Jean Comte Rapp
Memoirs of General Count Rapp, First aide-de-camp to Napoleon
CHAPTER XLIII
The season became every day more severe. The rains were incessant, and produced a fetid fog which the sun, without heat, could scarcely dissipate. But what was still worse, the scarcity still continued to increase. Horses, dogs, cats were eaten, we had exhausted all our resources, our salt even failed us. It is true that industry supplied the deficiency. Some soldiers conceived the idea of boiling some old planks which had formerly belonged to a storehouse; the trial succeeded. We sprung this new mine, and the hospitals were supplied. The population was reduced to the last extremity, it lived on nothing but malt and bran, and it had not even enough of these to satisfy its wants. In this state of distress I thought the philanthropic allies would not repulse their fellow-countrymen. I drove out of the fortress the prisoners and the beggars, all, in a word, who had no provisions. But the Prussians were inexorable, and but for the inhabitants of Saint-Albrecht, they would have left them to perish from want. Others went to the quarters occupied by the Russians, and were not better received. Without shelter, without food of any kind, they would have perished under the eyes of these liberators of humanity, if I had not taken pity on their wretchedness. I gave them some relief, and sent them to their homes. Several begged to be employed in the fortifications, and they received half or a quarter of a loaf of ammunition bread for their wages. In the mean time the enemy had completed their works. From time to time they tried their batteries, and seemed to perform a prelude to a more serious action. On the 10th, accordingly, they all began to fire towards the close of the day. The town, the Holme, the entrenched camp of Newfahrwasser are inundated with shells, grenades, and red hot balls. The fire breaks forth, and consumes the convent of the Dominicans. The Russian prisoners who were kept in the building were on the point of perishing, when our soldiers rushed in and saved them from death. The flames continuing to increase in violence, wreathed round the neighbouring houses, and threatened to reduce them to ashes. At the same time the Allies presented themselves in strength before our posts of Ohra, and drove them back as far as Stadtgebieth. I came up with Count Heudelet. The enemy, overthrown at the point of the bayonet, attempted in vain to return to the charge; General Husson and Major Legros repulsed all their attacks. A mistake augmented their losses. Two of their columns took each other for the enemy, and engaged accordingly. They recognised their friends by the cries of the wounded, but more than 300 men were already laid in the dust. On our side we had a hundred hors de combat.
Early the next day the enemy appeared before the houses beyond Stadtgebieth. Driven back twice, he set fire to them. Although twice wounded, Captain Basset was unwilling to give them up, but it was not long before the progress of the flames compelled him; he retired fighting all the way. The Allies, being masters of the village, pushed on, without halting, to the level of the Etoile, and took it. The posts which remained on the descent of the hill were henceforth too weak, and I called them in. The enemy at last took possession of this position, but he paid sufficiently dear for a mere embankment of earth.
The farther he advanced towards Langfuhr, the more perilous his situation became; taken in flank and in rear, thundered on by the batteries of the Holme, he was soon unable to debouch from the redoubts he had raised at Kabrun. Confused at having mistaken the true point of attack, he concentrated his forces, and marched on the heights of Ohra. He tried every means to get possession of them, and I neglected none to defend them. I improved, I extended my works. I made every one contribute his skill and information. Superior officers of each department of the army, under the presidency of General Granjean, consulted on the measures which the security of the place required. They put our provisions and our ammunition out of the reach of the ravages of fire. They portion out the provisions, and organize the engine department, and get mills in readiness; so that if the shells should destroy what we already possessed there were others to supply their loss. In the mean time the Allies continued their bombardment. Fire succeeded fire, and threatened to reduce every thing to ashes. On a sudden the batteries ceased, the firing was suspended. At this unexpected silence, the inhabitants resumed their courage; they ran, they fled to the relief of the quarters that were on fire. Poor people! there was nothing to save from the flames but a few walls; the place was on the brink of its ruin.
