1806 BOOK IV. from that suspense which they must feel about their future destiny, by appointing to the herediCHAP. I. tary throne of that kingdom, in case of failure of heirs to himself, his son, the existing viceroy. In connection with the establishment of the new Monarch of Italy, a new order of military knighthood was instituted by Bonaparte, to consist of two hundred knights of the order of the Iron Crown, which afforded an opportunity of rewarding many of his officers, and might be regarded as another evidence of his devotion to that class of merit from which he had derived such singular advantages. A circumstance of gratification to the people of Paris was found this year in the arrival of an ambassador from the Grand Signior, expressly appointed to congratulate Bonaparte on his accession to the throne of France. The eastern style of hyperbolical address, which characterised his excellency's speech to Napoleon on his grand audience, was not so remote from the habits of the Parisians as to prevent their cordial sympathies. "The bright star of glory of the western nations; the greatest of the sovereigns in the christian faith; he, who graspeth in one hand the sword of valour, and in the other the sceptre of justice;" were designations which met with their complete concurrence, and served to keep in countenance the homage they were themselves accustomed to offer to the 66 resemblance of that invisible being who is known only by his power and benevolence."* The embassy from Constantinople was followed by a deputation from their High Mightinesses of Holland. Bonaparte had no sooner abolished the name of republic in France, than he sought to extinguish that appellation in the other states of Europe. The Cisalpine republic he had transformed into the kingdom of Italy; the Ligurian commonwealth was absorbed in the great empire; the free cities of Germany were made over to the vassal kings, who approached the foot, or decorated the steps of his throne; and such was his thirst for harmony and regularity in the political edifice he was erecting, that even the people of the United Provinces, born and nurtured under republican institutions, were instructed to demand a king. Louis, a younger brother of the Emperor Napoleon, and Constable of the French Empire, was selected to be the King of Holland, and unwillingly dragged from the gaieties and delights of Paris, to rule over a laborious and impoverished people, who had yet to teach their lips the accents of loyalty. The new constitution which accompanied the king had no guarantee but the Prince will of its author, nor was it attempted to be disguised, that Holland, though governed by a separate king, was to be considered as virtually a province of the great empire, and subject in all inter-national relations to the will of its chief. While the Emperor Napoleon was carrying into effect his projects of aggrandizement in Germany, the pressure of the French armies upon that country was extreme, and a spirit of resistance on the part of the inhabitants was summoned to its noblest exertions in a variety of publications, which soon attracted the notice of the French government. Orders were in consequence given for the apprehension of various booksellers in Franconia, Bavaria, and Suabia, and the offenders were carried to Braunau. Among these persecuted men, the fate of John Palm, a resident of Nuremburg, an imperial town of Germany, possessing laws and tribunals of its own, attracted particular notice. This person was the publisher of a pamphlet, entitled "Germany in the lowest state of degradation," a work written with considerable ability, and which had been read with great avidity. M. Palm was in consequence arrested by order of the French government, and dragged to Braunau, charged with the publication of a work libellous against the French Emperor, and tending to mislead the people of the south of Germany. On his arrival at the fortress, a court-martial was immediately summoned, consisting of General Berthier, seven colonels of French regiments, and an adjutant, with a reporter. After sitting for three days, M. Palm, who had not been present during the delivery of the depositions, was brought into court, on the 25th of August, when the evidence was read to him, and his defence heard; he was then ordered to withdraw, and the court, after some consultation, ordered him to be shot within four and twenty hours; which sentence was carried into execution on the following day. This sanguinary proceeding, though affecting only an obscure individual, excited considerable attention and indignation throughout the different countries of Europe: and although the chief of the French government did not personally appear upon the bloody stage, and although, by his distance from the scene of action, he was precluded from being made acquainted with the sentence of the court-martial before