We left Paris at the end of September. It is not my intention to enter into the details of this marvellous campaign, in which the Emperor, in a few days, was seen to crush an army of one hundred and fifty thousand men, perfectly disciplined, full of enthusiasm and courage, and with their country to defend. In one of the first battles the young Prince Louis of Prussia, brother of the King, was killed at the head of his troops by Guindé, quartermaster of the 10th hussars. The Prince was fighting hand to hand with this brave non-commissioned officer, who said to him: "Surrender, Colonel, or you are a dead man." Prince Louis replied only by a thrust of the sabre, and Guindé plunged his own into his body.

In this campaign, the roads being broken up by the continual passage of artillery, my carriage was upset, and one of the Emperor's hats fell out of the window. A regiment which was going over the same road recognized the hat by its particular form, and my carriage was righted on the spot. "No," said these good fellows, "we will not leave the first valet de chambre of the Little Corporal in a scrape." The hat, after having passed through all hands, was finally given back to me before my departure.

On arriving on the plateau of Weimar, the Emperor put his army in battle array and bivouacked in the middle of his guard. Toward two o'clock in the morning he rose and set off on foot to examine the works on a road he was having dug in the rock for the transportation of artillery. He stayed more than an hour with the pioneers, and before turning toward his bivouac, he wished to have a look at the nearest outposts.

This excursion, which the Emperor determined to make alone and without any escort, was very near costing him his life. The night was very dark, and the camp sentries could not see ten paces around them. The first of them, hearing some one advancing in the gloom, and approaching our line, shouted: "Who goes there?" and made ready to fire. The Emperor, who, as he afterwards said, was so profoundly plunged in thought that he did not hear the voice of the sentry, made no response, and it was a ball whistling at his ear which drew him out of his abstraction. He saw at once the danger he was in, and threw himself flat on his face; it was a wise precaution, for hardly had His Majesty let himself fall into this position than other balls passed above his head, the discharge of the first sentry having been repeated by the whole line. This first firing having stopped, the Emperor rose, walked toward the nearest post, and made himself known.

His Majesty was still at this post when the soldier who had fired on him came in, having just been relieved of guard; it was a young grenadier of the line. The Emperor ordered him to approach, and pinching his cheek very hard, said to him: "How is this, you rascal, you must have taken me for a Prussian? This rogue don't propose to waste his powder and shot; he fires at nothing but emperors." The poor soldier was greatly disturbed by the idea that he might have killed the Little Corporal, whom he adored like all the rest of the army, and he was hardly able to say: "Pardon, Sire, but it was the orders; if you did not answer, it is not my fault. They ought to have put it in the orders that you would not answer." The Emperor smilingly reassured him, saying as he went away from the post: "My good fellow, I am not reproaching you. It was well enough aimed for a shot in the dark; but it will soon be daylight, fire straighter and take care of yourself."

The results of the battle of Jena, fought October 14, are well known. Nearly all the Prussian generals, at least the best of them, were either taken or disabled from continuing the campaign.1 The King and Queen took flight and did not stop until they reached Koenigsberg.

A few moments before the attack, the Queen of Prussia, mounted on a light and fiery horse, had appeared in the midst of the soldiers, and the elite of the youth of Berlin followed the royal amazon who galloped in front of the first lines of battle. You could see the flags she had embroidered herself, in order to encourage her troops, as well as those of Frederick the Great, all blackened by cannon smoke, bending at her approach, and hear the enthusiastic shouts that rose from all the ranks of the Prussian army. The sky was so clear, and the two armies so close together, that the French could easily distinguish the costume of the Queen. This singular dress was the chief cause of the dangers she incurred in her flight. On her head was a helmet of polished steel, shaded by a superb plume. She wore a cuirass all glittering with gold and silver. A tunic of cloth of silver completed her attire and fell to the top of her brodequins, which were red, with gold spurs. This costume enhanced the charms of the beautiful Queen.

When the Prussian army was routed, the Queen stayed behind with four or five young men of Berlin, who defended her until two hussars who had covered themselves with glory during the battle, galloped at full speed, with uplifted sabres, into the midst of this little group, which instantly dispersed. Scared by this unexpected attack, Her Majesty's horse ran away as fast as it could, and lucky it was for the Queen that it was as nimble as a deer; for otherwise the hussars would infallibly have captured her. More than once they were so close at her heels that she could hear camp speeches and jests of a sort to horrify her ears. Thus pursued, the Queen had arrived in sight of the gates of Weimar, when a detachment of Klein dragoons were seen coming up at full gallop. The leader had orders to take the Queen at all hazards. But hardly had she entered the city when its gates were shut. The hussars and the detachment of dragoons returned disappointed to the field of battle.