The enemy had only stopped the firing in order to resume it with greater fury. As soon as his arrangements were made, he opened it with violence. The batteries of the Etoile, those of Johannisberg, Kabrun, Schellmule, Langfuhr, fire rounds upon rounds, and overwhelm us with shells, rockets, and red hot balls. Fires break out, the edifices are falling to ruins. Dantzic presents the appearance of a volcano whose eruptions issue forth, disappear, and again shew themselves in every direction. The two banks of the Mottlaw, the Butter-Marck, the Poggenful, the Speicher-Insell, all are destroyed. In vain do the troops run to their assistance, an unintermitting shower of projectiles triumphs over their efforts, and a loss of several millions aggravates the misfortunes of this wretched population.
Our forts and our villages were not in a better condition. Ohra in particular was nothing but a heap of ashes. Five batteries were blazing against it without intermission; clouds of riflemen, sheltered by the inequalities of the ground, overwhelmed us with shot, and impeded the working of our guns. The first entrenchment, almost annihilated by fire and balls, still held out. Major Schneider defended it with a degree of valour and prudence which still promised a long resistance; but it was on the point of being taken by approaches and I gave it up. I also relinquished the head of Schidlitz. The enemy had tried some days before to make themselves masters of it. Three companies had presented themselves before our posts, but being vigorously charged by Captain Leclerc and Lieutenant Kowalzky, they were routed, and sought their safety in flight. This lesson was not thrown away; the Allies returned with more considerable forces, and established themselves there. A very serious accident befell us soon after. A shell burst in a magazine of wood, and set it on fire. Powder is not quicker; in an instant every thing is in a blaze. The flames, propagated by a strong wind, spread themselves from point to point, and present a heap of fire which no effort can extinguish. A sad spectator of so cruel a disaster, I hoped at least to save the distant buildings. My expectation was still deceived, and we had the misfortune to see the greatest part of our provisions consumed before our eyes. Officers and soldiers, all were plunged in mournful silence, all beheld with amazement this scene of desolation, when of a sudden a terrible discharge of musquetry is heard. The enemy were attacking the lines of Frioul, and were getting possession of them. Captain Chambure flies to their relief. This valiant officer commanded a chosen troop called the free company, or the enfants perdus; he rushes into the redoubt, and cuts the Russians in pieces. Not a man escapes: those who avoid the bayonet perish under the fire of the chiefs of the battalion, Clauron and Dybowski. Lieutenant Conrad gives a proof on this occasion of singular firmness. With a shoulder fractured by a ball, he throws himself into the thickest of the fight; Chambure extricates him: "You are wounded," he said to him, "this is no longer a place for you, go, and announce to the general that we are in the redoubt."—"Captain," replied the intrepid lieutenant, "I have still my right-hand, you have only your left,"—and he continues to fight.
Defeated on the left, our assailants throw themselves on the right, and drive us back as far as our forts. I did not judge it right to resume the attack, in a dark night; I waited till the next day. Two columns, commanded by Generals Breissau and Devilliers, marched at the same time on Stolzenberg and Schidlitz; the Russians occupied them in force; but our troops fought with so much zeal—Major Deskur, the Chiefs of the battalions, Poniatowski, Crikicowski, and Carré, Captains Fahrebeck, Perrin, Kalisa, and Rousin, led them on with so much skill and valour, that the Allies were broken, and left the field of battle heaped with their dead. Unfortunately, our success was dearly bought: General Breissau, so estimable for his talents and courage, was dangerously wounded. In vain all the aid of art was lavished on him; he expired after a month of acute suffering.
Our troops were victorious; but what a spectacle awaited them within the fortress; rubbish and ruins were the only remains of our magazines. One alone had escaped the fury of the flames. Indebted for its preservation to Colonel Cottin, and the second in command of the staff Marquessac, it had only been secured by dint of their zeal and perseverance. The chief of squadron Turckheim, who had also given so many proofs of zeal, and Lieutenant Fleurz, had also succeeded in saving 4000 quintals of corn: all the rest was in flames; every thing else had perished. We did not preserve two months' provisions, which the flames, continually more active, and an unceasing bombardment, threatened with destruction.
The Russians advanced slowly, but yet they advanced.—They had got possession of different posts, and marched in mass on Stolzenberg. Too weak to offer an effectual resistance, our soldiers had evacuated it. General Husson assembled a few troops, and sounded the charge. It took place with remarkable impetuosity. Captain Milsent, and Adjutant-Major Rivel, moved forwards at the head of some of our bravest soldiers, came up with the enemy and defeated him.
