The Private Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, Complete

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This child and that of the Polish beauty, of whom I will speak later,

[This son of Countess Walewska became Count Walewski, a leading
statesman of the Second Empire, ambassador to London, 1852, minister
of foreign affairs, 1855, minister of state, 1860, president of
Corps Legislatif, 1865. Born 1810, died 1868.--TRANS.]

and the King of Rome, were the only children of the Emperor. He never
had a daughter, and I believe he desired none.

I have seen it stated, I know not where, that the Emperor, during the
long stay we made at Boulogne, indemnified himself at night for the
labors of the day with a beautiful Italian, and I will now relate what I
know of this adventure. His Majesty complained one morning, while I was
dressing him, in the presence of Prince Murat, that he saw none but
moustached faces, which he said was very tiresome; and the prince, ever
ready on occasions of this kind to offer his services to his
brother-in-law, spoke to him of a handsome and attractive Genoese lady,
who had the greatest desire to see his Majesty. The Emperor laughingly
granted a tete-a-tete, the prince himself offering to send the message;
and two days later, by his kind assistance, the lady arrived, and was
installed in the upper town. The Emperor, who lodged at Pont des
Briques, ordered me one evening to take a carriage, and find this
protegee of Prince Murat. I obeyed, and brought the beautiful Genoese,
who, to avoid scandal, although it was a dark night, was introduced
through a little garden behind his Majesty's apartments. The poor woman
was much excited, and shed tears, but controlled herself quickly on
finding that she was kindly received, and the interview was prolonged
until three o'clock in the morning, when I was called to carry her back.
She returned afterwards four or five times, and was with the Emperor
afterwards at Rambouillet. She was gentle, simple, credulous, and not
at all intriguing, and did not try to draw any benefit from a liaison
which at best was only temporary.

Another of these favorites of the moment, who threw themselves so to
speak into the arms of the Emperor without giving him time to make his
court to them, was Mademoiselle L. B----, a very pretty girl. She was
intelligent, and possessed a kind heart, and, had she received a less
frivolous education, would doubtless have been an estimable woman; but I
have reason to believe that her mother had from the first the design of
acquiring a protector for her second husband, by utilizing the youth and
attractions of the daughter of her first. I do not now recall her name,
but she was of a noble family, of which fact the mother and daughter were
very proud, and the young girl was a good musician, and sang agreeably;
but, which appeared to me as ridiculous as indecent, she danced the
ballet before a large company in her mother's house, in a costume almost
as light as those of the opera, with castanets or tambourines, and ended
her dance with a multiplicity of attitudes and graces. With such an
education she naturally thought her position not at all unusual, and was
very much chagrined at the short duration of her liaison with the
Emperor; while the mother was in despair, and said to me with disgusting
simplicity, "See my poor Lise, how she has ruined her complexion in her
vexation at seeing herself neglected, poor child. How good you will be,
if you can manage to have her sent for." To secure an interview for
which the mother and daughter were both so desirous, they came together
to the chapel at Saint-Cloud, and during mass the poor Lise threw glances
at the Emperor which made the young ladies blush who witnessed them, and
were, nevertheless, all in vain, for the Emperor remained unmoved.

Colonel L. B---- was aide-de-camp to General L----, the governor of
Saint-Cloud; and the general was a widower, which facts alone furnish an
excuse for the intimacy of his only daughter with the family of L. B----,
which astonished me greatly. One day, when I was dining at the house of
the colonel, with his wife, his step-daughter, and Mademoiselle L----,
the general sent for his aides-de-camp, and I was left alone, with the
ladies; who so earnestly begged me to accompany them on a visit to
Mademoiselle le Normand, that it would have been impolite to refuse,
consequently we ordered a carriage and went to the Rue de Tournon.
Mademoiselle L. B---- was first to enter the Sybil's cave, where she
remained a long while, but on her return was very reserved as to any
communications made to her, though Mademoiselle L---- told us very
frankly that she had good news, and would soon marry the man she loved,
which event soon occurred. These ladies having urged me to consult the
prophetess in my turn, I perceived plainly that I was recognized; for
Mademoiselle le Normand at once discovered in my hand that I had the
happiness of being near a great man and being highly esteemed by him,
adding much other nonsense of the same kind, which was so tiresome that I
thanked her, and made my adieux as quickly as possible.




CHAPTER XXXI.

While the Emperor was giving crowns to his brothers and sisters,--to
Prince Louis, the throne of Holland; Naples to Prince Joseph; the Duchy
of Berg to Prince Murat; to the Princess Eliza, Lucca and Massa-Carrara;
and Guastalla to the Princess Pauline Borghese; and while, by means of
treaties and family alliances, he was assuring still more the
co-operation of the different states which had entered into the
Confederation of the Rhine,--war was renewed between France and Prussia.
It is not my province to investigate the causes of this war, nor to
decide which first gave cause of offense.

All I can certify is this, frequently at the Tuileries, and on the
campaign, I heard the Emperor, in conversation with his intimate friends,
accuse the old Duke of Brunswick, whose name had been so odious in France
since 1792, and also the young and beautiful Queen of Prussia, of having
influenced King Frederic William to break the treaty of peace. The Queen
was, according to the Emperor, more disposed to war than General Blucher
himself. She wore the uniform of the regiment to which she had given her
name, appeared at all reviews, and commanded the maneuvers.

We left Paris at the end of September. I will not enter into the details
of this wonderful campaign, in which the Emperor in an incredibly short
time crushed to pieces an army of one hundred and fifty thousand men,
perfectly disciplined, full of enthusiasm and courage, and fighting in
defense of their country. In one of the first battles, the young Prince
Louis of Prussia, brother of the king, was killed at the head of his
troops by Guinde, quartermaster of the Tenth Hussars. The prince fought
hand to hand with this brave sub-officer, who said to him, "Surrender,
Colonel, or you are a dead man," to which Prince Louis replied only by a
saber stroke, whereupon Guinde plunged his own into the body of his
opponent, and he fell dead on the spot.

On this campaign, as the roads had become very rough from the continual
passage of artillery, my carriage was one day upset, and one of the
Emperor's hats fell out of the door; but a regiment which happened to
pass along the same road having recognized the hat from its peculiar
shape, my carriage was immediately set up again, "For," said these brave
soldiers, "we cannot leave the first valet of the little corporal in
trouble;" and the hat, after passing through many hands, was at last
restored to me before my departure.

On the Emperor's arrival at the plateau of Weimar, he arranged his army
in line of battle, and bivouacked in the midst of his guard. About two
o'clock in the morning he arose and went on foot to examine the work on a
road that was being cut in the rock for the transportation of artillery,
and after remaining nearly an hour with the workmen, decided to take a
look at the nearest advance posts before returning to his bivouac.

This round, which the Emperor insisted on making alone and with no
escort, came near costing him his life. The night was so dark that the
sentinels of the camp could not see ten steps in front of them; and the
first, hearing some one in the darkness approaching our line, called out
"Qui vive?" and prepared to fire. The Emperor being lost in thought, as
he himself told me afterwards, did not notice the sentinel's challenge,
and made no reply until a ball, whistling by his ears, woke him from his
reverie, when immediately perceiving his danger, he threw himself face
downwards on the ground, which was a very wise precaution; for hardly had
his Majesty placed himself in this position, than other balls passed over
his head, the discharge of the first sentinel having been repeated by the
whole line. This first fire over, the Emperor rose, walked towards the
nearest post, and made himself known.

His Majesty was still there when the soldier who had fired on him joined
them, being just relieved at his post; he was a young grenadier of the
line. The Emperor ordered him to approach, and, pinching his cheeks
hard, exclaimed, "What, you scamp, you took me for a Prussian! This
rascal does not throw away his powder on sparrows; he shoots only at
emperors." The poor soldier was completely overcome with the idea that
he might have killed the little corporal, whom he adored as much as did
the rest of the army; and it was with great difficulty he could say,
"Pardon, Sire, but I was obeying orders; and if you did not answer, it
was not my fault. I was compelled to have the countersign, and you would
not give it." The Emperor reassured him with a smile, and said, as he
left the post, "My brave boy, I do not reproach you. That was pretty
well aimed for a shot fired in the dark; but after awhile it will be
daylight; take better aim, and I will remember you."

The results of the Battle of Jena, fought on the 14th of October (1806),
are well known. Almost all the Prussian generals, at least the bravest
among them, were there taken prisoners, or rendered unable to continue
the campaign.

The king and queen took flight, and did not halt till they had reached
Koenigsberg.

A few moments before the attack, the Queen of Prussia, mounted on a
noble, graceful steed, had appeared in the midst of the soldiers; and,
followed by the elite of the youth of Berlin, this royal Amazon had
galloped down the front rank of the line of battle. The numerous banners
which her own hands had embroidered to encourage her troops, with those
of the great Frederick, blackened by the smoke of many battles, were
lowered at her approach, amid shouts of enthusiasm which rang through the
entire ranks of the Prussian army. The atmosphere was so clear, and the
two armies so near each other, that the French could easily distinguish
the costume of the queen.

This striking costume was, in fact, one great cause of the danger she
encountered in her flight. Her head was covered with a helmet of
polished steel, above which waved a magnificent plume, her cuirass
glittered with gold and silver, while a tunic of silver cloth completed
her costume and fell to her feet, which were shod in red boots with gold
spurs. This dress heightened the charms of the beautiful queen.

When the Prussian army was put to flight, the queen was left alone with
three or four young men of Berlin, who defended her until two hussars,
who had covered themselves with glory during the battle, rushed at a
gallop with drawn sabers on this little group, and they were instantly
dispersed. Frightened by this sudden onset, the horse which her Majesty
rode fled with all the strength of his limbs; and well was it for the
fugitive queen that he was swift as a stag, else the two hussars would
infallibly have made her a prisoner, for more than once they pressed so
close that she heard their rude speeches and coarse jests, which were of
such a nature as to shock her ears.

The queen, thus pursued, had arrived in sight of the gate of Weimar, when
a strong detachment of Klein's dragoons were perceived coming at full
speed, the chief having orders to capture the queen at any cost; but, the
instant she entered the city, the gates swung to behind her, and the
hussars and the detachment of dragoons returned disappointed to the
battle-field.

The particulars of this singular pursuit soon reached the Emperor's ears,
and he summoned the hussars to his presence, and having in strong terms
testified his disapproval of the improper jests that they had dared to
make regarding the queen; at a time when her misfortunes should have
increased the respect due both to her rank and her sex, the Emperor then
performed the duty of rewarding these two brave fellows for the manner in
which they had borne themselves on the field of battle. Knowing that
they had dons prodigies of valor, his Majesty gave them the cross, and
ordered three hundred francs to be given each one as gratuity.

The Emperor exercised his clemency toward the Duke of Weimar, who had
commanded a Prussian division. The day after the battle of Jena, his
Majesty, having reached Weimar, lodged at the ducal palace, where he was
received by the duchess regent, to whom he said, "Madame, I owe you
something for having awaited me; and in appreciation of the confidence
you have manifested in me, I pardon your husband."

While we were in the army I slept in the Emperor's tent, either on a
little rug, or on the bearskin which he used in his carriage; or when it
happened that I could not make use of these articles, I tried to procure
a bed-of straw, and remember one evening having rendered a great service
to the King of Naples, by sharing with him the bundle of straw which was
to have served as my bed.

I here give a few details from which the reader can form an idea of the
manner in which I passed the nights on the campaign.

The Emperor slept on his little iron bedstead, and I slept where
I could. Hardly did I fall asleep before the Emperor called me,
"Constant."--"Sire."--"See who is on duty" (it was the aides-de-camp to
whom he referred).--"Sire, it is M.----"--"Tell him to come to me." I
then went out of the tent to summon the officer, and brought him back
with me. On his entrance the Emperor said to him, "Report to such a
corps, commanded by such a marshal; you will request him to send such a
regiment to such a position; you will ascertain the position of the
enemy, then you will return to report." The aide-de-camp, having left
on horseback to execute these orders, I lay down again, and the Emperor
now seemed to be going to sleep; but, at the end of a few moments,
I heard him call again, "Constant."--"Sire."--"Have the Prince de
Neuchatel summoned." I sent for the prince, who came at once; and during
the conversation I must remain at the door of the tent, until the prince
wrote several orders and withdrew. These interruptions took place many
times during the night, and at last towards morning his Majesty slept,
when I also had a few moments of repose.

When aides-de-camp arrived, bringing any news to the Emperor, I awoke
him, by shaking him gently.

"What is it?" said his Majesty, waking with a start; "what o'clock is it?
Let him enter." The aide-de-camp made his report; and if it was
necessary, his Majesty rose immediately, and left the tent, his toilet
never occupying much time. If a battle was in contemplation the Emperor
scanned the sky and the horizon carefully, and often remarked, "We are
going to have a beautiful day."

Breakfast was prepared and served in five minutes, and at the end of a
quarter of an hour the cloth was removed. The Prince de Neuchatel
breakfasted and dined every day with his Majesty; and, in eight or ten
minutes, the longest meal was over. "To horse," then exclaimed the
Emperor, and set out, accompanied by the Prince de Neuchatel, and an
aide-de-camp or two, with Roustan, who always carried a silver flask of
brandy, which, however, the Emperor rarely ever used. His Majesty passed
from one corps to the other, spoke to the officers and soldiers,
questioned them, and saw with his own eyes all that it was possible to
see.

If a battle was on hand, dinner was forgotten, and the Emperor ate only
after his return; but, if the engagement lasted too long, there was
carried to him, without his ordering it, a crust of bread and a little
wine.

M. Colin, chief of the culinary department, many times braved the cannon
to carry a light repast to the Emperor.

At the close of the combat, his Majesty never failed to visit the
battle-field, where he had aid given the wounded, and encouraged them
with cheering words.

The Emperor sometimes returned overcome by fatigue; he then took a light
repast, and lay down again to begin his interrupted sleep.

It was remarkable, that, each time that unexpected circumstances forced
the aides-de-camp to have the Emperor waked, he was as ready for work as
he would have been at the beginning or in the middle of the day, and his
awaking was as amiable as his manner was pleasant. The report of an
aide-de-camp being finished, Napoleon went to sleep again as easily as if
his sleep had not been interrupted.

During the three or four hours preceding an engagement, the Emperor spent
most of the time with large maps spread out before him, the places on
which he marked with pins with heads of different colored wax.

I have already said that all the persons of the Emperor's household
emulated each other in seeking the surest and promptest means of carrying
out his wishes; and everywhere, whether in traveling or on the campaign,
his table, his coffee, his bed, or even his bath could be prepared in
five minutes. How many times were we obliged to remove, in still less
time, corpses of men and horses, to set up his Majesty's tent.

In one of the campaigns beyond the Rhine we were delayed in a poor
village, and, in order to prepare the Emperor's lodging, were obliged to
use a peasant's hut, which had served as a field hospital; and we began
preparations by carrying away the dismembered limbs, and washing up the
stains of blood, this labor being finished, and everything almost in
order, in less than-half an hour.

The Emperor, sometimes slept a quarter or half an hour on the field of
battle when he was fatigued, or wished to await more patiently the result
of the orders he had given.

While on the road to Potsdam, we were overtaken by a violent storm, which
became so severe, and the rain so heavy, that we were obliged to stop and
take refuge in a neighboring house on the road. Well wrapped in his gray
overcoat, and not thinking that he could be recognized, the Emperor was
much surprised to see, as he entered the house, a young woman who seemed
to tremble at his presence. He ascertained that she was an Egyptian, who
had retained for my master the religious veneration which all the Arabs
bore him, and was the widow of an officer of the army of Egypt, whom
chance had led to the same house in Saxony where he had been welcomed.
The Emperor granted her a pension of twelve hundred francs, and took upon
himself the education of her son, the only legacy left her by her
husband. "This is the first time," said Napoleon, "that I have alighted
to avoid a storm; I had a presentiment that an opportunity of doing good
awaited me here."

The loss of the battle of Jena had struck the Prussians with such terror,
and the court had fled with such precipitation, that everything had been
left in the royal residences; and, consequently, on his arrival at
Potsdam, the Emperor found there the sword of the great Frederick, his
gorget, the grand cordon of his order, and his alarm-clock, and had them
carried to Paris, to be preserved at the Hotel des Invalides. "I prefer
these trophies," said his Majesty, "to all the treasures of the King of
Prussia; I will send them to my old soldiers of the campaign of Hanover,
who will guard them as a trophy of the victories of the grand army, and
of the revenge that it has taken for the disaster of Rosbach." The
Emperor the same day ordered the removal to his capital of the column
raised by the great Frederick to perpetuate the remembrance of the defeat
of the French at Rosbach. [At Rosbach, November, 1757, the French, under
Prince de Soubise, had been shamefully defeated by Frederick the Great]
He might have contented himself with changing the inscription.