it was carried into effect, yet he did not escape that odium and execration which might naturally attach to the sovereign under whose authority the tribunal acted, and who had ever displayed a decided enmity to that freedom of the press which is cer *French Exposé, March 12th, 1806. † Louis Napoleon was proclaimed King of Holland at the Hague, on the 5th of June, 1806. tainly the most formidable foe to tyranny, and will eventually effect its extermination. The attention of the religious world was this year drawn to some events which occurred in France in relation to the Jews. The situation of this people has, during a long succession of ages, interested those who have adverted to their universal dispersion through barbarous and civilized nations, without mingling in their course into the common mass, and sinking their national manners, language, and religion, to which with inviolable fidelity they have adhered, amidst that scorn and persecution which have been their only inheritance. Complaints had been repeatedly communicated to the emperor from various departments of France, of the fraudulent and usurious conduct of this degraded race, and on the 30th of May, an edict was published, convening a convocation from the principal cities of the empire, to be opened at Paris, on Saturday, the 26th of July. In virtue of this summons, the assembly met at the appointed time, and their meeting was stated to be pregnant with the most important consequences. The race of Abraham were now, for the first time, to be judged by a christian prince with fairness and impartiality. The convocation, in answer to several questions proposed to them, stated, that their law permitted polygamy, divorce, and intermarriages with christians, which were, however, modified by usage. That they could, in perfect consistence with their laws, render obedience to the civil institutions of the states in which they resided; and that their prohibition, and in other cases their permission of usury, related to charitable loans, and not to mercantile transactions. The answers of the convocation were so conformable to the wishes of Bonaparte, that a grand Sanhedrim was summoned to meet at Paris, for the purpose of considering the same questions, and giving a solemn opinion with respect to them, which should be placed by the side of the Talmud, and considered obligatory on all persons professing the law of Moses. The time fixed for the meeting of the Sanhedrim was the 20th of October, but the discussions were prolonged to the following year. The results of this assembly's deliberations were satisfactory, and tended to shew that the Jews were not debarred, by the peculiarities of their religion, from the enjoyment of the same. 1806 civil privileges as the members of other religious BOOK IV. communities. The consequences anticipated from these events, respecting a nation, which, CHAP. I. from its first bondage in Egypt, has been exposed to the perpetual abhorrence of the world, varied in different minds according to their respective habits of speculation or prejudice. Judicious observers, however, were gratified to behold evidences of that progressive reason, which, by slow but certain influences, ameliorates the affairs of the world, and to witness an effort to elevate a degraded race of men to usefulness, to estimation, and to dignity.* At this moment the French Emperor was at the zenith of his power, and in the enjoyment of the utmost vigour of his faculties. Nothing seemed too vast for his comprehension, or too minute for his observation. His exertions were without a parallel among sovereign princes; he inspected every thing with his own eye; he laboured with more industry than any secretary in office; and his principal relaxation was in the variety of his business. He appointed to stations of distinction those only, who, by experience or talents, were qualified to discharge the duties of them, and he superintended the discharge of those duties with a vigilance which would not permit the approach of delinquency or inattention. No formidable adversary to any nation or individual ever yet existed from whom something valuable might not be learned, and the most effectual way to counteract the projects of an enemy is to follow his example in those judicious régulations which have led to his success. The industry of Bonaparte may be copied by those who detest the ultimate object of his labours. In his bestowment of honours upon merit, and in his inspection into the abuses of administration, he may be resembled, not only without disgrace, but even with honour; while that boundless thirst of power, which prevented the repose of Europe, and produced his final overthrow, receives all the reprobation which it merits. His temperance and energy, his steady vigilance, and his unwearied assiduity, may be praised and imitated, while he is justly condemned for his