Captain Chambure was preparing a more severe lesson for our assailants. He embarked in a dark night, deceived the vigilance of the fleet, and landed opposite to Bohnsack. He surprises the village, sets fire to the habitations and magazines, slaughters the men and horses, and returns to his boats. They were no longer on the shore. The trumpets were sounding, the call to arms was heard; death appeared inevitable. Nevertheless, he does not lose courage, he calms the soldiers, throws himself across the enemy's entrenchments, and arrives safe and sound at the moment it was thought he was destroyed. He soon begins another march, and proceeds to Brœsen; he falls unexpectedly on the troops which occupy it, defeats them, and does not retire till he has burnt their camp. Scarcely has he returned, when he rushes upon a more perilous enterprise.—He penetrates into the enemy's trenches, defeats and drives in their posts, and returns to shelter himself behind our batteries. Lieutenant Jaimebon, seriously wounded at the beginning of the attack, fought as if he had not been affected by the pain; it was so acute that the fear alone of discouraging the soldiers was capable of stifling his groans. He died five days afterwards: honour be to his memory!
The free company became every day more audacious. Trenches, palisadoes, were trifling obstacles; it penetrated every where. In the middle of a dark night, it stole along from tree to tree, the whole length of the avenue of Langfuhr, without being perceived by the Russians. On a sudden it leaped into their works, killed some of the Russians, drove out the others, and pursued them as far as Kabrun. The brave Surimont, the intrepid Rozay, Payen, Dezeau, Gonipet, and Francore, threw themselves on the redoubt, and carried it. A hundred men were put to the sword, the others owed their escape only to flight.
We carried on with our besiegers a war of surprise and bravery; they combated us by stratagems and proclamations. Their batteries were unceasing, and our magazines were destroyed. Our troops, wasted and harassed by labour and want of sleep, had nothing to renew their strength but a little bread and an ounce of the flesh of our horses; if we might give that name to the wretched skeletons of animals, which, rejected by the cavalry and waggon train, had turned the mill, till being unable to stand any longer they were led to the slaughter-houses. It was to men so fatigued with fighting and suffering, that the Russians promised repose and abundance. Every attempt to decoy them was used. Gold, silver, threats, the anger of their sovereigns, the voice of their country, were offered and invoked. The Duke assisted his emissaries;—he wrote, intreated, protested, assailed officers, and soldiers. Desertion began to prevail among our foreign troops, they even refused to do any duty. The Bavarians, the Poles themselves, too well acquainted with our misfortunes, feared to make a sacrilegious use of their arms, and remained in a state of inaction. We were reduced to our mere national troops, that is to say, to less than 6000 men; and we had an extent of more than two leagues to defend. I resolved to inform the Emperor of this painful situation. This was not an easy task; all Germany was in a state of insurrection; the sea was covered with the enemy's squadrons. But no dangers, no obstacles, deterred Captain Marnier; he undertook this adventurous expedition, captured a vessel, sailed along with the English fleet and escaped from it.
The Duke of Wurtemburg attempted to seduce every one. I was not myself free from his attempts. He exalted his resources, depreciated mine, spoke of France, of Siberia, and proposed to me to give up the fortress.—His threats and his offers were addressed to a wrong quarter: I convinced him of this, and I heard no more of them. More suitable means were brought into play; the fires were increased, and the bombardment, continually growing more furious, was kept up night and day. The town, the Bischfberg, the redoubts of Frioul were battered to pieces. Supported by so tremendous a fire of artillery, the Russians expected to carry us by assault. They advanced provided with hatchets and ladders, and rushed on the Gudin battery. Captain Razumsky commanded it; he received them with discharges of grape-shot, and overthrew them. They nevertheless rallied, and attempted an escalade; but overpowered by a destructive firing, they dispersed at the sight of Major Deskur, and left their arms and ladders in the possession of the valiant Captains Zbiewski, and Propocki. They attempted, with as little success, to make themselves masters of the Fitzer battery, in the avenue of Langfuhr. Colonel Plessman, Captain Renouard, and Adjutant Stolling, made a resistance which they could not overcome: three times they return to the charge, as often are they defeated.
