[1800 A.D.]

French general in any other direction he did not dream, and the name properly given to the army assembled at Dijon, that of reserve, indicated no bolder intention than that of defending the course of the Rhine.

The real views of Bonaparte were indeed too bold to have entered into the Austrian general's conception. They were, to traverse Switzerland with his army, by Geneva, its lake, and the valley of the Rhone, to Martigny; from thence to cross Mount St. Bernard, and descend into the plains of Lombardy in the rear of Melas. The communications of the Austrian would thus be cut off, all his plans deranged, his troops obliged to countermarch and take new positions; whilst a defeat would be total ruin. To keep up the dread of his name by surprise was another object with Bonaparte, who knew the value of being original in war. On the 6th of May the first consul left Paris. The army of Dijon, reinforced from the Rhine,

Mount

and amounting to about 40,000 men, marched into Switzerland. St. Bernard was crossed, its passage by the gallant hosts forming one of the most picturesque feats in the annals of modern warfare.d

NAPOLEON CROSSES THE ALPS (MAY 20TH, 1800)

The account of this famous achievement may be compared with Polybius' recital of Hannibal's similar march in the history of Rome, vol. V, chapter XI. But it must be remembered that Hannibal marched through an unknown region infested by hostile tribes, and while the skill with which Napoleon accomplished his end redounds to his credit, it also redounded to the ease of the deed, and the following account, while iconoclastic, is correct.a Bonaparte stayed forty-eight hours at Geneva to inspect all that had been done in the way of transport for the mountain war by the artillery and engineers. All the ingenious modes of transportation were due to

H. W.-VOL. XII. 2 K

[1800 A.D.] the generals Marmont and Marescot, to whom the first consul had confided the artillery for the campaign. After the inspection Bonaparte fixed his headquarters at Lausanne, a well chosen centre, while the reserve carried out its movement on Villeneuve by the Italian roads across Valais.

The reserves were made up of several bodies, each under a young and ardent general. The first, which took the name of advance guard, was directed by Lannes, the companion of Bonaparte in the Italian army. Berthier commanded the centre in his capacity of commander-in-chief, this being a post which Bonaparte could not hold; but it was an open secret that the first consul was really commanding with Berthier as chief of staff. The artillery, the most important part, was directed by Marmont, the engineers by Marescot.

Doubtless, for men accustomed to monotonous levels the St. Bernard routes must have seemed terrible; otherwise there was nothing very extraordinary or fantastic in this mule-back passage, except for the artillery, on a road that a little precaution could make secure.

According to orders from the commander-in-chief, rations were sent up to the monks to be distributed as extra refreshment to the army when it should reach the top, and a reward of five francs was promised to every soldier who should help in getting up the artillery. With all the lightheartedness of Frenchmen, the soldiers of the Lannes division boldly began to ascend the first rock of Mount St. Bernard. It is just as well to state, in order to be historically correct, that the Lannes division left on the 15th of May and by the 16th was on the other side of the mountain. On the 16th the Berthier division had also arrived at the St. Bernard hospice, but the first consul did not leave Lausanne till the 19th, so that the romance of his making the passage over the St. Bernard at the head of his troops is incorrect. The enthusiastic admiration of David has placed Bonaparte on horseback, wrapped in a classic cloak, like Cæsar in the midst of his legions, but the real truth is that when Bonaparte crossed the summit the army had passed on three days before and only the rearguard remained.

From his headquarters he had news at every point of the march over the Alps. He could follow Suchet's operations on the Var, see Masséna shut up in Genoa, Moncey traversing the St. Gotthard. Lausanne was his proper post, while his young soldiers under Lannes were scaling the steep rocks. When all the troops were on the march, Bonaparte skirted the lake as far as Villeneuve; then, taking the St. Pierre route through the mountains, he arrived on the evening of the 20th at the monastery of St. Bernard.

The army crossed the mountain with wonderful courage, but the soldiers' imagination had exaggerated the perils and fatigues. The stories told have nothing of the marvellous in them. When one has become accustomed to glacier climbing, what were the fatigues of such an expedition to the old brigades accustomed to wonders and privations? Astonishment was only for young soldiers for the conscript who came from Dijon or the Carrousel reviews. One of these wrote as follows:

This

"We have at last scaled the St. Bernard, and here we are on the other side in Piedmont. Our half brigade left yesterday at one o'clock for the St. Pierre camp to scale that famous mountain where it is necessary to go single file on account of the rocks and the great quantity of snow. St. Bernard is of an incredible height: sixty to eighty feet of snow covers the road at certain parts, enormous water-falls pass under this ice frozen for centuries; one fears at every step to be engulfed. Happily for me I was in the advance guard with the three companies of carbineers I commanded,

[1800 A.D.]

and we arrived at the summit at nine in the morning. Bonaparte had given orders that there should be at the convent (the only house for six leagues) wine for the troops, and each soldier had a half bottle. Although wrapped up in my cloak I was almost frozen and shivered like a man attacked by fever. I left at eleven and made in less than three hours the five leagues between here and the mountain top. I did the first league in less than a quarter of an hour. I went down by the steepest side, which ended in a little lake, the ice on which they assured me was twenty-five feet thick. I slid down on the snow, and all the soldiers, following, not daring to remain on their feet as I had done, placed themselves on their backs and slid down to the bottom.

"We came through winter, for I have never known such terrible cold. Snow and ice fell at short intervals as in the month of December. Half an hour later, having gone down much lower, the snow left us and we might have thought ourselves in the spring season. The air was soft, grass was to be seen, also a few flowers. Another half hour, always descending, the heat was stifling and we were in midsummer, so that in less than an hour we had gone through the three seasons, winter, spring, and summer. to complete the year, my servant, whom I had sent to reconnoitre, found some excellent wine at a farm a quarter of a mile from the camp, so I tasted the best autumn fruits in as comfortable a manner as though under the vine trellises of Burgundy.

Then

"Before climbing the St. Bernard 2,600 livres were offered to our soldiers if they would get up two pieces of cannon of eight and one of four bore, with four cases of ammunition. The proposition was accepted. The cannon, etc., were taken to pieces, and the ammunition unpacked. Some carried wheels, some other parts; the carbineers carried cases or dragged the cannon on hollow trees, and everything arrived the same time as ourselves, without any losses. One cannon of eight bore stuck in the snow, but ropes and strong arms extricated it. Soon after they came along to tell us that the 2,600 livres would be given in the artillery ground, where we had put the cannon and remounted them ready for the journey. The carbineers and scouts would not take the money, and charged the commander to inform the first consul that they had done it not for interest but for the honour and prosperity of the army."

This account, evidently dictated by the astonishment of an imaginative enthusiast, presents no circumstance, no incident, that could alarm men accustomed to crossing the Alps. The army had seen glaciers and centuryold snow; had experienced the rapid change of temperature—that sudden rush from spring to summer. Dugommier had seen it in the Pyrenees, Masséna in the German Alps, and everyone knows it who has visited the glacier region. What really was wonderful in this expedition was the courage of these young men who everywhere attacked the Austrian posts with an intrepidity worthy of olden times. Hardly was the St. Bernard passed, when the two half brigades, full of ardour, fell on the bridge of Aosta: the Loison division gained this first and splendid victory. It had crossed the mountain after unheard-of efforts. A few moments' rest, and behold, the silent valley of Aosta was theirs! The division made on foot a further march of six leagues, and saw Châtillon crowning the heights. The 12th Hussars climbed the heights; the castle of Bara was surrounded, and cannon sprang up as if by magic upon the rocks and peaks. General Loison, seeing he could not take the castle, resolved to get the artillery past it in the night, even though under fire from the castle. Marmont

[1800 A.D.]

presided over all these operations. The cannon were placed on sledges with straw and hay, so that no noise should be made.

The first consul had not yet left the mountains; all these operations were done independently of him and under the orders of Lannes and Berthier. Bonaparte did not cross the St. Bernard until the 20th or 21st; he arrived before Ivrea just as General Lannes was taking it, the 23rd of May. Here occurred the first serious fight. Two entire divisions took part. The passage was defended by five thousand infantry and four thousand cavalry. At Ivrea the road divides. To the right is Turin, to the left Milan, the great capital of Lombardy. Lannes took the Piedmont road with the advance guard, marching on the Po from the Susa side, and taking possession of this point. Murat marched quickly into Vercelli, whilst the body of the reserves debouched on the Milan high-road, and the outposts approached Novara. At Vercelli the first consul established his headquarters, having Turin at his right and Milan in front of him.e

MASSENA YIELDS GENOA

While Napoleon was conquering the Alps, famine was conquering Masséna at Genoa. One must imagine a town of seventy thousand souls blockaded for sixty days, no provisions coming in from outside after the first day; to picture the streets encumbered with dead and dying; people disputing over horses dead of disease, dogs, cats, and unclean animals, even grass in the gardens, to get even a faint idea of the sufferings in Genoa during this cruel blockade. The population, six times more numerous than the army, exasperated by suffering, began to revolt, and the troops were so worn out that the sentinels could no longer watch except seated, their arms by their sides. Masséna's energy redoubled, and he displayed a superhuman activity. Sharing the common suffering, his force of soul supported him physically, but his hair went white in a few days.

At length there was only one ration left for each man. All that could be endured had been endured with patience and loyalty. Masséna was obliged to evacuate the town on conditions worthy of him. Following the convention signed on the 4th of June, the handful of soldiers who had survived returned to France by land or sea with their arms and baggage. It surpassed in length and suffering the defence of Genoa by Boufflers in 1746.

Called the "saviour of the republic" in the last campaign, Masséna augmented his title to national gratitude by prolonging his resistance ten days beyond the time fixed by the first consul, and, in spite of the distance, by his powerful co-operation in the victory of Marengo. This defence did not, however, satisfy Bonaparte completely. Later, he made out that Masséna need not have been blockaded in Genoa if he had put the mass of his forces on the march at the beginning of the campaign. But to do that the line of communication with Nice would have had to be broken, and this he had been particularly told to guard. Moreover, how would Masséna have fed the army? Bonaparte blamed him also for not having rallied the centre at Finale under Suchet, and pursued the corps of Ellsnitz by marching on Alessandria at the head of the reserves; as if he could have mobilised eight thousand men exhausted by a two months' famine and deprived of artillery and ammunition! However, as Masséna had become indispensable to him for re-organising the remnant of the Italian army and the reserves, the first consul hid his grievances and after the interview at Milan made Masséna commander-in-chief. f