spoliation of peaceful states, his breach of the most solemn engagements, and the abject prostration to which he subjected his country's rights. * The following return, shewing the number of persons of the Jewish persuasion in the different parts of the habitable globe, was made to Bonaparte by the Jewish Sanhedrim, assembled at Paris in 1807 : -- BOOK IV. 1806 CHAPTER II. FOREIGN HISTORY: Continental Campaigns of 1806-7-Opening of the Campaign between France and Prussia-Disastrous to the latter-Battle of Jena-Death of the Duke of Brunswick→→→ Memoir-Fall of the Prussian Garrisons-Surrender of the Army under Prince HohenloheTriumphal Entry of the Emperor Napoleon into Berlin-Berlin Decree-Arrival of the Russian Divisions on the Vistula-Battles of Pultusk and Golymin-The contending Armies take up their Winter Quarters in Poland-War in Silesia-War in Pomerania-Neutrality of Austria-Renewal of Hostilities in Poland-Battle of Eylau-Fall of Dantzic-War between the Porte and Russia-Situation of the Russian and French Forces previous to the Battle of Friedland-The Battle of Friedland-Armistice-Interview between the Emperor Alexander and the Emperor Napoleon on the River Niemen-Peace of Tilsit. The discussions between France and Prussia had now advanced to a point which left no CHAP. II. prospect of friendly arrangement. The court of Berlin, no longer influenced by a temporizing policy, had assumed a tone of firmness and decision: the troops were animated to a high degree of enthusiasm, by the expectation of hostilities, which they conceived the honour of the nation had long ago required; and the zeal of the people coincided with the sentiments of the army. The disposition manifested by the court, was equally approved by foreign powers, as by the subjects of Prussia. The King of Sweden was eager to cherish the prospect which seemed thus to be afforded of checking the power and aggrandizement of France; the Prussian vessels detained in the ports of Great Britain were speedily liberated, and Lord Morpeth was diasptched to the court of Berlin, with proposals to afford her every assistance and co-operation in the fourth coalition that was at this time forming against France. The preparations of Prussia were met with equal vigour on the part of the Emperor of France, who was never behind his enemies in vigilance and activity. On the 24th of September, Napoleon quitted his capital to join the armies, infusing energy as he passed into the various parts of the service, and settling arrangements, adapted to all the details of that complicated and formidable machine, whose operations he was about to direct. In the mean time discussions were still continued, and even so late as the 5th of October, when both monarchs were at the head-quarters of their respective troops, a dispatch was delivered from the Prussian outposts to the French army, which still afforded an opening for amicable adjustment.* Within a few days after, however, a declaration, stating the grounds of the war, was published by the Prussian cabinet. Both parties now conceived themselves ready for the conflict; and so confident was Prussia in her own strength, that on the 29th of September, just before the commencement of hostilities, she appears to have declined the offer of reinforcements made by other powers. The French army had advanced in three divisions; the right, consisting of the corps of Marshals Ney and Soult, with a division of Bavarian troops, proceeded, by the route of Amberg and Nuremberg, to unite at Bayreuth, in Franconia, in their advance upon Hof, on the southern confines of Saxony: the centre, composed of the reserve, under the Grand Duke of Berg, with the corps of the Prince de Ponte Corvo (Bernadotte) and Marshal Davoust, and the imperial guards, marched by Bamberg, towards Culmbach, in Franconia, and by way of Saalberg to Gerra, in Saxony the left, consisting of the troops of Marshals Lannes and Augereau, took their route for Schweinfurth, towards Coburg, and advanced to Saalfeld, in Saxony. The veteran Prussian army, having its right under General Blucher, its centre under the Duke of Brunswick, and its left commanded by Prince Hohenlohe, had taken a very strong position along the north of Francfort, on the Mayne. The campaign opened on the 9th of October, with the battle of Schleitz, * By this dispatch it was required of France, that, as a preliminary to negociation, the whole of the French troops iu Germany should immediately re-cross the Rhine; that no obstacles should be raised by France to the formation of a northern league, including all the states not mentioned in the fundamental act of the confederation of the Rhine; and that the basis of the negociation should be the separation of Wessel from the French empire, and the re-occupation of the three abbies by the Prussian troops. vicinity of Jena, while General Ruchel occupied 300K