Napoleon remained at the chateau of Charlottenburg, where he had
established his headquarters, until the regiments of the guard had
arrived from all points; and as soon as they were assembled, orders were
given to put themselves in full uniform, which was done in the little
wood before the town. The Emperor made his entry into the capital of
Prussia between ten and eleven o'clock in the morning, surrounded by his
aides-de-camp, and the officers of his staff, all the regiments filing
before him in the most perfect order, drums and music at their head; and
the fine appearance of the troops excited the admiration of the
Prussians.

Having entered Berlin in the suite of the Emperor, we arrived at the town
square, in the midst of which a bust of the great Frederick had been
placed. The name of this monarch is so popular at Berlin, and, in fact,
throughout all Prussia, that on many occasions, when any one by chance
pronounced it, either in a cafe or in any other public place, or even in
private assemblies, I have seen every one present rise, and lift his hat
with an air of the most profound respect and genuine adoration.

When the Emperor arrived in front of the bust, he described a semicircle
at a gallop, followed by his staff, and lowering the point of his sword,
while uncovering his head, was the first to salute the image of Frederick
II. His staff followed his example; and all the general and other
officers who composed it ranged themselves in a semicircle around the
bust, with the Emperor in the center. His Majesty gave orders that each
regiment should present arms in defiling before the bust, which maneuver
was not to the taste of some grumblers of the first regiment of the
Guard, who, with moustaches scorched, and faces still blackened with the
powder of Jena, would have better liked an order for lodgings with the
bourgeois than all this parade, and took no pains to conceal their
ill-humor. There was one, among others, who, as he passed in front of
the bust and before the Emperor, exclaimed between his teeth, without
moving a muscle of his face, but still loud enough to be heard by his
Majesty, "Damn the bust." His Majesty pretended not to hear, but that
evening he repeated with a laugh the words of the old soldier.

His Majesty alighted at the chateau, where his lodging was prepared, and
the officers of his household had preceded him. Having learned that the
electoral princess of Hesse-Cassel, sister of the king, was still ill at
the end of her confinement, the Emperor ascended to the apartment of this
princess, and, after quite a long visit, gave orders that she should be
treated with all the deference due to her rank and unfortunate situation.






VOLUME II.




CHAPTER I.

I left the Emperor at Berlin, where each day, and each hour of the day,
he received news of some victory gained, or some success obtained by his
generals. General Beaumont presented to him eighty flags captured from
the enemy by his division, and Colonel Gerard also presented sixty taken
from Blucher at the battle of Wismar. Madgeburg had capitulated, and a
garrison of sixty thousand men had marched out under the eyes of General
Savary. Marshal Mortier occupied Hanover in the name of France, and
Prince Murat was on the point of entering Warsaw after driving out the
Russians.

War was about to recommence, or rather to be continued, against the
latter; and since the Prussian army could now be regarded as entirely
vanquished, the Emperor left Berlin in order to personally conduct
operations against the Russians.

We traveled in the little coaches of the country; and as was the rule
always on our journeys, the carriage of the grand marshal preceded that
of the Emperor. The season, and the passage of such large numbers of
artillery, had rendered the roads frightful; but notwithstanding this we
traveled very rapidly, until at last between Kutow and Warsaw, the grand
marshal's carriage was upset, and his collarbone broken. The Emperor
arrived a short time after this unfortunate accident, and had him borne
under his own eyes into the nearest post-house. We always carried with
us a portable medicine-chest in order that needed help might be promptly
given to the wounded. His Majesty placed him in the hands of the
surgeon, and did not leave him till he had seen the first bandage
applied.

At Warsaw, where his Majesty passed the entire month of January, 1807, he
occupied the grand palace. The Polish nobility, eager to pay their court
to him, gave in his honor magnificent fetes and brilliant balls, at which
were present all the wealthiest and most distinguished inhabitants of
Warsaw.

At one of these reunions the Emperor's attention was drawn to a young
Polish lady named Madame Valevska, twenty-two years of age, who had just
married an old noble of exacting temper and extremely harsh manners, more
in love with his titles than with his wife, whom, however, he loved
devotedly, and by whom he was more respected than loved. The Emperor
experienced much pleasure at the sight of this lady, who attracted his
attention at the first glance. She was a blonde, with blue eyes, and
skin of dazzling whiteness; of medium height, with a charming and
beautifully proportioned figure. The Emperor having approached her,
immediately began a conversation, which she sustained with much grace and
intelligence, showing that she had received a fine education, and the
slight shade of melancholy diffused over her whole person rendered her
still more seductive.