The record-union., 1894-01-27
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
His First Appearance in the Frenc
Military Drama.


Military Drama.
The one-hundredth anniversary Of the
evacuation OF Toulon by the British,
marking the first appearance of Napoleon
in the military drama OF which he was
| for twenty years the central figure, oc-
Cured on the 18th inst.
| H0TpeT'S Magazine for January con-
tains an article on the beginnings of Ma
! poleon's career by Germain Bapst, called
Captain Napoleon Bonaparte at Tou-
| lOn." 1t is compiled from material Just
brought to light in the archives of the
! War Office at Paris, and is accompanied
| by drawing, hitherto unpublished,
which was made during the siege of Iou-
| lon, and shows the young Napoleon
watching the enemy through field-glass.
Following is an extract from the inter-
esting story:
In the early days of September, 1888,
France was attacked on every side. and a
third of her provinces had rebelled
against the government established at
Paris, which enforced its supremacy by q
regime carried on under reign OF terror.
Among the provinces in open insurrec-
ton were all those of the south. An army
corpa invested Lyons, while another,
after subduing Marseilles, marched
against Toulon.
The French forces were commanded by
a chance General named CarteauX, who,
after being a soldier, had, during seven
years. absence from the army, become in
civil life portralt-painter. His por-
traits, however, were indifferent works of
art. In marching upon Toulon his army
came in collision with the British forces
at village called Ollioules. After skir-
miSh the Republicans were repulsed, and
beats a hasty retreat On learning OF this
defeat, CarteauX fastened to the assist
ance of his troops with fresh reinforce
ments. and assuming the offensive, this
time drove back the English and carried
the village. IN this action the officer at
the head of the artillery was so seriously
wounded that he was unable to continue
his service for long time. The accident
proved a sad loss to the besiegiRg army,
which was thus deprived Of the man COM
manding its principal arm on the very
eve of constructing the batteries. Car
teauX'S ignorance was such that he was
little affected by this mishap but the two
representatives of the people commits
stoned to follow the army were deeply
concerned as to the consequences.
On the same day they dispatched Adj
iutant-General Cervoni to Marseilles to
ascertain if he could not find in that town
some artillery officer of distinction to
whom might be intrusted the chief COM
mand of the siege batteries before TOu-
Ion. Cervoni, while stroiling through
ID0 SLT66lS Ol Lu6 tOWH, ul0I VIII Il Zap
tain of artillery who was, like himself,
peram bulating the same thoroughtares.
This Captain was Corscan and compat-
riot; his name was Napoleon BOnaparte.
He was short, Well-proportioned man,
with extremely thin dark hair. who worea
long cooked hat. ii is coat was blue with
velvet facings; his trousers were broad,
and buttoned on each side of the leg from
waist TO ankle. kind OF garment then
ooll la1 q oh q riN N q cIIrnulntfa. ho hod
on small boots with yellow tops, and was
covered all over with the dust OF the road
along which he had been walking; for he
had just arrived from Avignon, whittier
he had escorted convoy OF ammunition,
and was on his way to Nice.
Cervoni thought that Bonaparte would
be Just the man so much wanted by the
members of the National Convention del
egated to watch over the movements of
the army before Toulon. Bonaparte ap-
peared very young; he was only a years
of age, but it was stated that, month be-
fore, the Republican army was on the
point of beating retreat IN front of Avig-
non, when he, with two field pieces and
eighty men, bombarded the town
in the rear so effectively that the in
habitants and the Federal troops
were overcome with fright and con-
vinced that they had been betrayed,
abandoned the place to the Republicans,
who entered victorious, thanks TO the
boldness and foresight of Captain Bona
parte
Cervoni invited the Captain to enter
cafe; Bonaparte accepted, and the two
men bad chat over bowl of punch.
The young Captain doffed his hat, so that
his features were lighted up by the blue
flame of the liquor; his complexion was
sallow and his head large, measuring as
it did twenty three inches round. If the
size of the skull was large, the
space between the two cheek-bones
was enormous The hair grew low
on the forehead; the well-arched
brows disclosed large eyes, sharp as
steel, cold, clear and piercing the aqui-
line nose was Of the most delicate shape,
the lower lip strong and receding, while
the chin and the jaws were as well de-
uolOna6 ac tho cl-ull