence to
Prague, intending, as he informed Napoleon, to join his
efforts to the mediation of Austria. Orders had, at the same
time, been given to General Thielman, commanding the Saxon
troops at Torgau, to maintain the most perfect neutrality, and
to admit neither of the contending parties within the walls of
the fortress. Exasperated by this show of independence,
Napoleon caused the following demands to be submitted to the
King, allowing him only six hours to determine on their
acceptance or refusal;
{1524}
1. 'General Thielman and the Saxon troops instantly evacuate
Torgau, and form the 7th corps under General Réynier; and all
the resources of the country to be at the disposal of the
Emperor, in conformity with the principles of the
Confederation of the Rhine.'
2. 'The Saxon Cavalry'--some regiments had accompanied the
King--'return immediately to Dresden.'
3. 'The King declares, in a letter to the Emperor, that he is
still a member of the Confederation of the Rhine, and ready to
fulfil all the obligations which it imposes upon him.'
'If these conditions are not immediately complied with,' says
Napoleon in the instructions to his messenger, 'you will cause
his Majesty to be informed that he is guilty of felony, has
forfeited the Imperial protection, and has ceased to reign.'
... Frederick Augustus, finding himself threatened with the
loss of his crown by an overbearing conqueror already in
possession of his capital, ... yielded in an evil hour to
those imperious demands, and returned to Dresden. ... Fortune
appeared again to smile upon her spoiled and favoured child;
and he resolved, on his part, to leave no expedient untried to
make the most of her returning aid. The mediation of Austria,
which from the first had been galling to his pride, became
more hateful every day, as it gradually assumed the appearance
of an armed interference, ready to enforce its demands by
military means. ... Tidings having arrived that the allied
army, instead of continuing their retreat, had halted and
taken post at Bautzen, he immediately resolved to strike a
decisive blow in the field, as the best means of thwarting the
pacific efforts of his father-in-law."
Lieutenant Colonel J. Mitchell,
The Fall of Napoleon,
book 2, chapter 1 (volume 2).
ALSO IN:
Sir A. Alison,
History of Europe, 1789-1815,
chapter 75 (volume 13).
Duchess d'Abrantes,
Memoirs of Napoleon,
volume 2, chapter 44.
GERMANY: A. D. 1813 (May-August).
Battle of Bautzen.
Armistice of Pleswitz.
Accession of Austria and Great Britain to the Coalition
against Napoleon.
"While the Emperor paused at Dresden, Ney made various
demonstrations in the direction of Berlin, with the view of
inducing the Allies to quit Bautzen; but it soon became
manifest that they had resolved to sacrifice the Prussian
capital, if it were necessary, rather than forego their
position. ... Having replaced by wood-work some arches of the
magnificent bridge over the Elbe at Dresden, which the Allies
had blown up on their retreat, Napoleon now moved towards
Bautzen, and came in sight of the position on the morning of
the 21st of May. Its strength was obviously great. In their
front was the river Spree: wooded hills supported their right,
and eminences well fortified their left. The action began with
an attempt to turn their right, but Barclay de Tolly
anticipated this movement, and repelled it with such vigour
that a whole column of 7,000 dispersed and fled into the hills
of Bohemia for safety. The Emperor then determined to pass the
Spree in front of the enemy, and they permitted him to do so,
rather than come down from their position. He took up his
quarters in the town of Bautzen, and his whole army bivouacked
in presence of the Allies. The battle was resumed at daybreak
on the 22d; when Ney on the right, and Oudinot on the left;
attempted simultaneously to turn the flanks of the position;
while Soult and Napoleon himself directed charge after charge
on the centre. During four hours the struggle was maintained
with unflinching obstinacy; the wooded heights, where Blucher
commanded, had been taken and retaken several times--the
bloodshed on either side had been terrible--ere ... the Allies
perceived the necessity either of retiring, or of continuing
the fight against superior numbers on disadvantageous ground.
