The victory of Jena had immense results. Not only the campaigning troops, but the garrisons of the fortresses were utterly demoralised. Magdeburg surrendered without attempting defence, Spandau did the same, Stettin opened its gates to a division of cavalry, and the governor of Custrin sent boats to our side of the Oder to convey the French troops into the place which it would otherwise have required a several months' siege to capture. Every day we heard of the capitulation of an army corps or the surrender of some fortress. The faulty organisation of the Prussian troops became more obvious than ever. The foreign soldiers, especially those whose who had been enlisted by force, seized the chance of recovering their freedom, deserting in bodies, or remaining in the rear to surrender to the French.

Besides the territory conquered from the Prussians, Napoleon confiscated the estates of the Elector of Hesse-Cassel, a punishment which his duplicity deserved. This prince, though summoned some time before the war to declare for Prussia or for France, had put both off with promises, waiting to array himself on the side of the conqueror. The avaricious sovereign had amassed a large treasure by selling his own subjects to the English. They were employed to fight the Americans in the War of Independence. Disloyal to his relations, he had offered to ally himself to the French, on condition that the Emperor would give him their states, so nobody regretted him. But his hurried departure was the cause of a remarkable incident which as yet is little known.

When forced to leave Cassel in a hurry to take refuge in England, the Elector of Hesse, who was supposed to be the richest man in Europe, being unable to bring away the whole of his treasure, sent for a Frankfort Jew named Rothschild, an obscure banker of the third rank, known only for the scrupulous practice of his religion. This seems to have decided the Elector to entrust to him 15,000,000 frs. in specie. The interest of the money was to be the banker's, and he was only to be bound to return the capital.

When the palace of Cassel was occupied by our troops the agents of the French treasury seized property of great value, especially pictures, but no coined money was found, yet it appeared impossible that in his hasty flight the Elector could have carried away the whole of his immense fortune. Now since, by what are conventionally called the laws of war, the capital and the interest of securities found in a hostile country belong of right to the conqueror, it became important to know what had become of the Cassel treasure. Inquiry showed that before his departure the Elector had passed a whole day with the Jew Rothschild. An imperial commission visited him and minutely examined his safes and his cash books, but it was in vain: no trace of the Elector's deposit could be found. Threats and intimidation had no success until the commission, feeling sure that no personal interest could induce a man so religious as Rothschild to perjure himself, proposed to administer an oath to him. He refused to take it. There was talk of arresting him, but the Emperor, thinking this a useless act of violence, forbade it. Then they had recourse to a not very honourable method. Unable to overcome the banker's resistance, they tried to gain him over by the bait of profit. They proposed to leave him half the treasure if he would give up the other half to the French administration. A receipt for the whole, accompanied by a deed of seizure, should be given him to prove that he had only yielded to force and to prevent any claim from lying against him; but the Jew's honesty rejected this suggestion also, and his persecutors, tired out, left him in peace. Thus the 15,000,000 frs. remained in Rothschild's hands from 1806 till the fall of the Empire in 1814. Then the Elector returned to his states, and the banker returned him his deposit as he had received it. You may imagine the sum which a capital of 15,000,000 frs. would produce in the hands of a Jew banker of Frankfort. From this time dates the opulence of the Rothschilds, who thus owe to their ancestor's honesty the high place which they now hold in the finance of all civilised countries.

But I must resume my narrative. The Emperor reviewed every day the troops who kept passing through Berlin on their way to the Oder in pursuit of the enemy. During his stay in the Prussian capital Napoleon performed that well-known act of magnanimity in granting to the Princess of Hatzfeld the pardon of her husband, who held the office of burgomaster at Berlin, and availed himself of the facilities which that post offered to inform the Prussian generals of the movements of the French army. 1Such conduct among civilised nations is regarded as that of a spy, and punished with death. The Emperor's generosity on this occasion produced a very good effect on the minds of the Prussian people.

During our stay at Berlin I was agreeably surprised by the arrival of my brother Adolphe, whom I supposed to be at the Isle of France. On learning that hostilities had been renewed on the Continent he asked and obtained leave from General Decaen, commanding the French forces in the East Indies, to return to France, whence he hastened to rejoin the Grand Army. Marshal Lefebvre offered to take my brother on his staff; but Adolphe preferred to be an extra aide-de-camp to Augereau—a mistake, as it turned out, for it injured both of us.

Another meeting, not less unexpected, I had at Berlin. As I was one evening walking with my comrades 'unter den Linden' 2I saw a group of sergeants of the 1st Hussars approaching. One of them left the group, ran up, and threw his arms round my neck. It was my old mentor, the elder Pertelay, who said, crying for delight: 'Is it you, my boy?' The officers with whom I was were at first not a little astonished to see a sergeant on so familiar terms with a lieutenant but their surprise was at an end when I told them of my former relations with the brave old fellow. He was never tired of embracing me, and saying to his comrades: 'Look at him! I made him what he is!' The good man was really convinced that to his lessons I owed my advancement; and when breakfasting with me the next day, he plied me with the most comical advice, highly sensible as he thought, and the very thing to put a finish on my military education. We shall yet come across this typical hussar of the old school in Spain.

