If any doubt remained on the subject it would be entirely destroyed by the following irresistible argument. Of all the military decorations in the Austrian Empire, the most difficult to obtain was that of Maria Theresa, for it was only granted to an officer who could show that he had done more than his duty. He had to ask for the decoration himself, and if he failed he was for ever debarred from demanding it again. Now, in spite of the strictness of this regulation, the officer of the Austrian Jägers obtained the Cross of Maria Theresa, which shows undoubtedly that he had acted on an inspiration of his own, and not by the Archduke's orders. This reasoning, which I have developed in my critical remarks on General Rogniart's work, was especially approved by Napoleon when he read my book and Rogniart's at St. Helena. It was doubtless to punish that general for the partiality shown to our enemies that the Emperor, when leaving me a legacy of 100,000 francs, added in his will, 'I bid Colonel Marbot continue to write in defence of the glories of the French armies, and to the confusion of calumniators and apostates.'

As soon as the troops had effected their retreat into the island of Lobau, and on to the right bank of the Danube, the Emperor took up his quarters at Ebersdorf in order to survey the arrangements for a fresh crossing. Not one bridge, but three, were to be constructed, all having a strong stockade of piles up stream from them to withstand any floating objects which the enemy might launch at them. The care which the Emperor bestowed on these important works did not prevent him from coming twice a day to visit Marshal Lannes. For the first four days after his wound the marshal went on as well as possible; he preserved perfect equanimity, and conversed very calmly. So far was he from renouncing the service of his country, as some writers have stated, that he made plans for the future. Learning that Mesler, the celebrated Viennese mechanician, had made for the Austrian General, Count Palfy, an artificial leg with which he could walk and ride as well as ever, the marshal asked me to write to that artist, asking him to come and measure him for a leg. But the oppressive heat which we had experienced for some time became more intense, with disastrous results to the wounded man. He was attacked by high fever, accompanied with terrible delirium. The critical situation in which he had left the army was always on his mind, and he fancied himself still on the battle-field. He would call his aides-de-camp in a loud voice, bidding one tell the cuirassiers to charge, another to bring the artillery to such and such a point, and so on. In vain did Dr. Yvan and I try to soothe him; he did not understand us. His excitement kept increasing; he no longer recognised even the Emperor. This condition lasted several days without his getting a moment's sleep or resting from his imaginary combats. At length, in the night between the 29th and 30th, he left off giving his orders; a great weakness succeeded the delirium; he recovered all his mental faculties, recognised me, pressed my hand, spoke of his wife, his five children, his father, and, as I was very near his pillow, he rested his head on my shoulder, appeared to be falling asleep, and passed away with a sigh. 1It was daybreak on May 30. A few moments later the Emperor arrived for his morning visit. I thought it my duty to meet him and let him know of the sad event, cautioning him not to enter the infected atmosphere of the room. But Napoleon, putting me aside, advanced to the marshal's body, which he embraced, bathing it with tears, and saying repeatedly, 'What a loss for France and for me!' Berthier tried in vain to draw him away from the sad sight; he remained for more than an hour, and only yielded when Berthier pointed out that General Bertrand and the engineer officers were waiting to execute an important piece of work, for which he had himself fixed the time. As he went away he expressed his satisfaction with the unremitting care which I had taken of the marshal, and bade me have the body embalmed, and everything got ready for its transport to France.

My grief, already very keen, was increased by the necessity of attending the operation in order to draw up a report of it, and of superintending the removal of the body. It was a sad day for me, and I reflected much on the destiny of this man, who, gifted only with a quick intelligence and a dauntless courage, had raised himself by merit from the lowest to the highest rank of society, and now, in full enjoyment of his honours and vast wealth, had just ended his career in a foreign land, far from his family, in the arms of none but his aide-de-camp. Both physical and moral shocks had impaired my health. My wound, a slight one at first, and easy to cure if I could have had a few days' rest of mind and body, had become terribly inflamed during these ten days of anxiety and fatigue; for no one, not even his valets, had rendered me any efficient help in tending the marshal. One of them, a kind of dandy, had gone off the first day, under the plea that the stench of the wounds made him ill. The other was more zealous, but really fell ill from this cause, and I was obliged to send for a hospital man, who was as willing as possible, but whose unfamiliar face and dress seemed to displease the marshal, so that I had to give him everything. This day and night watching made my wound worse; my thigh was much swollen, and I could hardly stand, when I determined at length to go to Vienna and get proper treatment. In the Archduke Albert's palace I found all my wounded comrades. The Emperor had not lost sight of us, for he instructed the chief court surgeon, who lodged at Schönbrunn, to look after Marshal Lannes' aides-de-camp, and this good Dr. Franck came to see us twice daily. On examining my wound he thought it in a very bad state, and prescribed entire rest. But in spite of his advice I often walked through the passages to see my friend de Viry, who was kept in bed by a much worse wound than mine. Indeed I soon had the grief of losing this excellent comrade, to my infinite regret; and as I was the only aide-de-camp who knew his father, the duty of announcing to him the fatal news fell to me. The poor old man, broken-hearted, survived his son but a short time.