The redoubts of Frioul were meanwhile in a deplorable condition; without parapets and mines, overwhelmed by shell and grape-shot, they presented no means of defence: I ordered them to be deserted. The greatest part of the fortifications was still untouched, but our provisions were approaching to their termination.
The season when the ice appears was arrived. Twenty thousand men would have been necessary for me to withstand the progress of the besiegers, to guard the forts, to secure the inundation, and to keep the course of the water free. The contest was too unequal; to have continued the defence would merely have been to spill blood for the pleasure of spilling it.
I conceived I had found a plan which was consistent both with my duty and with humanity. I calculated the number of days that the remainder of our provisions would last us; I proposed to suspend hostilities, and to surrender the fortress at the end of that term, if the course of affairs did not alter the arrangement. Negotiation began, the firing ceased. General Houdelet and Colonel Richemont went to the enemy's camp and concluded a capitulation, in which the power of returning to France was particularly guaranteed to us. A part of the articles had been already executed; the Russian prisoners had been sent back, the forts had been given up, when I learnt that the Emperor Alexander refused his ratification. The Duke of Wurtemberg offered me to put things in their former condition. This was a mockery: But what could we do? We had no more provisions. It was necessary to be resigned. He managed things as he wished, and we took the road to Russia.
Affected by our misfortunes, our allies wished to have suffered them in common with us. The Poles broke their arms in pieces; the Bavarians swore never to turn them against us. But duty bids the affections be silent. It became necessary to separate. General Prince de Radziwill and Colonel Butler, both so distinguished by their character and by their achievements, led them back to their country.
Thus ended, after one year's fighting, a defence, in which we had to encounter every calamity and every obstacle;—a defence, which is not one of the least proofs of what the courage and patriotism of French soldiers are able to effect.
CHAPTER XLIV
We were conducted to Kiow. We were there informed of the prodigies performed by that handful of brave men who had not despaired of the safety of their country. They had triumphed at Montmirail, at Sézanne, at Champaubert, in every part where the enemy had dared to await them. All Europe fled before them; the coalition was dissolved. The obstinacy of a soldier snatched from us the fruits of victory. It became necessary to fight and conquer again; but ammunition failed us; the corps did not arrive, the generals were haranguing the troops to make them capitulate. Every thing was lost; our glory, our conquests vanished as a shadow; even the signs of them were repudiated.
The end of the coalition was attained. Our captivity was no longer profitable; we were set at liberty. We returned to France: what a spectacle did she present! The body of emigrants had invaded the army and the anti-chambers; they were bending under the ensigns of command and decorations. The first person that I met at the Tuileries was a chief of a battalion, whom I had formerly assisted and protected: he was become lieutenant-general; he did not know me again. Another, who was with me a long time at Dantzic, had not a better memory. This last person I had received at the recommendation of the Duke de Cadore, I had experienced his sickening adulations: he used to style me Monseigneur, your Excellency; he would willingly have called me the Eternal. In proportion as I told him how much these fooleries displeased me, he increased them; he even conceived the idea of attending at my levee. If it had depended on him I must have conceived myself a sovereign. His malversations delivered me from this obstinate flatterer; they became so glaring that the government was on the point of proceeding against him. I saved this gentleman from the shame of punishment; but I made him retire: he went to exercise his industry at.... He soon became acquainted with our reverses, was alarmed, took post, and never stopped till he was on this side of the Rhine: his fear had served him better than courage could have done. He had large epaulets, and four or five decorations. This was well for the opening of his career:—promotion does not go on so quickly on the field of battle. He withdrew as soon as he saw me: apparently his costume embarrassed him. I met a third, who, also, did not feel quite at ease in my presence. Formerly attached to Josephine, he had given proof of a truly exquisite foresight; in order to be provided against all unforeseen cases which might occur in promenades and journeys, he had provided himself with a silver gilt vessel. When a circumstance required it, he drew it from his pocket, presented it, took it, emptied it, wiped it, and put it away with care. This shewed the very instinct of domesticity.
But all these worthies, so ardent for the treasury, for decorations and commands, soon shewed the amount of their courage. Napoleon appeared, they were eclipsed. They had flocked to Louis XVIII., the dispenser of favours; but they had not a trigger to pull for Louis XVIII. in misfortune. We tried a few dispositions; but the people, the soldiers had never been accomplices of the humiliations of France; they refused to fight against the colours that they adored, and the Emperor peaceably resumed the reins of government.
