Why don't you put on rouge? You're too pale. What? A woman who forgets her rouge? That wouldn't happen to you, would it, Josephine?

February 1st. We appoint our brother-in-law, Marshal Murat, Grand Admiral of the Empire.

27th. The time is drawing near when we can begin operations.

March 15th, Malmaison:
(To Vice-Admiral Ganteaume.) We have reached the 15th of March; there is not a day to spare. Be mindful of the greatness of the results that depend on you. If you show plenty of boldness, success is certain. In the Mediterranean Nelson has been damaged by the storms; he has only twelve of the line.

17th, Paris:
The Emperor of the French, Napoleon I, is King of Italy. The crown of Italy is hereditary by direct descent.

20th, Malmaison:

(To Marshal Berthier.) My Cousin: I would like you to write to Marshal Bernadotte to have him send out people travelling under various pretexts in the provinces of Polish Russia, so that we may be well posted as to any movements of the Russian troops.

21st. (To Marshal Berthier.) I regret to find every day proposals placed before me for the quick promotion of staff officers, lieutenants of not more than two, three, or four years' service. They think themselves veterans if they date back to 1799. And yet there is no regiment that does not average eight captains dating from 1792, wounded, and who have fought in every campaign. I count seven of them in the 1st regiment, eight in the 3d, fourteen in the 4th, fourteen in the 5th, fifteen in the 6th, and so on.

22d. (To Vice-Admiral Villeneuve.) I am awaiting the news of your departure with impatience.

(To General Lauriston.) It is intended that the Toulon fleet shall combine with two other fleets. It is essential that it should weigh anchor by the 26th; hasten its departure by every possible means; let nothing delay you. Encourage the admiral to keep steadily on towards his objective, and to avoid hesitation in an operation of which the result is so vital to the future of France. My admirals lack boldness; they mistake frigates for line of battle ships, and merchant vessels for hostile fleets. Decision must be shown, and once the fleet is out it must fly straight to its mark and not go into port or turn back.

April 3d, Troyes:
Word has just come from Toulon stating that the fleet has sailed.

7th, Châlons-sur-Saône:
I reckon that with the weather we are having and with the wind prevailing when the fleet, started, Nelson has probably returned to Maddalena or some port of Sardinia.

11th, Lyons:
(To Ganteaume.) A message from Cadiz of the 29th states that Admiral Gravina is ready to sail with 8 ships and 2 frigates, which will bring the fleet of Admiral Villeneuve up to 20 of the line. You will find 8 Spanish and 4 French ships at Ferrol: I expect, therefore, that you can start from the point of concentration with 50 line of battle ships. The destinies of the world are in your hands.

(To Vice-Admiral Ver Huell.) I intend to concentrate the Dutch flotilla at Ambleteuse. The hour of glory is perhaps on the point of striking; it is all a matter of a few chances, of a few incidents.

20th, Stupinigi:
(To Decrès.) Admiral Nelson has once more been taken in about our fleet. I am beginning to feel a little easier about it. You will see that Admiral Villeneuve is not under instructions to return immediately, but to wait thirty-five days so that the Brest fleet may have time enough to join him. By Heaven! stir them up!

22d. (To Madame Mêre.) Mr. Jerome Bonaparte has arrived at Lisbon with the woman with whom he is living. I have ordered this prodigal son to Milan. Miss Patterson, who is with him, has prudently got her brother with her as an escort. I have ordered her sent back to America. I shall treat the boy harshly if, in the one interview I give him, he shows himself unworthy of his family and wishes to continue his liaison. Unless he is disposed to wipe out the dishonour he has attached to my name in abandoning his flag and his nationality for an unworthy woman, I shall wash my hands of him, and perhaps I shall strike an example to show young soldiers how sacred are their duties and how serious is the crime of abandoning their flag for a woman.

23d. Villeneuve joined Gravina off Cadiz on the l0th.

(To Decrès.) Keep the event at Cadiz, and the departure of the fleets secret. See that the Dutch gazettes publish that a French fleet has landed 10,000 men in Egypt; that the Admiral manœuvred very skilfully so as to throw Nelson off the track; that he made a show of passing the straits (of Gibraltar), but that at night he turned back and sailed along the African coast.

24th. (To Cambacérès.) My Cousin: I think the Council of State is not attending sufficiently to our manufactures; it is not idealism makes countries prosperous.

(To Fouché.) Have some well written articles published deriding the military movements of the Russians, the interview of the Emperor of Russia with the Emperor of Austria, and the absurd reports, phantoms born of the fogs and the spleen of England. Get active, and keep public opinion up. Tell the editors that although I am far away, I still read the papers, and that if they continue on the present tack I shall close their accounts.

(To Marshal Soult.) Let me know whether the horses, the supplies, the men, will all be ready for embarkation in two weeks. Don't reply in terms of metaphysics, but inspect your magazines and depots.