While unable to move I read much, and wrote down the most important facts of the recent campaign, together with some anecdotes which I had heard about it. Here is one of the most interesting. Two years before the establishment of the Empire, there existed no rank in French regiments intermediate between that of colonel and that of major. 2Bonaparte, then First Consul, wishing to fill this gap, which had been caused by a decree of the Convention, consulted the Council, and it was recognised to be necessary that some rank should be created, with functions equivalent to that of the old lieutenant-colonels. The next point was to settle the title, and Bonaparte was decided against the proposal of Berthier and some councillors that the former name should be restored. He pointed out that under the old system the colonels being great noblemen who passed their life at court and seldom appeared with their regiments, the administration and instruction of these had to be entrusted to officers acting as their substitutes, to whom it was quite fit and proper to give the title of lieutenant-colonel, since they were the real commanders of the regiments of which the colonels were merely the titular chiefs. But now that things had changed, and the colonels were the real commanders of their corps, it would not do to create a rivalry between them and the officers under consideration. If, however, the name of lieutenant colonel were given to them, they would be brought too near their chiefs, because their juniors would for brevity address them as 'Colonel'; nor was it seemly that when a soldier said he was going to the colonel he should have to be asked, 'To which?' The First Consul accordingly proposed to give the second officer in a regiment the title of major. His opinion prevailed, and the rank of lieutenant-colonel was restored, but not the name. This looks like a distinction without a difference; but it is not so, as the following story shows.

On the first day of the battle of Essling the Austrians had captured the village of that name, and the French regiment which had been posted there was retiring in some disorder before a much superior force, when, being sent to that point by Marshal Lannes, I learnt that the colonel had just been killed. The officers and men, resolved to avenge him and retake Essling, had, under the command of the major, promptly re-formed their ranks, still under fire, at no great distance from the houses. I hastened to tell the marshal the state of affairs; but when I said in a low voice, 'The colonel is dead,'Napoleon, who was close by, frowned, uttering a 'Hush!' which made me silent; and though unable to explain to myself how he proposed to improve the occasion, I could see that for the moment he did not wish to know that the colonel was killed.

The Emperor, who has been accused of lacking physical courage, galloped off, in spite of the bullets which were whistling round us, reached the centre of the regiment, and asked where the colonel was. No one replied, till Napoleon, having repeated his question, several soldiers answered, 'He has just been killed.' 'I did not ask if he was dead, but where he is.' Then a timid voice announced that he had been left in the village. 'What, soldiers!' said Napoleon. 'You have left your colonel's body in the hands of the enemy? Know that a brave regiment should always be able to show its eagle and its colonel, dead or living. You have left your colonel in that village; go and find him.' The major, catching Napoleon's thought, cried, 'Yes, we are dishonoured if we don't bring back our colonel!' and off he went at the double. The regiment followed, with a shout of, 'Long live the Emperor!' exterminated some hundred Austrians, remained master of the position, and got back the body of its colonel, which a grenadier company brought and laid down at the Emperor's feet. As you quite understand, the Emperor cared nothing about having the poor officer's body, but he wished to attain the double object of re-taking the village, and impressing upon the troops that the colonel is a second flag, which a good regiment should never abandon. This conviction in moments of difficulty exalts the courage of the men and leads them to fight obstinately around their chief, dead or living. Then, turning to Prince Berthier, the Emperor reminded him of the discussion in the council, adding, 'If when I asked for the colonel there had been a lieutenant-colonel instead of the major, they would have said, "Here he is," and the effect which I wished to produce would have been less impressive, for in the soldier's eyes lieutenant-colonel and colonel are pretty nearly synonymous titles.' Then the Emperor sent word to the major, who had just taken his regiment along so bravely, that he promoted him to colonel.

From what I have just told you you may judge the magic power which Napoleon exercised over his troops, since his presence and a few words from him were enough to send them into any danger; and you can also see with what readiness he could turn to advantage any incident of the battle-field. This episode seemed to me all the more worth recording, since the title of lieutenant-colonel was mistakenly revived under the Restoration.

Here is another anecdote, the chief interest of which is that it gave occasion to a very sensible remark on the part of Lannes. While the infantry of our corps was crossing the bridges and the cavalry was awaiting its turn, a major of the 7th Chasseurs, named M. Hulot d'Hozery, now a general, [we saw him in 1814 on the staff of the Emperor Alexander, when the foreign armies entered Paris], being a very brave man, and urged by curiosity to find out what was taking place on the field of battle, left his regiment at Ebersdorf, and crossed the river in a boat. On the other side he mounted a horse, and came caracoling as an amateur about our staff near Essling, and at that very moment a cannon-ball took off his arm. As soon as he had been taken to the ambulance for amputation, Marshal Lannes said to us, 'Remember, gentlemen, that in war swagger is always out of place, and that true courage consists in facing the dangers to which one is exposed at one's post, and not in going and parading in the middle of a fight otherwise than at the summons of duty.'

I think I should now give a more complete biography of Marshal Lannes. He was born in 1769 at Lectoure, a little town in Gascony. His father was a mere working dyer, with three sons and one daughter. Lectoure was then a bishop's see, and a certain vicar-general, observing the intelligence and good conduct of the dyer's eldest son, placed him in the seminary, where he took orders, and in course of time became a vicar-general himself. He was a worthy man, and set himself to teach his younger brothers, the second of whom, the future marshal, profited by his lessons so far as he could in the intervals of assisting his father in the work of his trade. When the Revolution broke out, his education was limited to reading, writing, and arithmetic. The youngest brother had not much talent, and, after trying to help him in a military career, the Marshal advised him to quit the service, got him married well for his province, and established him in his native town. The girl, who, when her second brother became general, was still a child, was sent to a good school by him, afterwards dowered by him, and well married.

Lannes was of middle height, but very well built; his countenance pleasant and expressive; his eyes small, but indicating a keen wit; his disposition very kind, but passionate, until he succeeded in overcoming it; his ambition boundless, his activity extraordinary, and his courage undaunted. After passing his youth as a dyer's apprentice he saw the military career open before him, and advanced in it with giant steps. Carried away by the enthusiasm which in 1791 had decided most men of his age to fly to the defence of their country unjustly attacked, he enrolled himself in the volunteers of the Gers, and served as a grenadier until his comrades were led by his good behaviour, his zeal, and his quick wit to nominate him sub-lieutenant. From that moment he gave himself up to unremitting study, and even when he was marshal he passed part of his nights in work, so that he became a very fairly educated man. He saw his first service under my father at the camp of Le Miral, and afterwards in the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees, where his intrepidity and uncommon intelligence quickly raised him to the rank of major, which he held at the time when my father's division passed under the command of General Augereau. After a bloody engagement, in which Lannes had covered himself with glory, Angereau got him made colonel. Having been wounded in this affair, Lannes was obliged to pass some months at Perpignan, where he was quartered with a rich banker, M. Méric. Winning the esteem of all the family by his pleasant manners, the young officer married Mlle. Méric—a much better match than at that time he could have hoped for.

Peace having been concluded between France and Spain in 1795, Lannes went with Augereau's division to Italy, and was placed as supernumerary with the 4th half-brigade of the line, which, in the absence of its regular chief, was really commanded by him at the time when Bonaparte came to take command of the army. He quickly recognised Lannes' merit, so when a decree of the Directory put all the supernumerary officers on half-pay, Bonaparte took upon himself to keep him in Italy, where, though not officially belonging to the army, he was twice wounded in the campaigns of 1796 and 1797. But for the perspicacity of the commander-in-chief, Lannes would have been removed from the service, and have buried his military talents in the office of his father-in-law, and France would have had one great captain the less. When Bonaparte led an army into Egypt he took Lannes with him. He had now become major-general, and consequently was officially restored to the active list.

The new general distinguished himself everywhere, and was so seriously wounded at the assault of Acre that his troops thought him dead. I have told you how his life was saved by a captain of grenadiers, who, at the risk of his own life, dragged him to the end of the trenches. In this affair Lannes got a bullet through his neck, and ever afterwards carried his head bent towards his left shoulder, and had a certain discomfort in his larynx. He had scarcely recovered from this wound when he was overtaken by a great sorrow. He learnt that his wife, whom he had not seen for two years, had just been delivered of a boy. A law suit ensued, and he obtained a divorce.