They withdrew accordingly; but still with all the deliberate
coolness of a parade, halting at every favourable spot and
renewing their cannonade. 'What,' exclaimed Napoleon, 'no
results! not a gun! not a prisoner!--these people will not
leave me so much as a nail.' During the whole day he urged the
pursuit with impetuous rage, reproaching even his chosen
generals as 'creeping scoundrels,' and exposing his own person
in the very hottest of the fire." His closest friend, Duroc,
Grand Master of the Palace, was mortally wounded by his side,
before he gave up the pursuit. "The Allies, being strongly
posted during most of the day, had suffered less than the
French; the latter had lost 15,000, the former 10,000 men.
They continued their retreat into Upper Silesia; and
Buonaparte advanced to Breslau, and released the garrison of
Glogau. Meanwhile the Austrian, having watched these
indecisive though bloody fields, once more renewed his offers
of mediation. The sovereigns of Russia and Prussia expressed
great willingness to accept it; and Napoleon also appears to
have been sincerely desirous for the moment of bringing his
disputes to a peaceful termination. He agreed to an armistice
[of six weeks], and in arranging its conditions agreed to fall
back out of Silesia; thus enabling the allied princes to
reopen communications with Berlin. The lines of country to be
occupied by the armies, respectively, during the truce, were
at length settled, and it was signed on the 1st of June [at
Poischwitz, though the negotiations were mostly carried on at
Pleswitz, whence the Armistice is usually named]. The French
Emperor then returned to Dresden, and a general congress of
diplomatists prepared to meet at Prague. England alone refused
to send any representative to Prague, alleging that Buonaparte
had as yet signified no disposition to recede from his
pretensions on Spain, and that he had consented to the
armistice with the sole view of gaining time for political
intrigue and further military preparation. It may be doubted
whether any of the allied powers who took part in the Congress
did so with much hope that the disputes with Napoleon could
find a peaceful end. ... But it was of the utmost importance
to gain time for the advance of Bernadotte; for the arrival of
new reinforcements from Russia; for the completion of the
Prussian organization; and, above all, for determining the
policy of Vienna. Metternich, the Austrian minister, repaired
in person to Dresden, and while inferior diplomatists wasted
time in endless discussions at Prague, one interview between
him and Napoleon brought the whole question to a definite
issue. The Emperor ... assumed at once that Austria had no
wish but to drive a good bargain for herself, and asked
broadly, 'What is your price? Will Illyria satisfy you? I only
wish you to be neutral--I can deal with these Russians and
Prussians single-handed.'
{1525}
Metternich stated plainly that the time in which Austria could
be neutral was past; that the situation of Europe at large
must be considered; ... that events had proved the
impossibility of a steadfast peace unless the sovereigns of
the Continent were restored to the rank of independence; in a
word, that the Rhenish Confederacy must be broken up; that
France must be contented with the boundary of the Rhine, and
pretend no longer to maintain her usurped and unnatural
influence in Germany. Napoleon replied by a gross personal
insult: 'Come, Metternich,' said he, 'tell me honestly how
much the English have given you to take their part against
me.' The Austrian court at length sent a formal document,
containing its ultimatum, the tenor of which Metternich had
sufficiently indicated in this conversation. Talleyrand and
Fouché, who had now arrived from Paris, urged the Emperor to
accede to the proffered terms. They represented to him the
madness of rousing all Europe to conspire for his destruction,
and insinuated that the progress of discontent was rapid in
France itself. Their arguments were backed by intelligence of
the most disastrous character from Spain. ...
See SPAIN: A. D. 1812-1814.
