The weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1858-1860, 1859-06-21
The Two Hapoleons.

There may be few septuagenary reader,
ofThe Tribune who just remember the time
sixty>three years ago this Spring, when tn.
first Bonaparte, young General Of Division
scarcely known by name even to Frenc1men
LEFT Paris to command an army in Italy, in {
war against Austria. So slow and uncertain
were the meana ofintelligence then, that tn,
best informed Americans though interested
in the affairs of France, had but slight knowl
edge of the cause of the Italian war of 1896
OF the actors who bore leading part in it
and Of the localities where ito many thrillin,
incidents transpired But all these hay,
since, BY the pens of host of historians AM
biographers, been made as familiar to tn,
great body ofthe American people as are tn,
leaders, the events, and the 6elds Of our owl
Revolutionary struggle.
The arrival Of another Bonaparts in ltaly
70 command French army in war will
Austria awakens recollections of the grea
events which were exhibited on the sam,
theater near the close Of the last and the be-
ginning Of the present century, A on,
hastily scans the news from tho seat Of war
how many brilliant achievements, how many
i gloomy disasters, rise to view % we read the
8 0onstAnty recurring names Of Turin, Genoa
Allessaodris, Plaoenxa, Marengo, Milan and
nantua; Of the 20, the Ticino, the Adige
and the Dora; Of Mt Gents the Maritime
Alps, and the Apennines.
There have been three memorable incur
sions Of the Bonaparte dynasty into Italy
ere the present The first, in 1895, when
the young Citizen General, fresh from his
triumph over the Persian revolt and his
marriage with Josephine, burst through the
spurs Of the Maritime Alps, and oycrthrew
the Austrians at Montenotte (the first action
where he held supreme command), and
opened that brilliant series of victories
which, after eighteen months, resulted in the
peace Of Campo Formio, created the Cisal.
pine Republic, drove the Austr,ans out Of
Piedmont and Lombardy, gave France
the mastery Of upper Italy, carried her
boundaries to the Rhine, formed the nucleus
Of that Guard" which afterward became the
dread Of European armies, and gave the
petit-coporal . name and fame through the
world. At the the ducal palace Of Milan, the
Republican General, aided by the elegan,
and fascinating Josphine, displayed much Of
the pomp and more than the power of an
Hereditary Prince. From its halls he issued
an address to the people Of Italy, in which he
said Our sole quarrel is with the tyrants
who snslave you r How like the uncle is
the nephew Forced to take up arms; Fight
ing for oppressed people His enemy always
the aggressor; no desire to extend his terri
tory And his acquisitions forced upon him;
and SO on to the end fthe chapter! But we
anticipate.
The next incursion of Bonaporte into
Italy was when the First Consul, now gu
preme ruler Of France, led his army in the
Spring Of 1900 over the Great st. Bernard,
each Of his 40 900 soldiers receiving his bread
and cheese and cup of wine from the hands
of the good monks AZ he fled past their lev
abode on the summit Melas, the Austrian
general, was then besieging Massena in Go
noa. Napoleon, descending from the Alps
upon the plains Of Piedmont like mountain
torrent, cut the Austrian line of communi-
cation, broke up the siege, lured Melas into
the open plain, overwhelmed him in the
famous field of Marengo, granted the Aus
TRANS an armistice as the basis of subse-
quent peace, and, six weeks from the day he
left his capitol, the 1.-THE form and thoughtful
brow of the First Consul were seen again in
the streets of Paris.
Four years before the battle of Marengo
% he stood on Mount Zemolo, a spur of the
lower Alps, gazing down upon the green
fields and radiant rivers Of Italy, Napoleon
aaid: Hannibal forced the Alps We have
turned them" In this second Italian war,
he had copied the renowned achievement of
the African general-he had forced the Alps.
The Marengo campaign, which relieved by
its brilliant successes the somber reverses in
Egypt and Syria, and finally established the
consular chair of Napoleon, was regarded
by him as his first sure step toward that i'm.
perial hand upon which he had long before
1xed his eye .
The third incursion of Bonrparte into
Italy differed widely from the two proceeding,
in that it was the visit of civic ruler en-
twined with the garlands of peace, rather
than conqueror clothed in the psnoply of
war. In the Spring of 1905, Napoleon l.,
accompanied by Josephine, and tho Pope,
whom he had. summoned from Rome to Notre
Dame to see him place the imperial crown
on his head with his own hands, crossed the
Alps. and, taking leave of the Holy Father
ct Turin, visited the Geld Of Morengo, where
10000 troops by their mimic strife revived
the recollections Of that bloody battle, Ma
poleon himself being dressed in the same
garments he wore on that decisive day
Pushing ON to Milan, he there, in the mag
ni6cent cathedral of that city, placed the
crown of Italy on his head the hereditary
Iron Crown Of Charlemagne, repeating in a
loud voice the historic words, God has given
il to me woe to him that touches il ;" while
the vast concourse shook the cathedral with
their approving shouta Having made the
tour of Of Northern Italy, be visited Genoa,
where the ovation rendered to him was quite
- hearty and far more elaborate than that
recently given to the present Emperor and
from thence he returned to Paris After
few months Of repose in the Tuileries, he
went forth to overthrow the Emperors of
Austria ard Russia, on the first anniversary
Of his coronation, at Austerlitz, firmly fixing on
that day his imperial throne. as he had es-
tablished his consular chair at Marengo.
After . lapse Of fifty nine years we have
warlike incursion of another Bonaparte into
Italy He goes to command . French army
in Piedmont in q war with Austria. The
period Of time which has passed away since
the advent of the Chief without bringing
with il the shock Of Q great battle, was hardly
needed to convince the world that the Ma
poleon who dashed down from the Alps upon
the Austrians at Montenette and Marengo
sleeps quietly under the dome of the InvaIi.
doA In the first interview that the first
e'ePOAVVu u1A Will tuc uCuSIUi9 oltcI NC VOOR 1
command Of the Italian army, Veteran of
the old school volunteered to give the Pa.
Fisian stripping some advice. Waving him |
aside, Napoleon said, ''The time has passed |
IL which enemies are mutually to appoint the |
place Of combat, advance, hat in hand, and |
ny: Gentlemen, win yon have the goodness |
10 FIRE ? No! We must hurl ourselves on the |
6os like thunder-bolt r. There may be |
good cause for delay in the present war in |
Piedmont. But it 10 certain that the impetu- |
,us energy that burst through the mountain
,orges and swept the Austrians before it in
|796, and leaped from 81 Bernard upon
delas at Marengo, has not yet exhibited
tself in the first campaign Of the third Ma
)olsOn
Nor 10 there any reason to expect it In
be war now pending, and in the other wars
vhich may lie beyond it, Frenchmen will
ook in vain to Louis Napoleon for the I'M
etuous valor that seized the standard ct
,odi, and the daring genius that led an
fmy over the Great st Bernard the in.
aitive capacity for combining masses Of
Pnana and nPenSeika fins than annm tina fra |