of his prosperous favour, but the most faithful follower of CHAP. his adverse fortunes. LIX. 1809. ment of and Mar mont marshals of Bernadotte. Oudinot, a general, as the bulletin said, "tried in a 60. hundred battles," and Marmont, whose campaign in AppointIllyria and Carniola had so powerfully contributed to the Oudinot success of the Grand Army, were at the same time elevated to the rank of marshals. Very different was the destiny the empire. which awaited Bernadotte, Prince of Pontecorvo, hitherto Disgrace of one of the most favoured of Napoleon's lieutenants. This chief, who had been singularly unfortunate both in his attack on the heights of Wagram and village of Aderklaa, on the evening of the 5th, and his encounter with the Austrian centre on the morning of the 6th, had with the true spirit of Gascony, his native country, glossed over his defeat by a boasting proclamation to the Saxons on the 7th, in which he professed to convey to them the Emperor's approbation for the gallantry which they had evinced on these occasions.* Napoleon, who was both irritated at Bernadotte and the Saxons for the abandonment of Aderklaa, which it cost him so much time and bloodshed to regain on the following day, and jealous of any of his lieutenants assuming his own peculiar function in the distribution of praise or blame, immediately prepared and circulated, but among the marshals July 30. and ministers alone, an order of the day, reflecting in 280. Pel. iv. very severe terms, both on the conduct of the Saxons and 123. upon this step on the part of their chief; 1+ and soon after * Bernadotte's proclamation to the Saxons was in these terms :-"Saxons ! in the day of the 5th July, seven or eight thousand of you pierced the centre of the enemy's army, and reached Deutsch Wagram, despite all the efforts of forty thousand of the enemy, supported by sixty pieces of cannon; you continued the combat till midnight, and bivouacked in the middle of the Austrian lines. At daybreak on the 6th, you renewed the combat with the same perseverance, and in the midst of the ravages of the enemy's artillery, your living columns have remained immovable like brass. The great Napoleon was a witness to your devotion; he has enrolled you among his bravest followers. Saxons! the fortune of a soldier consists in the performance of his duties; you have worthily performed yours."-Bivouac of Leopoldstadt, 7th July 1809. This order of the day was inserted in all the German papers at the time.-BOUR. viii. 280. + Napoleon's order of the day was couched in the following terms:- -"Inde July 9. 1 Bour. viii. 241. Sav. iv. CHAP. LIX. 1809. 61. pointed to the com mand of Antwerp, and again disgraced. July 30. a decree was published in the bulletin dissolving that corps, and incorporating its soldiers with other parts of the army. Bernadotte sought a private interview with the Emperor Who is ap- on this painful subject, but in vain; he constantly refused to see him; and the disgraced marshal immediately set out for Paris, where he was soon after employed by the minister at war, without the concurrence of Napoleon, in a very important duty, that of commanding at Antwerp during the English invasion of the Scheldt. No sooner, however, did the Emperor learn of this fresh appointment by the government at Paris, than it, too, was cancelled, and Bessières put there in his stead; even although Bernadotte's efforts, during the short period he held the command, had been eminently serviceable to the empire. These repeated indignities made a deep impression on the mind of the French marshal; they revived that ancient jealousy at the First Consul* which all the subsequent pendent of the consideration that his Majesty commands the army in person, and that to him it belongs to distribute the measure of praise or blame to every one, on this particular occasion, success was owing to the French and not to any foreign troops. The order of the day of the Prince of Pontecorvo, tending to inspire false pretensions in troops of the most ordinary description, is contrary to truth, to policy, to the national honour. The success of the 5th is due to the Marshals the Dukes of Rivoli and Oudinot, who pierced the centre of the enemy at the same time that the corps of the Duke of Auerstadt turned their flank. The village of Deutsch Wagram was not taken on the evening of the 5th; it was so only on the morning of the 6th, at six o'clock, by the corps of Marshal Oudinot. The corps of the Prince of Pontecorvo did not remain 'immovable as brass;' on the contrary, it was the first to beat a retreat. His Majesty was obliged to cover the corps of the Viceroy by the divisions Broussier and Lamarque commanded by Marshal Macdonald, by the division of heavy cavalry commanded by General Nansouty, and a part of the cavalry of the Guard. It is to that Marshal and his troops that the eulogium is really due, which the Prince of Pontecorvo has attributed to himself. His Majesty desires that this testimony of his displeasure may serve as an example to deter any marshal from arrogating to himself the glory which belongs to another. His Majesty has, nevertheless, desired that this order of the day, which would doubtless distress the Saxon army, though its soldiers know well that they do not merit the eulogiums which have been bestowed on them, shall remain secret, and only be sent to the marshals commanding the corps d'armée.-NAPOLEON." - See BOURRIENNE, viii. 281, 289, who seems to admit that the leading facts stated in the severe order of the day by the Emperor are well-founded. Ante, Chap. XXIX. § 31. * 1 LIX. 1809. Bour. viii. Pel. iv. 241, 280, 281. 