While still at Berlin I heard of the capture at Prenzlow of Prince Hohenlohe's army by Lannes and Murat. Blücher's corps alone remained in the field. Pressed by Soult and Bernadotte, he violated the neutrality of the town of Lubeck by taking shelter there, but was pursued and forced to surrender with 16,000 men.

Here I may mention a curious fact, showing how chance influences the destinies of men and empires. As you have seen, Bernadotte neglected his duty on the day of Jena by holding aloof while Davout was fighting close by against vastly superior forces. This conduct, for which it is hard to find a name bad enough, aided him to rise to the throne of Sweden. After the battle, the Emperor, though furious with him, entrusted to him the task of pursuing the enemy, since his corps, which had not fired a shot, was in better fighting trim than those which had experienced losses. Bernadotte accordingly went on the track of the Prussians, whom he beat first of all at Hall, then, with support from Soult, at Lubeck. Now, as chance would have it, at the moment when the French were attacking Lubeck, the vessels sent by Gustavus IV. with a division of Swedish infantry to the aid of the Prussians were entering the harbour, and the Swedish troops had hardly disembarked when they were compelled to lay down their arms to Bernadotte's force. The marshal, whose manners, when he liked, were, I must admit very attractive, was especially desirous to earn in the strangers' eyes the character of a well-bred man. He therefore treated the Swedish officers with much friendliness, and after allowing them honourable terms of capitulation, restored them their horses and baggage, provided for their wants, and, inviting the commander-in-chief, Count Moerner, the generals, and field-officers to his quarters, showed them so much kind consideration that on returning to their own country the Swedes extolled Marshal Bernadotte's magnanimity up and down.

When, some years later, the incapable Gustavus IV. was driven from his throne by a revolution, and succeeded by his uncle, the Duke of Sudermania, who was old and childless, the assembled states chose as Crown Prince the Duke of Holstein-Augustenburg. He, however, did not long enjoy the dignity, being poisoned, as it was supposed, in 1811. The states assembled again to choose an heir to the throne, and after some hesitation between the various German princes who offered themselves for the place, Count Moerner, remembering Bernadotte's generous conduct at Lubeck, proposed his name. He dwelt on his military talents and on his connection; through his wife, with the Bonapartes; and various officers who had been present at Lubeck having seconded the general's recommendation, Bernadotte was almost unanimously elected Crown Prince, and some years later mounted the throne. We shall see in due course how, when on the steps of that throne, to which he had been carried by the glory won at the head of French armies, he showed his ingratitude towards his country.

But we must now return to Prussia. Her main forces had been destroyed by Napoleon, who occupied her capital as well as a great part of her provinces, while our victorious armies were touching the Vistula, the barrier separating Northern from Central Europe. Marshal Augereau's corps, after remaining a fortnight at Berlin, left that town about mid-November, crossed the Oder at Custrin, and reached the banks of the Vistula at Bromberg. We were in Poland—the poorest and least civilised country in Europe. Beyond the Oder we found no more high roads; we marched through shifting sands or fearful mud. The land was, for the most part, uncultivated; the few inhabitants whom we met inconceivably filthy. The weather, which had been magnificent during the month of October and the first part of November, became horrible; it rained or snowed incessantly. Provisions became very scarce—no more wine, hardly any beer, and what there was exceedingly bad; muddy water, no bread, and quarters for which we had to fight with the pigs and the cows. The soldiers said: 'Is this what the Poles have the impudence to call their country?' The Emperor himself had his eyes opened, for, having come to reconstitute Poland, he had hoped that the whole population of the country would rise as one man at the approach of the French armies. But no one stirred. In vain, to excite their enthusiasm, did the Emperor write to the famous General Kosciusko, who had headed the last insurrection, to come and join him; Kosciusko remained tranquilly in Switzerland, answering all reproaches addressed to him by saying that he knew too well the careless and fickle character of his compatriots to have any hope that they would succeed in freeing themselves even with the aid of the French. Not being able to attract Kosciusko, the Emperor, wishing at least to make capital out of his renown, addressed a proclamation to the Poles in his name. Not a soul took up arms, although our troops were occupying several provinces of the old Poland and even its capital. The Poles would not rise until Napoleon had declared Poland to be re-established, and he had no notion of doing this until the Poles had risen against their oppressor, which they would not do.

While the 7th corps was at Bromberg, Duroc, Grand Marshal of the Imperial Household, arrived in the middle of the night at Augereau's quarters. The marshal sent for me and bade me get ready to accompany Duroc, who was on his way to Graudenz with a flag of truce to the King of Prussia, and required an officer to take the place of his aide-de-camp whom he had just sent to Posen with despatches from the Emperor. They selected me because they remembered that in the previous August I had been on a mission to the Prussian Court, so that I knew most of the officials, as well as the ways of it. I was soon ready; the Marshal of the Household took me in his carriage, and going down the left bank of the Vistula, occupied by our troops, we crossed the river by a ferry opposite Graudenz. We got rooms in the town, and went on immediately to the citadel, where all the Prussian royal family had taken refuge after losing four-fifths of their states. The Vistula lay between the two armies. We found the King calm and resigned. The Queen, whom I had lately seen so beautiful, was much changed, and appeared consumed with grief. She could not conceal from herself that she had urged the King to make war, and was thus the chief cause of the misfortunes of her country, and in no favour with its inhabitants. No more agreeable messenger could have been sent to the King of Prussia than Duroc, who had been ambassador at Berlin, was well known to both King and Queen, and esteemed for the suavity of his disposition. I was too insignificant to be counted; still the King and Queen recognised me, and addressed some courteous words to me.

I found the Prussian officers about the Court in a mood very far from their swagger of the previous August. Their recent defeat had done much to modify their opinion of the French army. I did not, however, choose to take advantage of this, and carefully avoided speaking of Jena and our other victories. The matters of which Marshal Duroc had to treat with the King of Prussia, in reference to a letter which the King had addressed to Napoleon with a view of obtaining peace, occupied two days. I employed these in reading and walking about on the melancholy drill ground of the fortress. I did not like to go on the ramparts, even for the sake of the admirable view over the Vistula, fearing I might be suspected of examining the fortifications and armament.

In the engagements which had taken place between Jena and the Vistula, the Prussians had captured from us not more an a hundred prisoners. These were employed on the earthworks of the fortress of Graudenz; and Marshal Duroc had entrusted me with the distribution of aid to the poor fellows, whose lot was made all the worse by the view which they had of the French troops just across the Vistula. The neighbourhood of his comrades on the other bank, and the contrast of his position with theirs, had moved one of the prisoners, a trooper of the 3rd Dragoons, named Harpin, to employ every means in his power to get out of the hands of the Prussians. It was not an easy job, for he had first to get out of the fortress, then to cross the Vistula. But determination can do a good deal. Being employed by the master carpenter to stack timber, Harpin had secretly constructed a little raft; by the aid of a large cable he had succeeded in letting down first his raft and then himself to the foot of the ramparts. He had launched his raft and was on the point of embarking, when he was surprised by a patrol, taken back to the fortress, and put in a cell. Next day the Prussian commandant, following the usage of the Prussian army, sentenced Harpin to fifty strokes with a stick. In vain did the dragoon protest that being a Frenchman they had no right to bring him under Prussian regulations; he was a prisoner, and his protest unheeded. He was actually being led to the wooden frame to which he was to be fastened, and two soldiers were making ready to inflict the punishment. At that moment, wanting to get a book out of Duroc's carriage, which was standing on the drill ground, I caught sight of Harpin struggling in the midst of the Prussian soldiers, who were trying to tie him up. Indignant at the sight of a French soldier about to be flogged, I flew towards him sword in hand, threatening to kill the first man who dared to put the disgrace of a blow on a soldier of the Emperor. The marshal's carriage was guarded by one of Napoleon's couriers, known in every post-house of Europe under the name of Moustache. This man was of herculean strength and approved courage, and had attended the Emperor on twenty battlefields. When he saw me surrounded by Prussians, he ran to me and brought at my order loaded pistols which were in the carriage. We set Harpin loose; I gave him a brace of pistols, made him get into the carriage, and placing Moustache by him, declared to the quartermaster-sergeant that, as the carriage was the Emperor's and bore his arms, it was for the French dragoon a sanctuary which I forbade any Prussian to enter, on pain of getting a bullet through his head. At the same time I ordered Moustache and Harpin to fire if anyone attempted to get in. The quartermaster, seeing me resolute, left his prisoner for the moment to consult his superior officers. Then I left Moustache and Harpin, pistols in hand, in the carriage, and went to the King's quarters. There I requested an aide-de-camp to be so kind as to go into his Majesty's room and tell Marshal Duroc that I wished to speak to him on a matter of the utmost urgency. Duroc came out, and I reported what was going on.

On learning that they wanted to flog a French soldier, the marshal, sharing my indignation, returned straightway to the King, and protested warmly, adding that, if the sentence was carried out, he felt sure that the Emperor would take reprisals by flogging not soldiers, but Prussian officers who were prisoners of war. The King, a kindly man, saw that soldiers of other nations should be treated in accordance with their own point of honour, and gave orders that Harpin should be set at liberty. In order to please Napoleon, to whom he was at that moment suing for peace, he proposed to Duroc to exchange his hundred and fifty French prisoners for an equal number of Prussians. Duroc accepted, and an aide-de-camp of the King's went with me to announce the good news to the prisoners, who were overjoyed. We shipped them of at once, and an hour later they were across the Vistula, and with their comrades.

Marshal Duroc and I left Graudenz the next day. He approved what I had done, and told me afterwards that he had reported it to the Emperor, who quite agreed. So much so, that he had warned the Prussians and the Russians that, if they flogged any of his soldiers, he would shoot all their officers who fell into his hands.

I rejoined the 7th corps at Bromberg, and we soon followed up the left bank of the Vistula, to approach Warsaw. Marshal Augereau's head-quarters were established at Mallochich. On December 19 the Emperor arrived at Warsaw, and prepared to cross the Vistula. Then the 7th corps marched down the left bank again to Utrata, and on the opposite bank we saw, for the first time in this campaign, the Russian outposts.