Generals Bertrand and Lemarrois wrote to me to come to the Tuileries; I returned to Paris. A new invitation was waiting for me at my hotel; the grand-marshal informed me that his Majesty wished to see me. I did not like to keep him waiting; I went just as I was, quite sure that Napoleon would know how to appreciate duty and affection. I was introduced immediately.
Napoleon. "You are there, Monsieur General Rapp; you have been much wanted? Whence do you come?"
Rapp. "From Ecouen, where I have left my troops at the disposal of the minister of war."
Napoleon. "Did you really intend to fight against me?"
Rapp. "Yes, Sire."
Napoleon. "The Devil!"
Rapp. "The determination was compulsory."
Napoleon. (In an animated tone.) "F....! I was very well aware that you were before me. If an engagement had taken place, I would have sought you out on the field of battle: I would have shewn you the head of Medusa: Would you have dared to fire at me?"
Rapp. "Undoubtedly,—my duty …"
Napoleon. "This is going too far. But the soldiers would not have obeyed you; they have preserved more affection for me. Besides, if you had fired a single shot, your peasants of Alsace would have stoned you."
Rapp. "You will agree, Sire, that the situation was a very painful one: you abdicate, you leave us, you engage us to serve the King; you return. All the power of old recollections cannot deceive us."
Napoleon. "How is that? What do you mean to say? Do you think that I have returned without alliance, without an agreement?… Moreover, my system is changed: no more war, no more conquests; I wish to reign in peace, and promote the welfare of my subjects."
Rapp. "You are pleased to say so; but your anti-chambers are already full of those flatterers who have always encouraged your inclination for arms."
Napoleon. "Bah! bah!… Did you often go to the Tuileries?"
Rapp. "Sometimes, Sire."
Napoleon. "How did those folks behave to you?"
Rapp. "I have no reason to complain of them."
Napoleon. "The King appears to have received you well on your return from Russia?"
Rapp. "Quite so, Sire."
Napoleon. "Without doubt. Cajoled first, then sent about your business. This is what would have befallen you all;—for, after all, you were not their men; you could not suit them: other titles, other rights were necessary to please them."
Rapp. "The King delivered France from the Allies."
Napoleon. "Very true; but at what price! and his engagements, has he kept them? Why did he not hang Ferrand for his speech on the national domains? It is that, it is the insolence of the nobles and priests which made me leave the island of Elba. I might have come with three millions of peasants who ran to me to tell their grievances, and offer their services. But I was certain of not finding resistance in my way to Paris. The Bourbons are very fortunate that I have returned: without me they would at last have had a dreadful revolution.
"Have you read Chateaubriand's pamphlet, which does not even allow me courage on the field of battle? Have you not sometimes seen me stand fire? Am I a coward?"
Rapp. "I have felt, in common with all honourable men, indignation at an accusation as unjust as it is mean."
Napoleon. "Did you sometimes see the Duke d'Orleans?"
Rapp. "I only saw him once."
Napoleon. "He is the only one who has discretion and tact! The others have bad men about them and are very ill-advised. They do not like me; they will now be more furious than ever; there is good reason for it. I am arrived without striking a blow. They are now about to cry me down as ambitious; that is their eternal reproach: they have nothing else to say."
Rapp. "They are not the only persons who accuse you of ambition."
Napoleon. "How … am I ambitious? When people are ambitious are they as fat as I am?" (He struck his stomach with both hands).
Rapp. "Your Majesty jokes."
Napoleon. "No: I have wished that France should be what she ought to be; but I have never been ambitious. Besides, what do these folks think of? It becomes them well to assume importance with the nation and the army. Is it their courage on which they pride themselves?"
Rapp. "They have occasionally shewn some—in the army of Condé for instance."
Napoleon. "What is that order that I see on you?"
Rapp. "The Legion of Honour."
Napoleon. "The Devil! They have had, however, the sense to make a handsome decoration of it. And these two crosses here?" (He touched them).
Rapp. "Saint Louis and the Lily." (He smiled).