26th. (To Marshal Davout.) Don't let appearances send you to sleep. It may take me two months to travel down to Milan, but only a very few days to get back from Milan to Boulogne.

May 2d, Alessandria:
(To Talleyrand.) As the wording of the letters signed by me, when I have not drafted them in person, is often the work of Durand and his crew, it is not at all remarkable that, after the letter I was made to write to the Equestrian Order, the Emperor of Germany should have been encouraged to attack the princes. There are people in existence who imagine I have no teeth and no claws. By God, write to them not to trust to it! The habit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is always to write dispatches according to the protocol; there should be a special office for this duty; I am made to play too silly a part signing such letters.
 

Word reaches me from Naples that Nelson was at Maritimo on the 22d, and had only just learnt that the Toulon fleet had passed the straits.

4th. If Spain will send her six ships from Carthagena to Toulon, I will frighten the English so that they will keep an imposing force there; for I shall threaten Egypt in so many ways, and so obviously, that they will expect a big stroke; they believe my fleets are bound for the East Indies, and so it would appear as though I were carrying out a concerted scheme.

8th, Pavia:
On the 14th of July I shall be on the coast, and I expect the return of the fleets on the 29th.

22d, Milan:
(To Fouché.) Have some articles written against Princess Dolgorouki, who is spreading scandalous and ridiculous reports in Rome. You probably know that she long lived with an actor, and that the diamonds she displays so ostentatiously were given her by Potemkin and are the price of her dishonour. You can get information about her, and make her a laughingstock. She poses for a clever woman; she is on friendly terms with the Queen of Naples, and, which is equally surprising, with Mme. de Staël.

26th. Assumption of the Iron Crown as King of Italy.
Dio mi la donna, guai a chi la tocca!

27th. The coronation took place yesterday with much pomp. The cathedral was splendidly decorated. The ceremony went off just as well as in Paris, with this difference, that the weather was splendid. When I took the Iron Crown and placed it on my head, I added these words: "God gave it me, touch it who dares!" I hope I was prophesying!

30th. (To Decrès.) Why are you so anxious I should come back. to Paris? Nothing is better adapted to conceal my plans and deceive the enemy than my absence. It will give them confidence, and they will allow a few more ships to get away to distant seas.

(To Fouché.) Have some caricatures made: an Englishman, his purse in his hand, begging the various Powers to accept his money, etc. That is the note to strike. Have printed in Holland that advices from Madeira state that Villeneuve met a convoy of 100 English merchantmen bound for India, and captured it.

June 1st. I shall unite the territory of Genoa to my Empire.

(To Fouché.) I read in a paper that a tragedy on Henry IV is to be played. The epoch is recent enough to excite political passions. The theatre must dip more into antiquity. Why not commission Raynouard to write a tragedy on the transition from primitive to less primitive man? A tyrant would be followed by the saviour of his country. The oratorio "Saul" is on precisely that text, - a great man succeeding a degenerate king.

7th. Anxious to confer on our stepson, Prince Eugène, an emphatic testimonial of our confidence in his devotion to ourselves, and also to provide during our absence for the government of our kingdom of Italy, we hereby designate and appoint him by these presents Viceroy of our said kingdom.

(Instructions for Prince Eugène.) My Cousin: In entrusting you with the government of our kingdom of Italy, we cannot too strongly recommend that you should use circumspection and prudence. Our Italian subjects are of a more dissembling character than are French citizens. There is but one sure way of keeping their esteem and of helping them, which is to give your complete trust to no one, and to let none know what you think of the ministers and high officials about you.

Make show of a good opinion of the people you govern, and all the more when you discover motives to the contrary. A time will come when you will realize that there is little enough difference between one nation and another.

Speak as little as possible; you have not sufficient knowledge, and your education has been too much neglected for you to plunge into impromptu debate. Learn how to listen, and remember that silence often produces as much effect as knowledge. Don't blush to ask questions. Though a viceroy, you are but twenty-three years old, and whatever flattery may tell you, people are perfectly aware of just how much you know, and think better of you for what you may become, than for what they know you to be.

Don't preside over your Council of State frequently; you have too little knowledge to do so with success.

9th. Lucien prefers a dishonoured woman, who bore him a child before they were married, to the honour of his name and of his family. I can only lament such an aberration in a man whom nature endowed with talents. An unexampled egotism has drawn him away from a splendid career, away from the path of duty and honour.

28th, Piacenza:
Nelson has sailed for America; Villeneuve's objective is so hard to guess that even Nelson, after victualling at Barbadoes, will not think himself at fault letting three or four days slip by, as Villeneuve cannot be attacked in the bay of Martinique. I calculate that Villeneuve should start for Ferrol between the 9th and the 29th of June, - before Nelson could sight him. I shall hasten my return by a few days, because I think that possibly Nelson's arrival in America might decide Villeneuve to start for Ferrol.

July 13th, Fontainebleau:
I arrived at Fontainebleau 85 hours after leaving Turin. I lost three hours at the Mont Cenis, and I frequently stopped one or two hours for breakfast, and one or two hours for dinner, on account of the Empress, which cost me another eight or nine hours.

14th. Our papers are publishing a genealogy of the House of Bonaparte which is both flat and ridiculous. Such performances are childish, and when people ask for the origin of the House of Bonaparte, the answer is easy: it dates from the 18th of Brumaire.

18th, Saint Cloud:

I had foreseen in my instructions that the enemy might withdraw from in front of Brest; for four days they are reported to have been out of sight. This, together with the disappearance of the squadron blockading Rochefort, leaves little doubt as to Villeneuve's return. Admiral Gardner has sailed to meet Villeneuve, who will probably need several days to effect the concentration at Ferrol.

20th. (To Vice-Admiral Ganteaume, at Brest.) You have already received the order to proceed to sea; chase the enemy's frigates, and ascertain their movements. If the enemy are out of sight and have sailed for Ferrol, or are well out to sea heading for Villeneuve, our orders are that you should proceed to Boulogne where all is ready, and where, if we are masters of the sea three days, you will enable us to ring the knell of England.

When you receive this letter we shall already be at Boulogne in person, and everything will be packed on board. Great events are happening, or will shortly happen; don't let your fleet remain useless. If the enemy weaken their numbers in your front, it will be because they suppose that it is Villeneuve who is to make the offensive move. Counter their move by taking the initiative yourself. Be prudent; but know when to be bold.

31st. The news from Italy all points to war, and really Austria is barely keeping up appearances.

August 3d, Boulogne:
Without question, Austria is getting ready for war.

6th. (To Daru.) My intention is to turn Art specially in the direction of subjects that would tend to perpetuate the memory of the events of the last fifteen years. It is astonishing, for instance, that I have not been able to get the Gobelins to give up Sacred History and to employ their artists on those numerous actions of all sorts that have won glory for the army and for the nation, the events that have created our throne.

8th. The combined fleet has been in action near Ferrol; it has accomplished its object by effecting its junction with the Ferrol squadron. The fleet gave chase to the enemy, and for four days remained in possession of the field of battle.

9th. (To Barbé Marbois.) Reassure the financiers; explain to them that no imprudent risk will be run; that matters are going too favourably at present for foolishly hazarding the happiness and prosperity of my people. Undoubtedly I shall land at the head of my army. Everybody must see that this is necessary; but neither I nor my army will disembark unless we have every chance in our favour.

11th. The fleets have come to anchor at Corunna. Lauriston writes that they will keep on, that the captains and crews are all right, that Villeneuve, who is not without talent, is too slow in making up his mind.

13th. (To Cambacérès.) You will read in the Moniteur some articles that will make you think war with Austria is coming. The fact is that this Power is arming. I want her to disarm; if she won't, I shall pay her a little visit with 200,000 men which she will not soon forget. However, if any one asks you, and in your speeches, say that you don't believe in it, because I have had ample warning. For it would obviously be sheer folly to make war on me. There is certainly not in all Europe a finer army than the one I command to-day.

Pont-de-Briques:
I have made up my mind: I will either attack Austria and reach Vienna before November - to face the Russians, should they put in an appearance; or else my will, and that is the word, is that there should be but one Austrian regiment in the Tyrol. I want to be left to conduct my war against England in quiet.

Boulogne:

(To Decrès.) Send a special messenger to Ferrol. Inform Admiral Villeneuve of my dissatisfaction at his losing precious time.

(To Villeneuve.) Inform Admiral Ganteaume of your departure by a special courier. Never will a fleet have faced risks for a more important object, and never will my soldiers and sailors have an opportunity of shedding their blood for a greater and more noble result. We might all of us well die content for the sake of helping on the invasion of the Power that has for six centuries oppressed France. Such are the sentiments that should animate you, that should animate all my soldiers. England has not more than four line of battle ships in the Downs.

(To Josephine.) It is not often one hears from you. You forget your friends, which is wrong. I did not know that the waters of Plombières had the same effect as those of Lethe. It seems to me that it was drinking these same Plombières waters once made you say, "Ah, Bonaparte, if ever I die, who will there be to love you?" That was a very long time ago, wasn't it? Everything passes, beauty, wit, sentiment, even the sun, all but one thing that is endless: the good I wish you, your happiness. I cannot be more loving even if you laugh at me for my pains. Good-bye, dear friend. I had the English cruisers attacked yesterday; everything passed off well.

20th. The weather is very unsettled; there is much rain. The combined fleets left Ferrol with 34 sail of the line.

At this moment a division of the flotilla is working around Cape Grisnez in action with the English.

On the 2d Nelson was still off Cape St. Vincent; he was apparently short of provisions.

22d. I believe that Villeneuve hasn't enough in him to command a frigate. He has no decision and no moral courage. Two Spanish ships have been in collision, a few men are sick on his own ships, add to that two days of unfavourable winds, an enemy's ship reconnoitring, a report that Nelson has joined Calder: and his plans are changed, when, taking these facts one by one, they amount to nothing. He has not the experience of war, nor the instinct for it.

(To Villeneuve.) I hope you have reached Brest. Start; lose not a minute, and, with my combined fleets, sail up the Channel. England is ours. We are all ready, everything is embarked. Appear here for twenty-four hours, and all is over.

23d. I perceive the urgency of coming to a decision. In reality there is no point in demanding an explanation of Austria. My mind is made up.

My fleet sailed from Ferrol on the 17th with 34 ships of the line; there was no enemy in sight. If my instructions are followed, if it joins the Brest fleet and enters the Channel, there is still time; I am master of England. If, on the contrary, my admirals hesitate, manœuvre badly, and don't carry out my plans, all I can do is to await winter and then cross with the flotilla; it's a risky operation. Such being the state of things, I must attend to the more urgent matter. I can place 200,000 men in Germany, and 25,000 in the kingdom of Naples. I march on Vienna, and do not lay down my arms until Naples and Venice are mine, and I have so increased the electorate of Bavaria that I have nothing further to fear from Austria. I can certainly pacify Austria after this fashion during the course of the winter. I shall not return to Paris until I have touched my goal.

My plan is to gain two weeks. I want to get into the heart of Germany with 300,000 men before any one suspects it.

24th. No more news of the fleets. I continue reviewing the various divisions of my army.

25th. (To Talleyrand.) My movement is begun. You can say that, as my frontiers are exposed, I am moving 25,000 men to protect them. Don't show boldness, but absolute cowardice. It's a matter of gaining twenty days and of preventing the Austrians from crossing the Inn while I am marching on the Rhine. I did not suppose the Austrians would be so active, but I have made so many mistakes in my life, that I am past blushing for them.
 
 

Marshal Murat will start to-morrow under the name of Colonel Beaumont; he will proceed directly to Mainz, where he will change horses only. He will pass through Frankfort, reconnoitring Offenbach on the way; will go to Würzburg, reconnoitre it, staying a day and a half and having a look at the roads between that place, Mainz, and the Danube, getting some notions of the débouchés on Ulm, Ingolstadt, and Ratisbon. He will proceed from there to Bamberg, and must plan to reach Strassburg on the 11th of September.

26th. Prince Murat is appointed lieutenant of the Emperor, commander-in-chief of the army in the absence of His Majesty.

29th. How small England will become when France gets two or three admirals who are willing to face death!

31st. Everything has gone; I shall be ready on the 27th of September. I have given the army of Italy to Masséna. Austria is very insolent, and is redoubling her efforts. My fleet has gone into Cadiz.

September 2d. I start in one hour for Paris.

4th, Malmaison:
(To Vice-Admiral Decrès.) Admiral Villeneuve has touched the limit! The thing is unthinkable! Send me a report covering the whole expedition. Villeneuve is a low rascal who must be ignominiously cashiered. Without plans, without courage, he would sacrifice everything to save his skin!

13th, Saint Cloud:
The Austrians crossed the Inn on the 10th. The Elector of Bavaria retired to Würzburg.

My plan was to concentrate 40 or 50 battleships at Martinique by movements concerted from Toulon, Cadiz, Ferrol, and Brest; then have them return suddenly to Boulogne; get control of the straits for fifteen days; have 150,000 men and 10,000 horses ready; disembark in England, seize London and the Thames. This plan almost succeeded. Had Admiral Villeneuve, instead of going into Ferrol, merely effected his junction with the Spanish squadron, and made sail for Brest to join Admiral Ganteaume, my army was over, and there was an end to England. To carry out this plan, it was necessary to collect 150,000 men at Boulogne, a flotilla of 4000 boats, and immense stores; get all this on board ship, and yet prevent the enemy from guessing my intentions: this seemed impossible. If I was to succeed it was by doing the reverse of what seemed obvious. If 50 ships of the line were going to cover the passage of the army to England, all that we needed at Boulogne were transports; and the immense display of gunboats and floating batteries of various kinds was absolutely useless. Collecting 4000 vessels of this sort was opposing cannon to cannon, ship of war to ship of war; and the enemy were taken in. They believed I intended to force the passage by means of the flotilla, and never realized my actual plan. When, after my fleet had failed to carry out its manœuvre, they perceived the danger they had run, fear seized on the Cabinet of London, and every thinking man admitted that England had never been so near disaster.

18th. (To Marshal Masséna, commanding in chief the army of Italy, at Valeggio.) You have nearly 60,000 men under your orders; that is one third more than ever I had. I have full confidence in your courage and ability. Win me some victories.

