The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-13 00:00:00

Napoleon and his Generals.

1 In the " Life of Sir W. Napier" we find the fol-
lowing notes of a remarkable conversation which
the gallant officer had with Marshal Soult relative
to Napoleon and his Generals:—
" Grouchy," he said, " was not a traitor, he was unequal
to his situation—that is to say, he could not command more
than a few thousand men, I calculated (said Soult) the
value of the French Generals by the number of men they
were capable of commanding. I name nobody, but there
were amongst them men who were worth 10,000 men,'who
were worth 15,000, 20,000, 30,000, 45,000, or even,
in case of necessity, 60,000. The art of command-
ing armies becomes more difficult as the num-
bers increase. It is very different to command
80,000, and to command 100,000. Pass 100,000, and the
human mind is scarcely equal to the task. -Napoleon com-
mitted a great error in giving so many men to Grouchy. Ist.
That General was not equal to the commnd. 2d. Ten
thousand men would have been sufficient to impose on the
Pi ussians. But thy Emperot'seemen at times to be cLanged ;
there were moments when his genius and activity Ecemed
as powerful and as fresh as ever,at other moments he seen,,ed
apathetic. For example, he fought the battle of Waterlor,
without having himself examined the enemy's position.
He trusted to General Haxo's report. In former days he
would have examined and re-examined it in person. Ney
was the evil genius of the campaign : he neglected his
orders at Quatre Bras, and again at Waterloo ; he attacked
Wellington's position beyond 11 Haye Sainte contrary to
orders, and too soon; but he is dead, he was unfortunate.
I do not like to speak of his errors."

Hoche. Soult knew him well. "I was with him," he
said, when he died ; he was poisoned by the Directory; I
thought so at the time ; I think so still."
Napoleon. " Marshal Was not Napoleon the greatest
genius of all the men France produced ?" "Ah I bah I yes I
there was no comparison." " Was he not a good and kind
man also ?" Here Soult raised his head with great eager-
ness, and exclaimed in an emphatic manner, " Napoleon n'a
jamais perdu personne de son propre mouvement—jamais,
jamais, jamais I It was necessary, when once you were
known to him, to commit faults, nay, even crimes, over and
over again, twenty, thirty times, before he could bring him-
self even to punish."
Joseph. "At the battle of Ocana, Joseph was at my
side, and so meek, so quiet, I could have put him in my
pocket. After the battle was gained and that we had supped,
instead of conversing upon the action and the war, he en-
tered into a violent allocution against the Emperor, and
told me that he had written to him a letter which he would
show me. It was menacing, urgent, insolent ; and his dis-
course went to sounding me upon exciting the army to resist
Napoleon. I rose from my chair and addressed him thus,
' Sire, you speak and act in such a manner that you give me
the right to treat you without reserve or ceremony; and,
first, it is fortunate :for you that I chose to speak to you as
a private person, and not as a Marshal of France. What
you imagine that the eclat of such a victory of Ocana
renders you so dear to the French soldiers that they will
support your absurd and rash notions ? Suppose it were
true : have you gained the affections also of the rest of the
French army in Spain ? Are you sure of those who remain
to France out of Spain ? You are wofully deceived : beware
of how you try what you are thinking of, even with the army
here under your orders ; it will be dangerous. And then you
menace your brother I You! you menace Napoleon. Oh I
Sire I you shock me." (Here Soult put himself into the
attitude, and used the same gestures as he had to Joseph,
and they were very striking ; he covered his eyes with one
of his hands, and with the other seemed to repulse some
horrid image, and his colour and looks were very animated.)
" Who are you ? what are you ? who has made you ? Your
brother; and you menace him ! Burn your letter, Sire, and
think again" " What ! (exclaimed the king) am I not his
elder brother, the chief of his family" "Yes, Sire, but ycu
speak not as a brother, you speak and would act as a king,
and you are not the chief of monarchs. Burn your letter."
Marceau. " Marceau was clever and good, and of great
promise, but he had little experience before he fell."

Moreau. "No great things."
Augereau. Ditto.
Junot. Ditto,
Gouvion St. Cyr. " A clever man and a good officer, but
deficient in enterprise and vigour."
Macdonald. "Too regular, too methodical; an excellent
man, but not a great general."
Ney. "No extent of capacity; but he was unfortunate ;
he is dead."