Napoleon was urged by his military as well as political
advisers, to appreciate duly the crisis which his affairs had
reached. ... He proceeded to insult both ministers and
generals ... and ended by announcing that he did not wish for
any plans of theirs, but their service in the execution of
his. Thus blinded by arrogance and self-confidence, and
incapable of weighing any other considerations against what he
considered as the essence of his personal glory, Napoleon
refused to abate one iota of his pretensions--until it was too
late. Then, indeed, ... he did show some symptoms of
concession. A courier arrived at Prague with a note, in which
he signified his willingness to accede to a considerable
number of the Austrian stipulations. But this was on the 11th
of August. The day preceding was that on which, by the
agreement, the armistice was to end. On that day Austria had
to sign an alliance, offensive and defensive, with Russia and
Prussia. On the night between the 10th and 11th, rockets
answering rockets, from height to height along the frontiers
of Bohemia and Silesia, had announced to all the armies of the
Allies this accession of strength, and the immediate
recommencement of hostilities."
J. G. Lockhart,
Life of Napoleon Buonaparte,
chapters 32-33.
"On the 14th of June Great Britain had become a party to the
treaty concluded between Russia and Prussia. She had promised
assistance in this great struggle; but no aid could have been
more effectual than that which she was rendering in the
Peninsula."
C. Knight,
Popular History of England,
chapter 32 (volume 7).
ALSO IN:
G. R. Gleig,
The Leipsic Campaign,
chapters 7-16.
A. Thiers,
History of the Consulate and the Empire,
book 48-49 (volume 4).
Prince Metternich,
Memoirs, 1773-1815,
book 1, chapter 8 (volume 1).
J. R. Seeley,
Life and Times of Stein,
part 7, chapters 4-5 (volume 3).
J. Philippart,
Northern Campaign, 1812-1813,
volume 2.
GERMANY: A. D. 1813 (August).
Great battle and victory of Napoleon at Dresden.
French defeats at Kulm, Gross-Beeren and the Katzbach.
"Dresden, during the armistice, had been converted by Napoleon
into such a place of strength that it might be called one
citadel. All the trees in the neighbourhood, as well as those
which had formed the ornament of the public gardens and walks
of that beautiful capital, were cut down and converted into
abattis and palisades; redoubts, field-works, and fosses had
been constructed. The chain of fortresses garrisoned by French
troops secured to Napoleon the rich valley of the Elbe.
Hamburg, Dantzic, and many strong places on the Oder and
Vistula were in his possession. ... His army assembled at the
seat of war amounted to nearly 300,000 men, including the
Bavarian reserve of 25,000 under General Wrede, and he had
greatly increased his cavalry. This powerful force was divided
into eleven army corps, commanded by Vandamme, Victor, Bertrand,
Ney, Lauriston, Marmont, Reynier, Poniatowski, Macdonald,
Oudinot, and St. Cyr. Murat, who, roused by the news of the
victories of Lutzen and Bautzen, had left his capital, was
made commander-in-chief of all the cavalry. ... Davoust held
Hamburg with 20,000 men. Augereau with 24,000 occupied
Bavaria. The armies of the allies were computed at nearly
400,000 men, including the divisions destined to invade Italy.
Those ready for action at the seat of war in Germany were
divided into three great masses,--the army of Bohemia,
consisting mainly of Austrians commanded by Prince
Schwartzenburg; the army of Silesia, commanded by Blucher; and
the troops under the command of Bernadotte, stationed near
Berlin. These immense hosts were strong in cavalry and
artillery, and in discipline and experience far exceeded the
French soldiers, who were nearly all young conscripts. Two
Frenchmen of eminence were leaders in the ranks of the enemies
of France,--Bernadotte and Moreau; Jomini, late chief of the
engineer department in Napoleon's army, was a Swiss. These
three men, well instructed by the great master of the art of
war, directed the counsels of the allied Sovereigns and taught
them how to conquer. Bernadotte pointed out that Napoleon lay
in Dresden with his guard of five-and-twenty thousand men,
while his marshals were stationed in various strong positions
on the frontiers of Saxony. The moment a French corps d'armée
was attacked Napoleon would spring from his central point upon
the flank of the assailants, and as such a blow would be
irresistible he would thus beat the allied armies in detail.