The details of this singular pursuit soon came to the ears of the Emperor, who summoned the hussars to his presence. After expressing in very sharp terms his dissatisfaction with the indecent pleasantries they had dared to make at the Queen's expense at a time when her misfortunes demanded even more than the respect due to her rank and sex, the Emperor inquired how these brave fellows had behaved during the battle. Learning that they had performed prodigies of valor, His Majesty gave them the cross and a gratuity of three hundred francs apiece.

His Majesty showed clemency to the Duke of Weimar, who had commanded a Prussian division. The day after the battle of Jena, His Majesty, having gone to Weimar, lodged at the ducal palace, where he was received by the duchess regent. "Madame," the Emperor said to her, "I am pleased that you should have waited for me; and it is because you have had this confidence in me that I pardon your husband."

When we were at the army, I slept under the Emperor's tent, sometimes on a small carpet, and sometimes on a bearskin which he used to wrap round him in the carriage. When it happened that I could not make use of these objects, I tried to procure a little straw. I remember that I did a great service to the King of Naples one evening by dividing with him a bundle of straw that was to have served for my bed. Here are some details which may give the reader an idea of the manner in which I passed the nights in campaign.

The Emperor would be reposing on his little iron bedstead, and I lying where and how I could. Scarcely would I fall asleep when the Emperor would call me: "Constant." "Sire."—"See who is on duty" (he referred to the aides-de-camp). "Sire, it is M "—"Tell him to come and speak to me." I would leave the tent to notify the officer, whom I would bring back with me. On his entry, the Emperor would say to him: "Go to such a corps, commanded by such a marshal; order him to send such a regiment to such a position; assure yourself of that of the enemy, and then come and report to me." The aide-de-camp would go out and mount a horse to go and execute his mission. I would lie down again, and the Emperor would seem to wish to sleep, but at the end of several minutes I would hear him calling again: "Constant." "Sire."— "Have the Prince of Neufchâtel summoned." I send word to the Prince, who presently arrives; and while they are conversing I remain at the door of the tent. The Prince would write some orders and withdraw. Such disturbances would take place several times during the night. Toward morning, His Majesty would go to sleep, and then I, too, would have some moments of slumber. When aides-de-camp came to bring tidings to the Emperor, I would waken him by a gentle push.

"What is it?" His Majesty would say, starting up at once; "what time is it? Tell him to come in." The aide would make his report; if it was necessary, His Majesty would rise directly and go out of the tent; his toilet did not take long; if there was to be a battle, the Emperor would look at the sky and the horizon, and I have often heard him say: "There is a fine day brewing."

Breakfast was prepared and served in five minutes, and in a quarter of an hour the table was cleared. The Prince of Neufchâtel breakfasted and dined with His Majesty every day, and the longest repast was over in eight or ten minutes. Then the Emperor would say: "To horse!" and ride off, accompanied by the Prince of Neufchâtel, an aide-de-camp or two, and Roustan, who always carried a silver flask full of brandy, of which the Emperor hardly ever made use. His Majesty went from one corps to another, speaking to the officers and soldiers, interrogating them, and seeing with his own eyes all that it was possible to see. If there was an action of any sort, dinner was forgotten, and the Emperor did not eat until he came back. If the engagement lasted too long, then some one would take him, without his asking for it, a little crust of bread and a small quantity of wine. M. Colin, controller of provisions, has many a time faced the cannon to carry this slight repast to the Emperor.

When a combat was over, His Majesty never failed to visit the field of battle; he had assistance given to the wounded, and encouraged them by his words. He sometimes re-entered overcome by fatigue; then he would take a light repast, and lie down to commence anew his interruptions of slumber.

It must be remarked that whenever unforeseen circumstances forced the aides-de-camp to have the Emperor awakened, he was always as ready for work as he would have been in the beginning or the middle of the day; his awakening was as amiable as his air was gracious. The report of an aide-de-camp being ended, Napoleon went to sleep again as easily as if his nap had not been interrupted.

During the three or four days that preceded an action, the Emperor would spend the greater part of his time stretched above large maps which he pricked with pins, the heads of which were made of wax of different colors.

I have said already that all who were in the Emperor's service vied with each other in finding the surest and readiest means of providing whatever he might need. Everywhere, on a journey as in campaign, his table, his coffee, his bed, and even his bath, could be prepared in five minutes. How often were we not obliged to remove in still less time the dead bodies of men and of horses in order to put up His Majesty's tent!

