Part 39 (2/2)

Before these events in the Pyrenees, Marshal Suchet, having learned of the reverses suffered by Napoleon in Germany, realised that it would be impossible for him to remain in the middle of Spain, and prepared to return to France To do this he withdrew to Tarragon, where after taking the garrison into his arh harried by the Spanish, was carried out in good order, and by the end of December 1813, Suchet and the troops under his command were established in Gerona

To complete this examination of the position of the French armies at the end of 1813, one needs to recall that in the spring of that year, the Emperor, who distrusted Austria, had built up in the Tyrol and in his kingdoiven to his step-son Eugene de Beauharnais, the viceroy of the country This prince was a good reatly devoted to the E Joseph of Spain, he lacked many of the qualities required to lead an arene led hiust, the day when the armistice between Napoleon and the allies was due to expire, that the Austrians abandoned their neutrality and declared themselves our enemies The Italian troops continued to serve with us, but the Dalene had under his co was never very strenuous because the commanders on both sides realised that the events in Gern There were however, a nuer forces of the Austrians, ere shortly joined by an English contingent which disembarked in Tuscany forced the viceroy to lead the Franco-Italian are

In Nove of Naples The E, could not at first believe it It was, however, only too true Murat had joined forces with the Austrians, against who, and his troops already occupied Bologna Such is the volatility of the Italians that everywhere they welcomed with acclamation the Austro-Neapolitans, whom they had previously detested and whom they would soon hate even more By December, the vice-roi's ars

The Eainst him, could not fail to realise that the first condition which a peace would demand of him would be the re-installment of the Bourbons on the throne of Spain He decided therefore to do of his own volition what he would be forced to do later: he set free King Ferdinand, who had been detained at Valancay, and ordered Suchet's army to retire behind the Pyrenees

Thus, at the end of 1813, we had lost all of Gerton's army, which had crossed the Bidassoa and the western Pyrenees, was enca Bayonne, Navarre and Bordeaux

Chap 34

I began the year 1814 at Mons Where I did not undergo such physical dangers as I had done in previous years, but where I suffered uen, all the troopers of iment who still had horses, I had none at Mons, where the depot was situated, except diset horses from the Ardennes, when events prevented this

On the 1st of January, the ene France, crossed the Rhine at several points, the twofirstly at Kaub, a en and Coblentz, where a rocky gorge greatly reduces the width of the river, and then at Basle where the Swiss handed over the stone bridge, in violation of their neutrality, a neutrality which theyto their interests

It is estimated that some five to six hundred thousand allied soldiers entered a France exhausted by twenty-five years of war, half of whose troops were prisoners in foreign lands, and many of whose provinces were ready to defect on the first suitable occasion

A the department of Jeme area of rich country which had been annexed to France, firstly ”de facto” by the war of 1792, and then by right after the treaty of Amiens, had been so accustomed to this union that after the disasters of the Russian careat enthusiasm and made considerable sacrifices to help the E Men, horses, equip it had complied with all demands without a mured the Belgians, and I found the attitude of the populace had coovernment of the house of Austria, under which they had lived for so long, and were most anxious to separate the their trade and industry In a word, Belgium awaited only a favourable moment to revolt, an event which would be the raphical situation the province was in the rear of the weakened army corps which we still had on the Rhine The Emperor sent some troops to Brussels, whom he placed under the command of General Maisons, a capable and very deternised that Jemmapes, and particularly the town of Mons, was the most disaffected There was there, open discussion of the possibility of taking up ar which its coeneral, stricken by gout, and lacking in energy, who had been born in Belgium, seemed afraid to earn the dislike of his coave me the command of the department of Jemmapes

My job was e, those who live in Borinage are the boldest and ium, and to control theendar whom there were some fifty men ere born in the area and who, in case of trouble, would join the insurgents I could rely entirely only on the other 150 Chasseurs, who born in France, and having been in action with ood officers; those in the infantry, and in particular the battalion co to back uise the fact that if it came to blows, the two sides were not equally matched From the hotel where I stayed I saw every day 3 or 4,000 peasants and workathered in the main square to listen to speeches from former Austrian officers, all of them wealthy nobles, who had quitted the service on the union of Belgiuainst the Empire, which had loaded them with taxes, taken their children to send them to the wars, etc,etc These speeches were listened to with all the reat landed proprietors, and addressed to their tenants and employees, over whom they wielded ht news of the advance of our ene before them the debris of Marshal Macdonald's Corps All the French ee in Valenciennes and Cambrai Finally the ht it his duty to warn arrison nor myself were safe in the midst of an excited and numerous population, and that I would be wise to leave the town, a iment and I had always lived at peace with the inhabitants

I are that this proposition came from a committee composed of former Austrian officers, which had instructed the mayor to put it to me, in the hope that I would be intimidated I resolved then to show rateful if he would su citizens, and that I would then give ht arrison were armed, and when the municipal council accompanied by the wealthiest citizens had assembled in the square, I mounted on horseback, in order to be heard by all, and after I had told thewith hiive to estion which had been le, the tohich had been put in our care

They were nant, and said so loudly! I added that I could not conceal the fact that the ramparts were broken down at several points, and a lack of artillery would h if need be ould do our best; but that if it was the inhabitants of the town and the countryside who rose against us, ould not confine ourselves to defence, ould attack with all thewith revolutionaries As a consequence I was ordering my men to take over the church tower, from where, after a delay of half an hour and three rolls on the drums they would fire on the occupants of the square, while patrols would clear the streets by shooting, mainly at those who had left their work in the country to co, I would order, as the beston fire of the town, in order to keep the inhabitants busy, and I would shoot at them continually to prevent its extinction

This speech may seem a little drastic, but consider the critical position in which I found myself; with no more than 700 men, fehom had seen action, no expectation of reinforcements, and surrounded by a multitude which increased in size by the e of the detach to the toere full offor the town of Mons My little troupe and I were at risk of being wiped out if I had not taken decisive action

My address had produced athe rich noble the townspeople, who began to disperse; but as the peasants did not budge, I brought up two aes to each soldier, and when they had loaded their weapons, I ordered the three rolls on the dru sound, the huge crohich filled the square began to run in tu streets, where each one rushed to find shelter, and a few moments later the leaders of the Austrian party, with thereed on the condition that they would send io back to their ho men ere the best h all the city gates to es without any opposition

This passive obedience confirmed me in my opinion that the disturbance had powerful backers, and that arrison and I would have been held prisoner, had I not frightened the leaders by threatening to use all means, even fire rather than hand over to rioters the town confided to ians are very fond of iven that evening, to which I and my officers had been invited, as was Mde Laussat the prefect of the departo there as usual, which was the right decision, for ere received with cordiality, at least on the surface While talking to the nobles, who had been behind the disturbance, we put it to them that it was not for the populace to decide by rebellion the fate of Belgiu armies; and it would be folly on their part to incite the workmen and peasants to shed their blood, in order to hasten by a few days a solution which would presently becoeneral, who had retired to Mons, his birthplace, then said to his co to plot the seizure of the garrison, for that would have resulted in e to the town, as no soldiers would lay down their arreed that this assessarrison and the townsfolk lived peacefully together as in the past The people of Mons even gave us a few days later a striking demonstration of their support