23d. I leave for Strassburg to-morrow at half-past four in the morning.

26th, Strassburg:
The whole army is across the Rhine. We shall soon be manœuvring.

27th. Events are moving rapidly. The Austrians are at the débouchés of the Black Forest. Heaven keep them there! My only anxiety is lest we frighten them away. If I am lucky enough, and the Austrians remain asleep three or four days more on the Iller, I shall be around them, and I hope that only débris will escape me.

29th. The King of Prussia has called up his reservists.

The weather is glorious; I hope I shall have a fine autumn.

(To Marshal Ney.) I assume you have reached Stuttgardt. Marshal Lannes is marching on Ludwigsburg; he can move rapidly to support you if it should be necessary. Prince Murat is marching on Rastadt. Keep him informed of everything.

30th. Soldiers! The war of the Third Coalition has begun. The Austrian army has crossed the Inn, has broken all treaties, has attacked our ally and driven him from his capital. You have been compelled to rush to the defence of our frontiers by forced marches. But you are already across the Rhine. We will not stay our march until we have secured the independence of the Germanic body, succoured our allies, and confounded the pride of our unjust aggressors!
 
 

I shall start to-night to back up Marshal Soult and outflank Ulm. Woe betide the Austrians if they let me gain a few more marches! I hope to concentrate my whole army between the Lech and the Isar.

October 2d, Imperial Headquarters, Ettlingen:
The enemy are marching forward and backward and appear to be completely puzzled.

(To Josephine.) I am starting for Stuttgardt, which I shall reach to-night. Our grand manœuvres are in full swing. The armies of Würtemberg and Baden are joining mine. I am in good position, and I love you.

3d, Ludwigsburg:
I am with the Elector (of Würtemberg), who has definitely joined our side.

4th. No new developments. The whole army is marching. The weather is splendid. I have effected my junction with the Bavarians.

(To Champagny.) I am at the Court of Würtemberg, and, though conducting war, I am hearing some very good music. The German style of singing, however, strikes me as rather queer. Are the reservists coming in? How goes the conscription of 1806?

5th. Between the 15th and 16th the whole army will be between Donauwerth and Ingolstadt; there never will have been so many troops packed into so small a space.

8th, Donauwerth:

Yesterday I crossed the Danube and the Lech. I ordered Augsburg and Aichach to be attacked. Twelve battalions of grenadiers have been surrounded at Wertingen between the Lech and the Danube; and the greater part of them, with their standards and artillery, has been captured.

I am marching to get behind Ulm. Each day becomes more critical, and if the enemy make a few mistakes, the consequences may be disastrous.

(To Marshal Soult.) Lannes' grenadiers will not stop till they reach Zusmarshausen, and to-night I shall move Suchet's division according to the reports that reach me before two o'clock. Allow no halts, and make up your mind to move night and day until you have captured their main body. The least you can send me is 3000 or 4000 prisoners.

4th. (To Prince Murat.) I have ordered d'Hautpoul to Wertingen. I shall sleep at Augsburg with the Guard, where I expect Marshal Soult has already arrived. Cut the main road from Augsburg to Ulm; push General Walther between Augsburg and Landsberg, and place Marshal Lannes so that if Augsburg is attacked at daybreak his three divisions could get there.

10th, Zusmarshausen:
The weather has broken, there is much rain. The fight at Wertingen is very creditable to the dragoons and the cavalry. It's a minor success, and very gratifying to Murat, who was in command. I hold the enemy surrounded at Ulm; they were defeated last night by Ney's corps.

No army has ever marched with greater good will, dash, and confidence.
 
 

The Emperor reviewed the dragoons at Zusmarshausen. He ordered Marcate, of the 4th dragoons, who is one of the bravest men in the army, to be brought before him. At the passage of the Lech he saved the life of his captain, who, a few days previously, had reduced him to the ranks. His Majesty gave him the Legion of Honour.

11th, Augsburg:
The army of Prince Ferdinand is outflanked, and Prince Murat with the dragoons and the corps of Marshal Lannes and Marshal Ney is pursuing him. Marshal Bernadotte should reach Munich to-day.

12th. The Austrian army is completely demoralized. Our worst regiments of chasseurs attack, with odds against them, heavy cuirassier regiments and rout them; the infantry make no stand at all.

(To Josephine.) My army holds Munich. On one side the enemy are beyond the Inn; I have the other army of 60,000 men penned on the Iller. The enemy are beaten and don't know what they are about. It all looks like the most successful, the shortest, and the most brilliant campaign ever fought. I start in one hour for Burgau.