Lannes left Egypt with Napoleon, and followed him to Paris. After the 18th of Brumaire he went with him to Saint-Cloud. He distinguished himself in the campaign of Marengo, and saved the army at the action of Montebello, where a great part of our army engaged in the gorges of the Alps would have been unable to emerge into the plain if Lannes' courage and masterly manœuvres had not got the enemy out of the way. His conduct on this occasion earned him later on the title of Duke of Montebello. It was on his return from this campaign that Lannes conceived a hope of marrying Caroline Bonaparte. I have told you how the intrigues of Bessières swayed the balance in favour of Murat. Lannes was then appointed ambassador at Lisbon, and married Mlle. Guéhéneuc, who brought him a handsome dowry, which, added to a fortunate windfall, put his affairs on a satisfactory footing. By a regulation of old standing, a French ambassador on his first arrival at Lisbon was entitled to pass in free of duty all goods on board the vessel which brought him. General Lannes, in pursuance of the usual practice, ceded this right to a commercial firm for 300,000 francs. Some time afterwards, on the birth of a boy—who was, in later days Minister of Marine under Louis Philippe 3—the Prince Regent of Portugal asked to be godfather. On the christening- day, in the course of a visit to the rooms of the palace in which Brazilian curiosities were kept, he took Lannes to a room where were boxes full of precious stones, and, opening one, he took out three double handfuls of uncut diamonds, and put them into the general's hat, with the words, 'The first for my godson, the second for the ambassadress his mother, and the third for the ambassador.' From this time Lannes, from whom I had the story, was really a wealthy man.

Nor did the favour of fortune stop there. When on ascending the throne in 1804, the First Consul created the dignity of Marshal of France, Lannes naturally was among the first to receive it, with the title of Duke of Montebello. At the Camp of Boulogne he commanded the 5th corps of the Grand Army, and led it the next year into Austria. At Austerlitz he specially distinguished himself, being in command of the left wing. So, too, in the following year, at Saalfeld, Jena, Pultusk, and Friedland. In 1808 and 1809, in Spain, he assisted the Emperor bravely at Burgos, won the battle of Tudela by himself, and captured Saragossa. Then, without resting, he hastened back to Germany. His exploits there I have just narrated, at Eckmühl, Ratisbon, and finally at Essling, where this modern Bayard closed his glorious career.

That you may better appreciate his character, I may relate an incident which shows what pains he took with himself. In ordinary intercourse he was calm and gentle; but on the battle-field he would work himself up into a fury the moment his orders were not well carried out. Now it happened during the battle of Burgos that at the decisive moment, a captain of artillery, having misunderstood a manœuvre which had been enjoined, took his battery in exactly the wrong direction. The marshal, seeing this, galloped off, and in his wrath gave the officer a severe reprimand in the Emperor's presence. As he went away he heard Napoleon say something, of which he only caught the first words, 'That fellow Lannes.' He returned pensive, and, taking me aside at the first possible moment, required me by his confidence in me, and my affection for him, to tell him the whole of the Emperor's remark. I replied frankly: 'His Majesty said, "That fellow Lannes has all the qualities which go to make a great captain, but he never will be one, because he cannot control his temper, and gets in a rage even with subalterns, and an army-leader can have no greater fault."' The marshal's heart was so set on being a great captain that he resolved to acquire the one qualification which, in the opinion of so good a judge as the Emperor, he lacked; and from that moment I never again saw him out of temper even when, as often happened, especially at Saragossa, his orders were ill-performed. When he perceived a serious fault, the first impulse of his fiery nature towards an outbreak was in an instant checked by his firm will. He would turn pale, and his hands would clench, but he made his remarks as calmly as a phlegmatic man could do, as the following instance may show. Anyone with the least experience of war knows that when soldiers want to clean their muskets, instead of drawing the charges with the proper screw, they have the bad and dangerous habit of letting them off in the air. In spite of all prohibition, it happened, during the siege of Saragossa, that some infantry men were emptying their muskets in this fashion at a moment when the marshal was passing near their camp. One of the bullets, striking the bridle of his horse, cut the reins close to his hand. The soldier was arrested for breach of the regulations; but the marshal, checking his impulse to speak sharply, only said, 'See what you lay yourself open to, and think how sorry you would be if you had killed me,' and had the man set free. It requires strength of mind to master one's character in this way.