Napoleon. "What do you think of that … Berthier, who did not like to remain. He will return; I forgive him all; on one condition however—it is, that he will wear his garde du corps uniform to appear before me. But enough of this. Well, General Rapp, we must serve France once more, and we shall rescue ourselves from the condition in which we are."
Rapp. "Confess, Sire, (since you have had the goodness sometimes to permit me to speak to you freely), confess that you were wrong in not making peace at Dresden? every thing was repaired if you had concluded it. Do you recollect my reports on the spirit of Germany? you treated them as pamphlets; you blamed me."
Napoleon. "I could not make peace at Dresden; the Allies were not sincere. Besides, if every one had done his duty at the renewal of hostilities, I should again have been the master of the world. I had already gained to my side 32,000 Austrians."
Rapp. "It is only a moment since your Majesty had no ambition, and now we hear again of the sovereignty of the world."
Napoleon. "Ah! well, that's true.—Besides, Marmont, the senators.... My plan was arranged so as not to let a single ally escape."
Rapp. "All these misfortunes are the consequence of the reverses at Leipsic: you might have prevented them by accepting peace at Dresden."
Napoleon. "You are ignorant what such a peace would have been:" (and suddenly growing warm,) "Would you be afraid to go to war again; you, who have been my aide-de-camp for fifteen years? On your return from Egypt, at the death of Desaix, you were nothing but a soldier; I have made a man of you: now you may pretend to any thing."
Rapp. "I have never let slip any opportunity of shewing my gratitude to you for it; and if I am yet alive, it is not my fault."
Napoleon. "I shall never forget your conduct in the retreat from Moscow. Ney and you are of that small number who have the soul thoroughly well tempered. Besides, at your siege of Dantzic you did more than impossibilities."
Napoleon fell on my neck and pressed me with vehemence against him for at least two minutes, He embraced me several times, and said to me, pulling my mustachios—
"Come, come, a hero of Egypt and Austerlitz can never forsake me. You shall take the command of the army of the Rhine, while I treat with the Austrians and Russians. I hope that, in a month's time, you will receive my wife and son at Strasburg. It is my pleasure that from this evening you perform the duty of my aide-de-camp. Write to Count Maison to come to embrace me; he is a brave man, I wish to see him."
Napoleon related a part of this conversation to some persons about him. He told them that I had spoken to him with too great liberty, and that he had pulled my ears. Fortune smiled on him. The courtiers came round him in multitudes:—it was enthusiasm, devotion: they boiled with zeal. These protestations had not, however, all the effect they had promised themselves. Many were rejected; one particularly, who persisted in obtruding his services, was repulsed with severity. Loaded with favours, gold, and dignities, he had overwhelmed his unfortunate benefactor with insults; he was treated with loathing and contempt. These gentlemen boast at present of an incorruptible fidelity. They find fault with the indulgence of the King in the saloons of the Faubourg Saint-Germain. They would like to see all those who were employed during the hundred days led to the scaffold. Chance has served them, appearances are for them; let it be so: but the generals, the ministers of Napoleon, the officers attached to his person, know full well what to think of these stoics of the ante-chamber. Sooner or later the royal government will be enlightened: there is wherewithal to supply the place of the red book.
Napoleon sent for me on the 29th of March, and informed me that I must set out for the army of the Rhine. He gave me the grand eagle of the Legion of Honour, which he had destined for me after the siege of Dantzic. He told me that within fifteen days my forces should be raised to 40,000 men, (I had 15,000 at the commencement of hostilities); I observed to him that this was very little in comparison with those that we were going to have on our hands; that the Congress (its declaration was already known) threatened us with a deluge of soldiers. "The declaration you allude to is false," he replied angrily; "it was fabricated at Paris: however, go. Lecourbe will command in Franche Comté; Suchet in the Alps; Clausel on the Garonne. We have great chance of success. Gerard goes to Metz: he has just tormented me to give him that Bourmont, I yielded to him with regret: I never liked that man's countenance."
"The propositions I have made to the Sovereigns have been coldly received. Nevertheless all hopes of arrangement are not destroyed. It is possible that the energy with which opinion is pronounced, may incline them to sentiments of peace. I am going to make another attempt. This is the letter that I write to them: