Part 16 (1/2)

It would take too long to detail all the disasters which befell the Prussian arh to say that of those troops who marched to attack the French, not a battalion escaped; they were all captured before the end of theopened their gates to the victors who, having crossed the Elbe at several points--Augereau's corps crossing near Dessau--headed for Berlin

Napoleon stopped at Potsdam, where he visited the tomb of Frederick the Great; then he went to Berlin where, contrary to his usual practice, he wished to make a triumphal entry Marshal Davout's corps headed the procession; an honour to which it was entitled as it had done ereau's corps and then the guard

Chap 31

On o, had been so brilliant, I could not help having some sad reflections

The populace, then so self-confident, was now gloomy, downcast, and much afflicted, for the Prussians are very patriotic: they felt humiliated by the defeat of their army and the occupation of their country by the French; besides which almost every family had to mourn a relative or friend killed or captured in battle I had every sys; but I must confess that I experienced quite a different senti sadly, disiant young officers who had so insolently come to sharpen their sabres on the steps of the French e could depict their sha themselves defeated by those saht by their o round Berlin without entering it, to avoid the painful experience of filing as prisoners through the tohere they were so well known and where the inhabitants had witnessed their bragging; but this is precisely why the Emperor ordered them to pass between two lines of French soldiers, who directed them down the road in which stood the French embassy The inhabitants of Berlin did not disapprove of this little act of revenge, since they greatly disliked the noble Gendar into the war

Marshal Augereau was billeted outside the town, in the chateau of Bellevue, which belonged to Prince Ferdinand, the only one of Frederick the Great's brothers as still living This venerable old man, the father of Prince Louis as recently killed at Saalefeld, was afflicted by grief ainst the opinion of all the court and also that of the son wholy opposed the war, and had predicted the ereau thought it his duty to visit the prince, who had withdrawn to a dwelling in the town He was received most politely; the unhappy father told the uste, the only one left to hiate in a colued to embrace hireat age prevented hi to look for his son, the marshal, sure that Napoleon would not object, told uste, and to bring hiave rise to thescene His elderly parents could not stop e this son, who recalled to them the loss of the other To console theood marshal went to the E prince to remain, on parole, in the bosom of his farateful

The victory at Jena had had the ripped not only the troops in the field, but the garrisons of the fortresses Magdeburg surrendered withoutany atteates to a division of cavalry, and the governor of Custrin sent boats across the Oder to fetch the French troops; ithout this help would not have been able to take the place without several e Every day one heard of the surrender of some unit of the aranisation of the Prussian arners, in particular those who had been enlisted against their will, took the occasion to recover their liberty, and deserted in droves, or stayed behind to give themselves up to the French

To the conquest of the Prussians, Napoleon added the confiscation of the states of the Elector of Hesse-Cassel, whose duplicity had earned him this punishment This prince, who had been requested some time before the war to declare himself a supporter of either France or Prussia, lulled both parties with pro down on the side of the victor An avaricious sovereign, the Elector had alish, who used theainst the Americans in the War of Independence, in which many of them perished Careless of his people's welfare, he had offered to join his troops to the French force on condition that the Emperor would cede to him the French American states So no one was very sorry for the Elector, whose precipitous departure occasioned an event which is still not generally known

Coland, the Elector, as regarded as one of the richest people in Europe, was unable to take with him all his wealth So he sent for a Jew from Frankfurt by the name of Rothschild, a small-time banker and not well known, but respected for the scrupulous devotion hich he practised his religion: and it was this that decided the Elector to confide to his care some fifteen million in specie The interest earned on this ed to return only the capital

When the palace of Cassel was occupied by our troops, agents of the French treasury seized a considerable quantity of valuables, mainly pictures, but did not find any money It seeht, had been able to take with hi to what are called the laws of war, theto the victor, one wished to find out what had becoathered on the subject disclosed that, before his departure, the Elector had spent a whole day with the Jew Rothschild An imperial commission went to the latter's house, where his account books and his strong-boxes were minutely examined; but in vain, for no trace could be found of a deposit made by the Elector

Threats and intimidation produced no result, so the commission, convinced that no ious to perjure himself, wished to put him on oath This he refused to accept His arrest was considered but the Eht it would be useless Resort was then had to less honourable ht retain half of the treasure if he would deliver the other half to the French adive him a receipt for the full a that he had given way only to force and was thus shi+elded froht Jew rejected this suggestion, and, tired of the struggle, they left him alone

So the fifteen million remained in the hands of Rothschild from 1806 to the fall of the empire in 1814 Then, when the Elector had returned to his state, the Frankfurt banker handed over to hiine how ht be earned by the sum of fifteen millions left in the hands of a Jewish Frankfurt banker for a period of eight years! It is from this time that dates the opulence of the House of the Brothers Rothschild, e to the probity of their founder the high financial standing which they enjoy today

The E in the palace in Berlin, every day passed in revue the troops who arrived in succession in the town, to march from there to the Oder in pursuit of the enemy It hile he was in Berlin that he perfor, for the Princess of Hatzfeld, her husband, who had used his position as burgoenerals infore punishable by death The generosity displayed by the Es of the Prussians