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 I do not know in what campaign beyond the Rhine it was that we found ourselves obliged to halt in a wretched village where, to make a lodging for the Emperor, we were forced to take a peasant's hut which had been used for a hospital. We had to begin by carrying out the amputated limbs, and washing off the blood-stains; this task was accomplished in less than half an hour, and all looked pretty well.

 The Emperor sometimes slept from fifteen minutes to half an hour on the battle-field when he was fatigued, or if he wanted to await more patiently the result of the orders he had given.

 We were on the road to Potsdam when we were overtaken by a violent storm; it was so heavy, and the rain fell so abundantly, that we were obliged to stop and take shelter in a house near the road. Well buttoned up in his gray greatcoat, and not supposing that he could be recognized, the Emperor was much surprised, on entering the house, to see a young woman whom his presence caused to tremble: it was an Egyptian who had preserved that religious veneration for my master which was felt for him by the Arabs. She was the widow of an officer of the army of Egypt, and chance had led him, in Saxony, into the same house where she had been received. The Emperor granted her a pension of twelve hundred francs, and charged himself with the education of a son, the only inheritance which her husband had left her. " This is the first time," said Napoleon, "that

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I ever alighted to escape a storm; I had a presentiment that a good deed was awaiting me there."

 The victory of Jena had stricken the Prussians with terror; the court had fled with such haste that everything in the royal residences had been left behind. On arriving at Potsdam, the Emperor found there the sword of Frederick the Great, his gorges, the broad ribbon of his orders, and his alarm clock. He had them taken to Paris to be preserved in the Hotel des Invalides: "I prefer these trophies," said His Majesty, "to all the treasures of the King of Prussia; I will send them to my old soldiers of the Hanover campaigns; they will guard them as a testimony of the victories of the grand army and of the vengeance it has taken for the disaster of Rosbach." On the same day the Emperor ordered the column raised by Frederick the Great to perpetuate the memory of the defeat of the French at Rosbach to be taken to his own capital. He might have contented himself with changing its inscription.

 Napoleon lived at Charlottenburg, where he had established his headquarters. Regiments of the guard were arriving from all sides. As soon as they were assembled' orders were given to put on full uniform, which they did in the little wood in front of the city. The Emperor made his entry into the capital of Prussia between ten and eleven o'clock in the morning. He was surrounded by his aides-de-camp and the officers of his staff. All the regiments marched past in the greatest order, with drums and bands at the head. The excellent bearing of the troops excited the admiration of the Prussians.

Having entered Berlin in the Emperor's train, we came to the square, in the middle of which a bust of Frederick the Great had been set up. The name of this monarch is so popular in Berlin and throughout Prussia, that I have seen a hundred times, when any one happened to mention it, whether in a cafe or any other public place, all who were present rise, take off their hats, and give every sign of respect and even of profound worship. On arriving in front of the bust, the Emperor described a semicircle at a gallop, followed by his staff and, lowering the point of his sword, he at the same time removed his hat and was the first to salute the image of Frederick II. His staff imitated his example, and all the general officers and officers who composed it, ranged themselves in a semicircle around the bust, with the Emperor in the centre. His Majesty gave orders that each regiment should present arms while marching in front of the bust. This manœuvre was not to the taste of some grumblers of the first regiment of the guard, who, with scorched moustaches, and faces still blackened with the powder of Jena, would have much preferred a billet on the citizens to the parade. Hence they did not conceal their ill-humor, and there was one of them who, on passing the bust and in front of the Emperor said, between his teeth and without changing a muscle of his face, and yet loud enough to be heard by His Majesty, that he didn't care a rap for his cursed bust. His Majesty turned a deaf ear; but in the evening he repeated, with a laugh, the saying of the old soldier.

His Majesty alighted at the château, where his lodging had been prepared, and where the officers of his household had preceded him. Having learned that the Electoral Princess of Hesse-Cassel, sister of the King, was lying ill there in consequence of a confinement, the Emperor went up to the apartment of this princess, and, after a rather long visit, he gave orders that this lady should be treated with all the respect due to her rank and her cruel position.
 
 

1.  Besides Prince Louis, the Prussians lost in a few days two of their best general officers. General Schmettau who died at Weimar of his wounds, and at whose funeral the Emperor was present; and the old Duke of Brunswick, already more than a septuagenarian and full of infirmities when he met at Auerstadt a glorious death.