242. Sav. iv. 123. trians retire Bohemia. Atlas, glories of his reign had not entirely extinguished; induced CHAP. a sullen discontent with the Imperial service, which experience had shown was liable to such inconstancy; made him grasp eagerly at the Swedish throne, which fortune soon after proffered to his acceptance; and, by investing the disgraced soldier with the power and feelings of an independent sovereign, contributed in the end, in no inconsiderable degree, to the downfall of the French empire.1 Two lines of retreat were open to the Archduke 62. after he had determined to relinquish the field-that The Austo Olmutz and Moravia, and that to Bohemia; and towards so little did the French press their adversaries when the July 7. retreat commenced, that the Emperor was for some time ignorant which of the two routes they had adopted. Plate 11. There were several reasons, however, which induced the Austrian general to prefer the latter. Prague was, next to Vienna, the greatest military establishment, and contained the largest arsenal of the empire; and it stood in a country surrounded with a range of hills which offered favourable positions for retarding the advance of an invading army. Hopes were not wanting, also, that the great naval and military armament which England had so long been preparing, would soon make its appearance either in Flanders or the north of Germany, and that the indecision of Prussia, notwithstanding the retreat from Wagram, might be determined by such powerful support in the north of Germany. For these reasons, the line of Pel. iv. Bohemia was selected for the retreat of the Grand Army; 253, 255. leaving to the Archduke John, with the forces under his 279, 280. command, and the Hungarian insurrection, the care of 336. covering Hungary and the eastern provinces of the empire.2 The greater part of the army followed the high-road to 63. Znaym: Rosenberg alone, on the extreme left, took that And take to Brunn by Wolkersdorf. The retreat continued all the 7th without any serious molestation from the enemy; while Napoleon, who was disquieted by the presence of so large a body as the Archduke John's army, still untouched, 'Jom. iii. Stut. 329. the road to Znaym. CHAP. LIX. 1809. on his right flank, and by the menacing advance of Giulay with twenty-five thousand men from the side of Styria towards Vienna, separated the immense army which had so lately been concentrated on the field of Wagram : Davoust, Marmont, Massena, with Oudinot, Bessières and the Guards, being directed to follow on the traces of the Archduke Charles; the Viceroy's corps, augmented to fifty thousand men by the addition of the Saxons and Würtembergers, being moved towards Presburg, to observe the Archduke John; while Macdonald's division remained in charge of the bridges of Vienna, and was prepared, with the garrison of the capital, to repel any insult that might be offered by the Ban of Croatia. less circumspect than adventurous, Napoleon at the same time ordered a hundred pieces of heavy cannon to be mounted on the ramparts of Vienna, augmented its garrison to six thousand men, laid in provisions for six months, directed the formation of great new fortifications on the têtes-de-pont of the capital, especially at FlorisNapoleon's dorf, where the road to Brunn and Znaym traversed the July 1809. Danube, and ordered Passau, Lintz, Raab, Mölk, and Pelet, iv. 408. Gottweig, in different directions round the capital, to be put in a state of defence.1 1 Pelet, iv. 253, 257. Jom. iii. 279, 280. Orders, 9th 64. the Arch his position there. No No considerable action took place during the retreat. Retreat of Massena, however, pressed the retiring host with all his duke to wonted activity, and bloody encounters of inconsiderable Znaym, and bodies marked the track of the armies. The Archduke conducted the retreat with consummate skill, and in the most admirable order: always protecting the rearguard, composed of formidable masses of cavalry and infantry, by a numerous artillery skilfully posted on the rising grounds with which that undulating country abounded. To accelerate his movements, and if possible throw him in some degree into confusion, Napoleon moved Marmont's corps, which was following Rosenberg on the road to Brünn, by a cross-road to Laa, by which means he threatened to arrive at Znaym before the main Austrian 1 LIX. 1809. 282. Vict. xix. 216, army. The Archduke no sooner received intelligence of CHAP. this movement, than he fell back with all his forces, and took post at that town, on the banks of the Thaya. Nothing July 9. can surpass the military position which the environs of July 10. Znaym afford. The town itself, surrounded by walls, rests, towards the west, on the rugged precipices which border the river; towards the east, on the slopes of the Lischen, the ground descends on all sides to the point of Schallersdorf, where the river turns sharp by a right angle, and flows towards Lipwitz, and the junction of the Lischen and Thaya. These two streams thus enclose, as it were, a vast bastion, with a great natural wet ditch in front, about a mile long, and equally broad. The Archduke himself took post at Brenditz, which rendered him master 264, 267. of the roads to both Budwitz and Bohemia, and to Brünn; Jom. iv. but the slopes of Znaym were filled with troops, the bridge et Conq of the Thaya was barricaded, and four powerful batteries 217. were erected on the heights above to dispute the passage.1 Strong as this position was, it was doubtful whether the Austrians would maintain themselves in it. The advanced Combat at guards of Massena, indeed, when they first approached July 11. Znaym. the bridge of the Thaya, were arrested by the tremendous fire of grape and musketry which issued from the woods. and heights on the opposite side. But the French cannon were soon placed in such a position as to rake the Austrian batteries; the bridge was disengaged by their flanking fire; fords were discovered both above and below; and soon the attacking columns were passed over, and began to ascend the slopes on the opposite side. The Archduke withdrew his troops into Znaym; and arranged his artillery in such numbers around its walls, that, when the French leading columns arrived within reach of the fire, on the slope leading to the town, they were checked by the terrible discharge, and obliged to retire precipitately with severe loss. Upon this the Austrians issued forth, and took post round the town and in front of the bridge, in great strength, in a position admirable for 65. |