Victor. "An old woman ; quite incapable."
Jourdan. "Not capable of leading large armies."
Massena. "Excellent in great danger; negligent and of
no goodness out of danger. Knew war well."
Marmont. " Understands the theory of war perfectly.
History will tell what he did with his knowledge." (This
was accompanied with a sardonic smile.)
Regnier, "An excellent officer." (I denied this, and
gave Soult the history of his operations at Sabugal.) Soult
replied that he was considered to be a great officer in France;
but it what I Laid could not be controverted as to fact, he
was not a great officer, his reputation was unmerited. (The
facts were correctly stated, but Regnier was certainly dis-
affected to Napoleon at the time, his unskilful conduct
might have been intentional.)
Desaix. " Clever, indefatigable, always improving his
mind, full of information about his profession, a great
soldier, a noble character in all points of view ; perhaps
not amongst the greatest generals by nature, but
likely to become so by study and practice, when he was
killed."
Kleber. "Knew him perfectly; colossal in body, colos-
sal in mind. He was the god of war ; Mars in human shape.
He knew more than Hoche, more than Desaix ; he was a
greater general, but he was idle, indolent, he would not
work,"
Berthier and Clarke. "Old v; omen—Catins. The Em-
peror knew them and their talents; they were fit for tools,
machines, good for writing dowit his orders, and making
arrangements according to rule ; he employed them for
nothing else. Bah 1 they were very pcor. I could do their
work as well or better than they could, but the Emperor
was too wise to employ a man of my character at a desk ;
knew I could control and tame wild men, and be employed
me to do so."

A FEMALE FEDERAL SPY.—The Detroit Tribune
narrates the adventure of a Miss Pauline Cushman,
who has been engaged as a Federal spy. It seems that
Miss Cushman is an actress, and fell under suspicion at
Louisville from having consorted with "rebel" officers.
She was arrested, but she stoutly denied that she was a
" rebel." In order to teat the love for the old flag, she
was asked if she would enter the secret service of the
Government. She readily consented, and was at once
employed to carry letters between Louisville and Nash-
ville. She was subsequently employed by General Rose.
crane, and was for many months with the Army of the
Cumberland. She visited the rebel lines time after time,
and was thoroughly acquainted with all the country
and roads in Tennessee, .Northern Georgia, Alabama, and
Mississippi, in which sectioZie she rendered our armies
invaluable service. She was twice suspected of being
a spy, and taken prisoner, but managed to escape.
At last, however, she was not so for),,unate. After our
forces had captured Nashville, Miss Cus:unan made a
scout towards Shelbyville to obtain ieformaalicn of the
strength sad position of the enemy, and, while i-eturning
to Nashville, was captured on the Hardin Pike, eleven
miles from the latter city. She was placed on a ho,-se,
and, in charge of two scouts, was being taken to Spring-
hill, the head-quarters of Forrest. While on the way to
this place, she feigned sickness, and said she could not
travel any further without falling from her horse. Her
captors stopped at a house on the roadside, when it was
ascertained that a Federal scouting-party had passed the
place an hour before. Knowing that her guards had im-
portant papers for General Bragg, the quick-witted spy
seised the fact and schemed to use it to her advantage.
Seeing an old negro, who appeared to commiserate her
unfortunate plight, she watched her opportunity and
placed ten dollars in Tennessee money in his hand, saying,
' Run up the road, uncle, and come back in a few minutes,
telling us that 400 Feoerals are coming down the street.'
The faithful negro obeyed the order literally, and
soon came back in the greatest excitement, telling the
story. The two rebels' told him he lied. The old
coloured man got down on his knees, saying—' Massa,
dey's cumin, sure nuff; de Lord help us, dey is cumin.'
The scouts at this believed his story, mounted their
horses, and skedaddled for the woods. Miss Cushman,
seizing a pistol belonging to a wounded soldier in the
house, also mounted her horse and fled towards Franklin.
She travelled through the rain, and after nightfall lost
her way. Soon came the challenge of a picket, ' Who
comes there ?' Thinking she had reached the rebel liae,
she said, A friend of Jeff. Davis.' All right,' was the
reply, Advance and give the countersign.' She pre-
sented the countersign in the shape of a canteen of
whisky. She passed five pickets in this way, but the
sixth and last was obdurate. She pleaded that she was
going to see a sick uncle at Franklin, but the sentry
couldn't see it. Sick and disheartened, she turned back,
Seeing a light at a farmhouse, she sought shelter. An
old man received her kindly, showed her to a room, and
said he would awake her at an early hour in the morning,
and show her the road to Franklin. A loud knock awoke
her in the morning from her Lethean slumbers, and upon
arousing she found her horse saddled and the two guards
from whom she had escaped the previous afternoon. She
was taken to the head-quarters of Forrest, and he sent
her, after a critical examination, to General Bragg.
Nothing could be found against her until a secesh woman
stole her gaiters, under the inner sole of which were
found important documents which clearly proved her to
be a spy. She was tried and condemned to be executed
as a spy, but being sick, her execution was postponed,
She finally, after lying in prison three months, sent for
General Bragg, and asked him if he had no mercy. She
received from him the comforting assurance that he
should make an example of her, and that he should hang
her as soon as she got well enough to be hung decently.
While in this state of suspense, the grand army of Rose-
crans commenced its forward movement and one fine
day the rebel town where she was imprisoned was sur-
prised and captured, and the heroine of thie tale was re-
leased,"