(To Marshal Soult.) To-night, if my information from Munich warrants it, I shall move one of Davout's divisions to Landberg, where it will be at your disposal. See that your aide-de-camps and adjutants kill their horses. It is not a question of defeating the enemy, but of not a single man escaping. When you reach Memmingen assemble your generals and tell them that I expect, in such important circumstances, that nothing will be left undone that can make our success more complete and more absolute; that the event must be ten times more glorious than Marengo, and that in the most remote ages posterity must relate what each one of them accomplished; that if I had intended merely to defeat the enemy we need not have undertaken such marches and such fatigues, but that I must capture them.

10.30 P. M.:
I have just received a dispatch from Prince Murat. The enemy hold Ulm with 40,000 men.
 

The Emperor was at the bridge over the Lech when General Marmont's corps passed. He ordered each regiment to form circle, spoke to the men about the position of the enemy, told them a great battle would soon be fought, and that he had complete confidence in them. He delivered these harangues under awful weather conditions. A heavy snow was falling, and the men were in mud up to their knees; but the words of the Emperor were so vivid that the men, as they listened, forgot their fatigues and hardships, and only showed impatience to get into battle.

15th, Elchingen:
The weather is dreadful. The Emperor has not taken his boots off these last eight days.

19th. (To Josephine.) I have been rather overdone, my good Josephine. Eight days spent in the soaking rain and with cold feet have told on me a little; but I have stayed indoors the whole of to-day and am rested.

I have accomplished my object; I have destroyed the Austrian army by simple marching. I have made 60,000 prisoners, taken 120 guns, more than 90 flags, and more than 30 generals.

I am on the point of marching against the Russians; they are ruined. I am satisfied with my army. I have lost only 1500 men, of whom two thirds are slightly wounded. Good-bye, my Josephine, a thousand friendly sentiments.
 

Werneck's corps has just capitulated to Prince Murat at Noerdlingen. The garrison of Ulm will lay down their arms to-morrow at 3 in the afternoon. There are 27,000 men, including 3000 cavalry, with 60 guns fully horsed.

21st, Elchingen. (Battle of Trafalgar.)
Soldiers of the Grand Army! In fifteen days we have fought a campaign; we have accomplished our purpose! We have driven the troops of the House of Austria from Bavaria, and reëstablished our ally in the possession of his states. This army, that had with equal impudence and ostentation placed itself on our frontiers, has been annihilated. But what cares England for that? Her object is gained, we are no longer at Boulogne.

Of the one hundred thousand men who made up this army, 60,000 are prisoners; they will fill the places of our conscripts in the labours of the field. Two hundred guns, the whole train, ninety colours, all their generals are ours.

Soldiers! you owe this success to your boundless confidence in your Emperor, to your patience in supporting all kinds of fatigues and privations, to your splendid valour.

But we cannot rest yet. You are impatient for a second campaign. The Russian army, drawn by the gold of England from the furthest limits of the earth, must suffer the same fate. In this contest the honour of the French infantry is more especially at stake; for the second time the question must be decided, whether the French infantry is the first or the second in Europe.

There are no generals to lead them from whom I have any glory to win. My whole anxiety shall be to obtain the victory with the least possible effusion of blood: my soldiers are my children!

22d, Augsburg:
The march of Prince Murat from Albeck to Nuremberg amazes us all. Fighting every inch of the way, he has outmarched and overtaken the enemy, who had two days start of him. The result of this marvellous activity has been the capture of 1500 wagons, 50 guns, and 16,000 men, including those who surrendered with General Werneck, together with a great number of flags, and 18 generals, of whom 3 were killed.

23d. I am thoroughly rested after these last two nights, and am starting for Munich to-morrow.

27th, Munich:
I am manœuvring against the Russian army, which is in considerable strength behind the Inn. In another two weeks I shall have 100,000 Russians, and 60,000 Austrians in front of me. I shall beat them, but probably not without some loss.

30th, Braunau:
It is snowing heavily.

November 2, Ried:
It has turned cold, there is a sharp frost. This dry weather has the advantage of being healthier and better for marching.

3d, Haag:
We are in full march. All is going well; my enemies are probably more worried than I am.

5th, Linz:
My advance guard, is within six days' march of Vienna. Murat keeps in touch with the enemy.

6th. (To Prince Murat.) The officer you have sent me is such a fool that he could explain nothing, and your letter gives no details, so that I can't tell whether the enemy are retreating or are in position, the number of guns, and what part of Oudinot's division was engaged.

13th, Burkersdorf:
I entered Vienna this morning.

14th, Schoenbrunn:
Marshal Soult's corps passed through Vienna at nine o'clock this morning; Marshal Davout's is passing through now.

15th. All our columns are in Moravia at several days' march from the Danube.

(To Prince Joseph Napoleon.) I am now manœuvring against the Russian army, and have not had occasion to be very satisfied with Bernadotte. He has lost me a day, and the fate of the world may depend on a day. I should much like to see Junot, for I am each day more firmly convinced that the men I have trained myself are fair and away the best. I am still very pleased with Murat, Lannes, Davout, Soult, Ney, and Marmont. I intend to make the generals and officers who have served me well so rich that there can be no excuse for their dishonouring the most noble of professions by their greed, while drawing down on themselves the contempt of the soldiers.