IV. the position of Weimar. Such were the arrangements made by the Prussians previously to the CHAP. II. 13th, in anticipation of the ensuing decisive 1806 struggle. struggle. On the same day, the Grand Duke of Berg and Marshal Davoust were with their corps at Naumberg, to which place the Prince of Ponte Corvo was in full march: Marshal Lannes proceeded to Jena, whither the Emperor Napoleon was also advancing, while his head-quarters were at Gerra. Marshal Ney was at Gotha, and Marshal Soult was proceeding on the straight road from Naumberg to Jena. In the afternoon of the 13th Bonaparte arrived at Jena, and from an elevated flat near the place, reconnoitred the position of the enemy. The importance of this elevation for the play of the artillery was so great, that, notwithstanding the extreme difficulty, and indeed seeming impossibility of its accomplishment, the herculean labour was at length surmounted, and before morning the artillery was actually planted upon the eminence. seven miles to the north-west of Fulda. Here three Prussian regiments sustained, with great firmness, one of the most spirited charges of the enemy's cavalry; but the efforts of the French were finally successful, and the Prussians were obliged to retreat, with a loss of seven hundred men, killed, wounded, and prisoners; and five hundred waggons, containing military stores, fell into the bands of the victors. On the 10th, the left wing of the French army, under Marshal Lannes, was equally successful at Saalfeld. After a tremendous cannonade, continued without intermission for upwards of two hours, the Prussian cavalry were cut off by the French hussars, and their infantry, being unable to effect an orderly retreat, were some of them obliged to take shelter in the adjoining woods, while others were involved inextricably in a marshy ground, where they were driven to the painful alternative of surrendering themselves prisoners of war. In this engagement Prince Louis of Prussia, brother of Frederick-William, was killed by Marshal de Logis, of the 10th regiment of the French hussars, with whom he was engaged in personal combat. The merits of this young prince rendered his death a great public calamity, and aggravated the other losses of this unfortunate battle, from which the French derived two thousand prisoners, and thirty pieces of cannon, while six hundred of the Prussian troops were left dead upon the field. This inauspicious opening of the campaign excited no slight sensation at the head-quarters of the Prussian army, the main body of which found itself placed on the 12th in a situation of considerable danger. The night of the 13th was sublimely inter- The object of Bonaparte had been to repeat the operation of the preceding campaign, and to interpose himself between the army of the enemy and their depôts and resources. The main body of the Prussian army occupied Eysenach, Gotha, Erfurt, and Weimar, and it was the intention of the Duke of Brunswick, to whom the chief command was confided, to have commenced hostilities by bearing down with his right wing upon Francfort, with his centre on Wurtzburg, and his left wing on Bamberg. The arrangements for the execution of this plan had been prepared with great minuteness, and several columns had been pushed on to Cassel and other places, to act upon the offensive; but the French army had by this time unexpectedly turned the extremity of the Prussian right wing, and obtained possession of the eastern bank of the Saal, occupying, within a very short period, Saalberg, Schleitz, and Gerra. Alarmed by these movements, the arrangements of the Prussian army were immediately changed. The detachments which had been precipitately urged forward, were recalled; and the head-quarters were BOOK IV. level height of Jena. 1806 At this crisis the mist which had hung over the combatants began to CHAP. II. dissipate, and both armies beheld each other within the range of cannon shot. After the first action of the morning, by which the Prussians bad been forced to quit their position, the village of Hollstedt became the point of attack, and the Prussians were in full motion to dislodge the French from this station, when Marshal Lannes was ordered to its support. Marshal Soult attacked a wood on the right. The right wing of the Prussians made a movement against the left of the French, which Marshal Augereau was ordered to oppose, and in less than an hour the action became general. Every manœuvre on both sides was performed with as much precision as if it had been executed upon the parade, while two hundred and fifty thousand men, and seven hundred pieces of artillery, scattered death in every direction, and exhibited one of the most affecting scenes ever displayed on the theatre of the world. After a struggle of nearly two hours, Marshal Soult secured possession of the wood, from which he immediately moved forward, while, at the same instant, the division of the French cavalry in reserve, and two other divisions just arrived on the field of battle from the corps of Marshal Ney, were, by order of Bonaparte, brought into action, and so much strengthened the French line, as to throw the Prussians into great disorder. By a striking effort of skill and bravery, this disorder was speedily retrieved, and the battle was resumed, and continued for almost an hour. At this crisis "there was room for a moment's doubt;" the fate of the day hung in awful suspense; but the reserve, under the Duke of Berg, precipitated themselves into the midst of the fight, and threw the Frussian troops into extreme confusion.