To obviate this danger Bernadotte recommended that the first
general who attacked a French division and brought Napoleon
into the field should retreat, luring the Emperor onward in
pursuit, when the other bodies of allied troops,
simultaneously closing upon his rear, should surround him and
cut him off from his, base. This plan was followed: Blucher
advanced from Silesia, menacing the armies of Macdonald and
Ney, and Napoleon, with the activity expected, issued from
Dresden on the 15th of August, rapidly reached the point of
danger, and assumed the offensive. But he was unable to bring
the Prussian general to a decisive action, for Blucher,
continuing to retreat before him, the pursuit was only
arrested by an estafette reporting on the 23rd that the main
body of the allies threatened Dresden. On the 25th, at 4 in
the afternoon, 200,000 allied troops led by Schwartzenburg
appeared before that city. St. Cyr, who had been left to
observe the passes of the Bohemian mountains with 20,000 men,
retreated before the irresistible torrent and threw himself
into the Saxon capital, which he prepared to defend with his
own forces and the garrison left by the Emperor.
{1526}
It was a service of the last importance. With Dresden Napoleon
would lose his recruiting depot and supplies of every kind.
... The Austrian commander-in-chief deferred the attack till
the following day, replying to the expostulations of Jomini
that Napoleon was engaged in the Silesian passes. Early on the
morning of the 26th the allies advanced to the assault in six
columns, under cover of a tremendous artillery fire. They
carried one great redoubt, then another, and closed with the
defenders of the city at every point, shells and balls falling
thick on the houses, many of which were on fire. St. Cyr
conducted the defence with heroism; but before midday a
surrender was talked of. ... Suddenly, from the opposite bank
of the Elbe columns of soldiers were seen hastening towards
the city. They pressed across the bridges, swept through the
streets, and with loud shouts demanded to be led into battle,
although they had made forced marches from the frontiers of
Silesia. Napoleon, with the Old Guard and cuirassiers, was in
the midst of them. His enemies had calculated on only half his
energy and rapidity, and had forgotten that he could return as
quickly as he left. The Prussians had penetrated the Grosse
Garten on the French left, and so close was the Russian fire
that Witgenstein's guns enfiladed the road by which Napoleon
had to pass; consequently, to reach the city in safety, he was
compelled to dismount at the most exposed part, and, according
to Baron Odeleben (one of his aides-de-camp), creep along on his
hands and knees (ventre à terre). Napoleon halted at the
palace to reassure the King of Saxony, and then joined his
troops who were already at the gates. Sallies were made by Ney
and Mortier under his direction. The astonished assailants
were driven back. The Young Guard recaptured the redoubts, and
the French army deployed on the plateau lately in possession
of their enemies. ... The fury of the fight gradually
slackened, and the armies took up their positions for the
night. The French wings bivouacked to the right and left of
the city, which itself formed Napoleon's centre. The allies
were ranged in a semicircle cresting the heights. ... They had
not greatly the advantage in numbers, for Klenau's division
never came up; and Napoleon, now that Victor and Marmont's
corps had arrived, concentrated nearly 200,000 men. ... The
next day broke in a tempest of wind and rain. At six o'clock
Napoleon was on horseback, and ordered his columns to advance.
Their order of battle has been aptly compared to 'a fan when
it expands.' Their position could scarcely have been worse.
... Knowing that in case of disaster retreat would be almost
an impossibility, Napoleon began an attack on both flanks of
the allied army, certain that their defeat would demoralize
the centre, which he could overwhelm by a simultaneous
concentric attack, supported by the fire of 100 guns. The
stormy weather which concealed their movements favoured them;
and Murat turning and breaking the Austrian left, and Ney
completely rolling up the Austrian right, the result was a
decisive victory. By three in the afternoon of the 27th the
battle was concluded, and the allies were in full retreat,
pursued by the French. The roads to Bohemia and those to the
south were barred by Murat's and Vandamme's corps, and the
allied Sovereigns were obliged to take such country paths and