As I am writing the history of my life, I have to be constantly coming back to personal details. I may, therefore, remind you that after the death of Marshal Lannes I had gone to Vienna to get my wound attended to. I lay on my bed deep in sad meditations; for not only did I regret for his own sake the marshal who had been so kind to me, but I could not disguise from myself that the loss of such a supporter changed my position vastly. The Emperor had, indeed, told me at Mölk that he appointed me major and both he and Berthier addressed me as such; but, as in the bustle of the war, no commissions had been drawn out, I was actually still only a captain. My fears for my future were terminated by a piece of good luck. My comrade, La Bourdonnaye, far more severely wounded than I, lay in the next room to mine, and we often chatted through the open door. M. Mounier, the Emperor's secretary, afterwards peer of France, often came to see La Bourdonnaye, and I made his acquaintance. Having often heard my performances and my wounds spoken of at headquarters, and seeing me with a fresh mark of the enemy's fire, he asked what reward I had got. ' None,' said I. 'It can only be by an oversight,' replied he, 'for I am sure I saw your name for one of the commissions lying in the Emperor's portfolio.' Next day I learnt from him that he had placed the commission under the Emperor's eyes, and that the Emperor had written on the margin, 'This officer shall enter the mounted chasseurs of my guard as major'; thus granting me a great and unprecedented favour, for the officers of the guard had army rank superior to that which they held in the corps. In thus admitting me as major, Napoleon raised me two steps at once, and gave me the rank of major, or lieutenant-colonel in the line, which was magnificent. I was not, however, dazzled by this advantage, although, as the guard did garrison duty in Paris, I should be able to see more of my mother; but Marshal Bessières was general in command of the guard, and not only did he give a bad reception to officers whom he had not recommended himself, but I feared his ill-will on account of the incident at Essling.

I was in a painful state of uncertainty when Prince Eugene, Viceroy of Italy, arrived at Vienna, and took up his quarters in the Archduke Albert's palace. One day Masséna came to visit him, and, wishing to show kindness to Marshal Lannes' aides-de-camp, came up to our rooms and stayed some time with me, as he had known me at the time of the siege of Genoa. I told him my difficulty, and he replied, 'No doubt it would be a great advantage to you to enter the guard, but you would expose yourself to Marshal Bessières' vengeance. Come and be my aide-de-camp, and you shall be received like a child of my family, as the son of a good general who died when fighting under me, and I will take care of your promotion.' Enticed by these promises, I accepted; Masséna went off at once to the Emperor, who finally agreed to his request, and sent me on June 18 my commission as major to be aide-de-camp to Masséna.

Delighted though I was at being at length a field-officer, it was not long before I was sorry for having accepted Masséna's offer. An hour after my appointment as aide-de-camp came Marshal Bessières bringing with his own hands my nomination to the guard; he assured me that he would have much pleasure in receiving me in the corps, as he knew that in bearing the order to him on the field of Essling I was only obeying the instructions of Marshal Lannes. I was deeply grateful for this kind and straightforward action, and much regretted that I had been so prompt in engaging myself to Masséna; but it was too late to go back on my decision. I feared at the time that my promotion would suffer, but luckily it was not so, for M. Mounier, who took my place in the guard, was still only major when I became colonel. It is true that he passed the next two years in Paris, while I was in the thick of the fire and got two more wounds.

Napoleon rewarded Marshal Lannes' staff plentifully. Among others, Saint-Mars became colonel of the 3rd Chasseurs, and Labédoyère aide-de-camp to Prince Eugene. As for me, as soon as I could get to Schönbrunn to thank the Emperor for my promotion, his Majesty did me the honour of saying, 'I should have liked to have you in my guard; however, as Marshal Masséna wants you for his aide-de-camp, and that suits you, I have no objection; but in order to show in a special way how pleased I am with you, I appoint you knight of the Empire, with an annuity of 2,000 francs.' If I had dared, I should have begged the Emperor to return to his first purpose, and admit me into his guard; but how could I tell him the reason why I had originally declined? That being impossible, I confined myself to thanking him, but it was with a sore heart. However, having to resign myself to the position into which my own hot-headedness had brought me, I put aside useless regrets, and took all the more care of my wound, so that I might be fit to accompany my new marshal in the fighting which was sure to follow our next passage of the Danube.