* lu vain did the cavalry and infantry form themselves into a square; the shock was irresistible, and this most dreadful charge completed their overthrow. On the right, Marshal Davoust not only maintained his ground against the great body of Prussians sent to possess the defiles of Coesen, but, advancing into the plain, pursued them for three hours in their retreat to Weimar. In this retreat, the confusion in the Prussian army was extreme, and the king, finding it necessary to quit the road, was obliged to retire across the fields at the head of his regiment of cavalry. The loss of the Prussians in this battle is estimated by the French at twenty thousand killed, and from thirty to forty thousand prisoners, besides three hundred pieces of cannon, and immense magazines of military stores and provisions among the prisoners were more than twenty generals; Marshal Mollendorf was wounded, and the Duke of Brunswick and General Ruchel were killed.t The French : * FRENCH BULLETIN.-This document mentions a trait of character that should not he wholly omitted in a record of the battle of Jena. "The imperial foot guards," says the bulletin, "enraged at not being allowed to press on while every other corps was in motion, several voices among them cried out Forward: What is this I hear?' said the emperor: this can only proceed from some beardless boy that will give orders independent of me: let him wait till he has commanded in thirty battles, before he takes upon himself to advise me.' + CHARLES WILLIAM FREDERICK, DUKE OF BRUNSWICK, was born on the 9th of October, 1735, O. S. and his ancestry is traced up to Albert Azzoni, one of the richest marquises in Italy, born in the year 996, and married to Cuniza, heiress of the ancient house of Guelphs, or Welfes, in Germany. From this stock sprung the royal family of England, which, having attained the electorate, soon added the regal crown to its arms. The Duke of Brunswick, like all the German princes of his time, was bred to the profession of arms from his cradle, and as he was descended from a house eminently warlike, he applied himself to war as a science with no common avidity. By the time he had attained the age of nineteen, the Hereditary Prince, for by this title he was called during the life-time of his father, experienced many opportunities to distinguish his courage and conduct in arms. The first exploit undertaken by the hereditary prince as a commander, was the capture of Kaya, towards the end of the year 1758, Flushed with success, the young warrior next advanced against Minden, so celebrated afterwards, on account of the battle in that neighbourhood, and having invested the village on the 5th of March, the garrison surrendered at discretion at the end of nine days. To this prince England and her allies were not a little indebted for the victory of Minden. On that memorable day he encountered and overcame the Duke de Brissac, and by that achievement prevented the Marshal de Contades from making his retreat by the defiles of Wittenkendstein. At the close of the campaign, in 1759, the hereditary prince was detached, with 15,000 men, to serve under his relation, Frederick the Great, and was afterwards present at the battle of Corbach; and although obliged on this occasion to retreat, yet he maintained all his former reputation. Prince Ferdinand and Marshal Broglio were at this period opposed to each other; and the former having conceived the project of cutting off the communication with France by the Lower Rhine, the hereditary prince was detached for that purpose. On this occasion he was anticipated by the Marquis de Castries, and obliged to re-cross the Rhine, but he effected a brilliant retreat with his prisoners, among whom was Dumouriez, at that moment an obscure subaltern in the French service,§ but who was destined afterwards to check his progress in the plains of Champagne, at the head of a numerous army, and thus to give a new turn to the destinies of France and of Europe. During the campaign of 1762, the hereditary prince resumed his usual activity. On the 31st of August, having seized on the heights of Joannisberg, he endeavoured to § Life of General Dumouriez, Vol. I. p. 29. |