Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1861-10-31
From the New York Ledger
A NAPOLEONIC CAMPAIGN.
ny JonN S. c. ABBOTT.


allied troops were Immediately on the march,
for the invasion of France, without any decla- |
ration of war. OF these 100000 were Aus |
trians. 2O0,O0o Russians 10000 English, /
Swedes, and Neapolitans. There were also
100000 Prussians, toimidably armed and dis /
ciplined, eager to Join the coalition upon the /
first reverse which should attend the French /
arms 10 meet these armies Of combined Eu- |
rope, Napoleon had but 10000 combatants,
$4,000 of whom were horsemen.
The allies supposed that they were moving in
secrecy, and that they were to strike their VIC
tim by surprise. But vigilant eye was watch
ing them. The moment the Austrian troops
commenced their march, by the invasion of
Bavaria. Napoleon's ally, he put the seal Of
silence upon all the avenues of information,
and, by means of 10000 carriages, which he
had in readiness, transported his army, with
almost the speed OF the whirwind, across
France, passed both the Rhine and the Dan
ube, and planted his batteries in the ar of the
division OF 10000 Austruns who had entered
the Bavarian kingdom. The retreat OF the foe
was thus cut off, and he was separated from his
supplies and could hope for no aid. The Aus
trians could not have been more amazed had an
army descended from the skies.
AS Napoleon was thus rapidly concentrating
his troops in the rear of the foe, he wrote to
Talleyrand:
"The Austrians are in the dehles of the
Black Forest. God grant they may remain
there. Ny only fear is that we shall brighten
them too much. If they allow me to gain
few more marches shall have completely turn
ed them. Forbid the newspapers to make any
more mention Of the army than If it did not
exist
Napoleon seemed to be omnipresent Night
and day, almost without food or sleep, he was
H., fror, IN Enr
eight days and nights of incessant rain, the
emperor had not taken off his boots or even
thrown himself upon couch for rest. One
night Napoleon overlook brigade of his SOL
diers the march. Gathering them around
him, as a father would assemble his children,
he explained to them infinitely the situation of
the enemy, and the manpuvers by which he
hoped to gain II triumphant and bloodess
victory. lie had no fear that there would be
single deserter to betray his trust As he put
spurs to his horse ana disappeared in the dark
ness, burst of irrepressible enthusiasm cheer
ed him on his way.
In less than three weeks 10000 of the Aus
trians were taken captive, and &c. 900 more were
trembling behind the ramparts OF Uim, all pos
sibility Of escape being cut off. The batteries
of the French were placed upon the adjacent
heights, and now and then "A shell fell into the
city, porenious OF the approaching storm
General Mack, in despair, sent Prince Maurice
to the emperor with flag of truce The
prince as was customary Oh such occasions, wss
conducted through the lines of the French army
to the emperors headquarters biindfolded.
When the bandages were removed he found
himself in the presence OF Napoleon, in Storm
torn tent, through which the rain dripped free
ly. The emperor stood upon loose board,
which alone protected his feet from the water
which deluged the plain. Nothing remained
for the Ausrians but unconditional surrender.
The next day was clear, cold and brilliant,
when scene was witnessed seldom paralleled
in the annals of war. Ihrty-six thousand Aus
trians marched out from the city and laid down
their arms before the conqueror. Napoleon
stood upon the hillside before camp fire, as
the melancholy procession ieiilcd before him.
In generous Germs he said to the officers, HUI
inflated and grief stricken:
observation-disclosures has its chances Often
victorious, you must expect sometimes to be
vanquished. Your master wages against me
an unjust war. | say it candidly, know not
for what am iyhtinE'
The exutation of the French army was
boundless. Sixty-six thousand prisoners, two
hundred pieces OF cannon, ninety standards,
and an immense amount of military stores had
been taken ia campaign of twenty days, and
with loss of about fifteen hundred men.
few thousands only OF the great army of inya-
sion had escaped, in fugitive bands, through
the deliles of the mountains.
But astounding was this success the
French army were still in imminent peril. But
so 900 of the 100000 of their foes had been
captured or dispersed. Alexander Of Russia
was hurrying down through the plains of PO-
land, at the head of 10000 troops. Dense
columns of AustrianS numbering 10000 from
Italy and the Tyrol, we making forced mar
cheS to combine with the Russians. A Hun
garian army, 10000 strong, Was goaded for
ward to join the enemies of France. Thirty
thousand English troops, landed in Hanover,
united with the Swedish and Neapotan auxil-
iaries, were fastening 20 the scene of conflict.
the queen Of Prussia had also effected an inter
view between her husband, Frederick William,
and the emperor Of Russia. The two sover-
eigns met al midnight in the tomb of Frederic
the Great at Pot,sdam and over the remains OF
the great warrior pledged their mutual faith
against France. Prussia placed her army OF
100000 men at the service of the allies. Ma
poleon was nearly five hundred miles distant
from his capital, and all Europe deemed him
ruined beyond redemption. His only safety
lay in attacking his vastly outnumbering foes
before they could concentrate.
Forward to Vienna" was the command
1t was an au,lacious march of nearly four hun
dred miles further into the very heart of the
enemy's country, regardless of impregnable
fortresses and swarming armies upon his right
hand and his left.
"lf Napoleon" says his brother Louis. "in
his bold and often hazardous actions seemed TO
calculate VII lily on his good fortune, no person
seemed to leave less to accident in the concep-
ton Of his plans. He always considered things
under every imaginable aspect. And though
he never or scarcely ever experienced reverses,
he was in every enterprise prepared beforehand
for whatever might happen"
At the command Forward to Vienna !" the
whole French army moved resiStlesIy on,
sweeping the valley OF the Danube like an in
undation. All Austria was terror stricken.
The panic in Vienna was dreadful, as each day
the restless host drew nearer. On the morning
OF the lih of November, the eagles of France
glittered upon the heights which surrounded
the Austrian capital. Resistance was hopeless.
The Emperor Francis, with fragment of his
army, had He'd to the north, seeking the pro-
lection OF Russia. a deputation of citizens
waited upon Napoleon mploring his clemency,
and surrendering to him the keys of the city.
No private property was allowed to be touched.
But the government chests and arsenals, filed
TO repletion with the munitions of war, fell into
the hands of the victor. One hundred thou
sand muskeis, two thousand cannon, and mill
tary supplies of every kind replenished the
stores of the French.