The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1862-01-25


seeking the protection OF Russia. A dep
utation of citizens waited Hpoo Napoleon,
impIOriDg his elemencyy and sntrendering
to him the keys Of the city. No private
property was allowed to be touched. But
the Government chests add arsenaIs, filled
to repletion with the munitions Of war,
fell into the hands of the victor. One
hundred thousand muskets, two thousand
cannOns, and military supplies OF every
kind replcnished the stores of the French.
In forty days the Emperor had trans
ported the army of ninety thousand men
from the shores Of the ocean TO the re-
mote capital Of Vienna. His descent Of
the Danube was q continued battle and q
continuous victory. But his situation
now seemed more perilous than ever be.
fore. DetachmeDts which he had been
forced to leave by the way, to protect his
line of communication, had dwindled his
available troops whom he could lead into
battle, to but seventy thousand men,
Armies in his vicinity, amounting to three
hundred and fifty thousand men, were
Straining every nerve to concentrate and
destroy him.. He paused a moment to
decide where to strike his first blow, and
then fixing his eyes upon the legions Of
Alexander crowding down through the
defiles Of the Carpathian mountains, and
who were soon to be Joined by the Em-
peror Francis and his routed troops, he
gave again the order for an onward march.
The blasts of winter already swept the
hills whitened with snow. But the in
domitable host, eagerly following their
leader, plunged into the wilderness Of the
North, until they disappeared from the
observation Of France. On the lst OF
December, tbe FseRch, seventy thousand
in number, met the Russians and Austri-
ans, one hundred thousand strong, on the
field of Ansterlitz, more than thousand
miles from inc cspiiiai u FTStce. = 4tSs
conflict was short and terrible. Alexander
and Francis, from an adjacent eminence,
witnessed the discontinue and, almost an
nihilation Of their. united ErtHY. AccOn-
panied by q few guards, theyrjoiped the
fugitlves and fed from the CORY field. A
flag of truce, borne by the hands ofPfince
John of Austria, was sent to Napolean i'm
ploring an armistice. 1t was readily
granted, ard the next morning the Empe'
ror Francis repaired to an appointed place
for an interview with Napoleon. He
found the French Emperor standing by
a campfire built by the side of a wind
mill, which alone protected him from the
wind which swept the frozen hills. -.
81 receive you," said Napoleon, " ir
the only place which have inhabited foI
the last two months"
"You havo made such good use of thai
habitation," Francis replied, "that il
ought to be agreeable to you"
The terms of peace were soon conclu
ded, both with Austria and Russia. When
the Emperor Francis had withdrawn
Napoleon walked for some time thought
fully before the fire, and vas overheard
to say:
81 have acted very unwiscly, could
have followed up my victory, and have
taken the whole of the Russian and Aus
trian armies. They are both entirely ir
my power. But-let it be. 1t will al
least cause some less tears to be she'd"
Napoleon returned with the utmost ra
pidity to Paris, leaving the army to fol
low by easy marches which occupied
three months. -.
In the Place Vendome, W Paris, there
stands a monumental obeltsk in bronze
reared in honor of the army which achiev
ed this wonderful campaign. The mon
ument is constructed of cannonS taker
from the enemy. 1t was the design o
Napolean to have the summit crowned by
a statue of peace, but the nation decided
that the statue of Napoleon, whose geniu:
had dispersed the armies of combined
despotism, should surmount this trophy
of his own achievement. When the allies
subsequently drove Napoleon from France
and reinstated the Bourbons, they hurled
the statue Of the Emperor from its PROUD
elevation. But the French nation have
again replaced it upon the summit of thu
shaft, and there it will remain until tina
monument shall erumble to the dust. -.