16th. (To Josephine.) I am writing to M. d'Harville that you can proceed to Baden, from there to Stuttgardt, and from there to Munich. Be gracious, but accept all the honours: it is to you they are due, while from you there is nothing due save what pleases you. I am off to join my advance guard. The weather is horrible, with much snow; all is going well, however.

20th. Marshal Soult will move to Austerlitz.

23, Brünn:
(To Talleyrand.) I think the Austrians have more important matters on hand than the abduction of the Electress. Supposing they did abduct her, what the devil do you suppose they could do with her? I shall soon be at Vienna, as I have decided to give my troops a much needed rest.

25th. (To the Emperor of Russia.) Sire: I am sending my aide-de-camp, General Savary, to convey my compliments on the occasion of your joining your army. I have commissioned him to express all the esteem I have for you, and my anxiety to find opportunities for proving how high I value your friendship. I hope you will receive him with that graciousness which is peculiarly your own, and will hold me as one who desires to do what may be agreeable to you.

26th. The Emperors of Germany and of Russia are at Olmütz. The Russian army is receiving reinforcements.

28th. General Caffarelli will see that all arms are cleaned in his division, that the men have their cartridges; there will be a pitched battle. He must speak to his brigadiers and colonels, and he is to start with his division at one o'clock in the morning.
 

Well, Marbot, how many mounted chasseurs are there in my Guard? Are there 1200?

(No, sire, I could count only 1120.)

I was sure there were a lot missing!

December 1st, bivouac near Austerlitz:
Soldiers! The Russian army is marching on you to avenge the Austrians. Our position is strong, and while they march to turn our right, they will expose their own flank.

Soldiers! I will command your battalions in person, and I shall not expose myself if, with your usual courage, you throw the enemy's ranks into disorder and confusion. But should victory be for one moment uncertain, you would see your Emperor expose himself in the front rank, for there must be no question of victory on an occasion when the honour of the French infantry is at stake.
 

Before to-morrow night that army will be destroyed!

8.30 P.M.
The marshals will join the Emperor at his bivouac at seven thirty, so that fresh instructions may he given should the enemy have developed any new movements during the night.
 

9 P. M.
(The Emperor) decided to go the round of the bivouacs on foot and incognito; he was nearly at once recognised. It would be impossible to describe the enthusiasm of the soldiers when they saw him. In an instant blazing torches of straw were raised on a thousand poles, and 80,000 men were standing and acclaiming their Emperor, some for the anniversary of his coronation, others saying that the army would present the Emperor with a bouquet on the following day. An old grenadier came up to him and said: "Sire, keep out of the firing, I promise you in the name of the grenadiers, that you need not fight otherwise than as a spectator, for we will bring you the standards and the guns of the Russian army to celebrate the anniversary of your coronation." When the Emperor returned to his own bivouac a straw shanty without a roof that the grenadiers had built for him, he said: "This is the most glorious night of my life; but I regret that so many of these brave fellows will be lost. They really are my children."
 

2d, Austerlitz:
As the sun rose the plateau of Pratzen could be distinguished, and the enemy moving down from it, like a torrent rushing to the plain.

How long will it take you to occupy the plateau of Pratzen?

(Soult: Less than twenty minutes.)

If that is so, we will wait fifteen minutes more.

Prince Murat, Marshals Lannes and Soult start off at a gallop. Each marshal rejoined his corps. The Emperor said, as he passed along the front of several regiments: "Soldiers, we must finish this campaign with a thunderbolt that will shatter the pride of our enemies." At once the shakos were hoisted on the men's bayonets, and acclamations of Vive l'Empereur were the real signal for opening the battle.

3d. Well done, soldiers! In the battle of Austerlitz you have accomplished all I expected of your valour; you have crowned your eagles with immortal glory. An army of 100,000 men commanded by the Emperors of Russia and of Austria has been dispersed or captured in less than four hours. What escaped your arms was drowned in the lakes. Forty flags, the standards of the Russian Imperial Guard, 120 guns, 20 generals, more than 30,000 prisoners are the result of this eternally glorious battle. This famous infantry, that outnumbered you, was unable to resist your attack, and henceforth you have no rivals to fear.

Soldiers! When we have completed all that is necessary to secure the happiness and prosperity of our country, I will lead you back to France; there you will be the constant objects of my loving care. My people will hail your return with joy, and you will have but to say, "I was at the battle of Austerlitz," to hear the reply, "He is one of the brave!"

The battle of Austerlitz is the most splendid of all I have fought. I have fought thirty battles of the same sort, but none in which the victory was so decisive, and so little in doubt. The infantry of the Guard was not sent into action, - the men were weeping with rage.