During our stay in Berlin, I was pleasantly surprised by the arrival ofof the fresh outbreak of hostilities on the continent of Europe had asked for and obtained from General Decaen, who commanded the French troops in India, permission to return to France, where he joined the Grande Armee He was offered a position by General Lefebvre, but, mistakenly, in my opinion, he chose to serve as a supernuereau, of which I was a ood

I had also in Berlin another unexpected encounter I alking one evening with so towards roup of sous-officiers of the 1st Hussars One of them broke away and ran to fall on my neck

It was my former tutor, the elder Pertelay ith tears of joy cried ”Te voila, mon petit!” The officers hoeant-major so familiar with an officer; but their surprise vanished when I told the his arm round me, said to his companions, ”It is I who ood felloas really convinced that I owedSo at dinner, which I stood him the next day, he overwhelmed me with inconsequential advice, which he believed to be very sensible and just the thing to perfect my military education

We shall ain in Spain

Napoleon, as still in Berlin, was told of the surrender of the Prince Hohenlohe ith sixteen thousand men, had laid down his arms at Prenzlow before the troops of Marshal Lannes and the cavalry of Murat There was no other eneeneral, hard pressed by the divisions of Marshals Soult and Bernadotte, violated the neutrality of Lubeck, where he sought refuge; but the French pursued him, and Blucher, one of the ainst Napoleon, was forced to give hiether with the sixteen thousandrereatly chance influences the affairs ofin his duty and standing aside at Jena when Marshal Davout was fighting, not far froraceful conduct served to place him on the throne of Sweden This is how it cah furious with Bernadotte, ordered him to pursue the ene fired a shot, was in better shape for battle than those who had suffered losses Bernadotte then set out on the track of the Prussians whom he defeated first at Halle and then at Lubeck, with the help of Marshal Soult Now as chance would have it, at the very hour when the French were attacking Lubeck, so Gustave IV of Sweden had sent to the aid of the Prussians entered the harbour The Swedish troops had scarcely disembarked when, attacked by the French and abandoned by the Prussians, they were obliged to surrender to Bernadotte Bernadotte, I can assure you, had, when he wished, theners as a ”Gentleman” To this end, he treated the Swedish officers in thethem an honourable capitulation, he returned to thee, saw to their needs and invited to his quarters the coenerals and senior officers; he loaded them with kindnesses and courtesies to such an extent that, on their return to their country, they spread everywhere praise for the nanimity of Marshal Bernadotte

So Gustave, whom a mental disorder had rendered unfit to rule, was reed uncle, the Duke of Sudermanie

As this new monarch had no children, the States assenate a successor, chose the Prince of Holstein-Augustenburg, who took the title of Prince Royal But he did not long enjoy this dignity, for he died in 1811 after a short illness, which was put down to poison The states gathered oncebetween several German princes who put themselves forward as candidates when Count Moerner, one of the most influential members of the states, and the former commander of the Swedish division captured at Lubeck in 1806 by the French, proposed General Bernadotte, whose generous conduct he recalled He praised also Bernadotte's military talents, and observed that the h his wife, to Napoleon, whose support could be most useful to Sweden A crowd of officers who had also been captured at Lubeck, joined their voices to that of General Moerner, and Bernadotte was elected al of Sweden, and mounted the throne a few years later

We shall see, further on, how Bernadotte, carried to the steps of a foreign throne by the fame which he had acquired at the head of French troops, displayed a lack of gratitude towards his native country But now let us return to Prussia

In one do condition, had been destroyed by Napoleon, whose arreater part of the provinces, and had already reached the Vistula, that great barrier between northern and central Europe

Marshal Augereau's corps re the long stay which the Emperor made in the town, and left about thefirst for the Oder, which we crossed at Kostrzyn, and then on to the Vistula whose bank we reached at Brooszcz) We were now in Poland, the poorest and nastiest country in Europe! After the Oder, nomud Most of the land was uncultivated and the few inhabitants we caination The weather which had beenOctober and the first part of Noveer saw the sun, it rained or snowed continually; food became short; no more wine, almost never any beer, and what there was atrociously bad; muddy water, no bread, and billets we had to share with cattle and pigs The soldiers used to say, ”How dare the Poles call this a country?”

The E to rebuild Poland, he had hoped that the whole population of this vast country would rise as one ed! In a vain attempt to rouse some Polish enthusiasm, the Emperor had invited the famous General Kosciusko, the leader of the last insurrection, to come and join him, but Kosciusko stayed peacefully in Switzerland, to where he had retired, and to the reproaches which were addressed to him, he replied that he knew the heedless and unstable character of his compatriots too well to hope that they would ever free themselves, even with French help Unable to attract Kosciusko, the E to the Poles a proclamation in the nah our troops occupied several provinces and even the capital The Poles were not willing to rebel until Napoleon had declared the re-establish to do this until they had risen against their oppressors, which they did not do