To-night I am lying in a bed, in the beautiful castle of Count Kaunitz, and I have changed my shirt, which I hadn't done for a week past. I shall get two or three hours' sleep.

The Emperor of Germany sent Prince Liechtenstein to me this morning to ask for an interview. We may possibly get peace before long.

4th. (To Talleyrand.) The Emperor of Germany has asked me for an interview, which I have granted; it lasted from two till four o'clock. I will tell you what I think of him when I see you. He wanted to make peace on the spot; he attacked me with fine sentiments; I defended myself, a manner of fighting which, I can assure you, I did not find very difficult. He asked me for an armistice, which I granted; the conditions are to be drawn up tonight.

10th, Brünn:

(To the Empress Josephine.) It is a long time since I heard from you. Do the festivities of Baden, of Stuttgardt, and of Munich make you forget the poor soldiers who live splashed with mud, blood, and rain?

I am starting very soon for Vienna. The peace is being negotiated. Good-bye, dear friend.

19th. (To Josephine.) Mighty Empress, I have had not one single line from you since you left Strassburg. You have passed through Baden, Stuttgardt, and Munich without writing me one word. That is not very nice, not very loving.

I am still at Brünn. The Russians have gone. There is an armistice. In a few days I shall be able to see how I am coming out. Deign from the height of your splendours to take a little notice of your slaves.

20th, Schoenbrunn:
The weather is very cold; winter is coming on, but it is still fine. It is curing our wounded, and setting up the army. We are resting, and getting into shape again. We have already moved a part of the arsenal of Vienna to Braunau, and many valuable objects. Peace will undoubtedly be concluded.

23d. (To Talleyrand.) I have received your letter of to-day, and see with pleasure that you expect to conclude. But I expressly instruct you not to mention Naples. The insults of the rascally Queen increase with each courier. Her reign has got to come to an end. I will therefore absolutely not have her name mentioned. Whatever happens, my instructions are positive, do not mention her.

25th. The Emperor and Prince Charles have written to me. I will have an interview with Prince Charles on the 27th at two in the afternoon at a hunting box of the Emperor's, three leagues from Vienna. I wouldn't agree to meet Prince Charles here, because I am disinclined to talk business with him. At the rendezvous I have fixed, we can spend two hours together; one of them will go in dining, the other in talking war and in compliments.

In any event, get (the treaty) signed to-morrow if you can.

27th. Peace was signed at Presburg this morning at four o'clock between M. de Talleyrand and Prince Liechtenstein and General Gyulai.

The city and mainland of Venice, as ceded by the treaty of Campo Formio, are incorporated with my kingdom of Italy.

(To the army.) Soldiers! for ten years I have left nothing undone to save the King of Naples; he has left nothing undone for his ruin. After the battles of Dego, of Mondego, of Lodi, he could have offered but the feeblest resistance. I listened to the promises of this Prince, and I treated him with generosity.

When the Second Coalition was destroyed at Marengo, the King of Naples, first to wage an unjust war, remained isolated and defenceless; he implored me, and for the second time I pardoned him.

But a few months have passed since you were at the gates of Naples. I had good grounds for suspecting the treason hatching there, and for avenging the insults we had already suffered. Again I was generous. I allowed the neutrality of Naples; I ordered you to evacuate that kingdom; and for the third time the House of Naples was saved.

Shall we pardon for the fourth time? Shall we trust for the fourth time a Court without faith, without honour, without judgment? No! No! The dynasty of Naples has ceased to reign; its continued existence is incompatible with the repose of Europe and the honour of my Crown.

Forward, soldiers! Hurl into the waves, if they should await you, the feeble battalions of the tyrants of the seas; show the world how we chastise perjury. Send me word promptly that all Italy is subject to my laws, that the most lovely land on earth is freed from the yoke of the most perfidious of nations, that the sanctity of treaties is vindicated, and that the spirits of my brave soldiers, slaughtered in the ports of Sicily on their return from Egypt after escaping the dangers of shipwreck, of the desert, and of battle, are at last appeased.

Soldiers! my brother will lead you; he knows my plans; he carries my authority; he has my complete confidence; encircle him with yours.

31st, Munich:
(To Prince Joseph.) I have reached Munich. I propose seizing the kingdom of Naples. Start for Rome forty hours after receiving this letter; and let your first dispatch inform me that you have entered Naples.

I have asked for the hand of Princess Augusta. daughter of the Elector of Bavaria, a very pretty girl, for Prince Eugène. The marriage is settled. I have asked for another princess for Jerome.

(To Prince Eugène.) My Cousin: I have arrived at Munich. I have arranged a marriage for you with Princess Augusta. The matter is public. The Princess called on me this morning, and we had a long talk. She is very pretty. I am sending you her portrait on a cup, but it doesn't do her justice.

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