The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-03-03
THE OLD MARECHAL WAS A TER
ROR To THE FRENCH ARMY.


at the approach of a general. the tune
composed sixty years ago in honor of
Castellane The words are not exceeding
ly beautiful. but they give fair idea Of
the opinion the soldiers had Of the mare
chal.
viola Castellane qu passe
Tout tor du, tout bossu,
Tout bancal, tout NAL ichu."
Which means, as near as it is possible
to translate anything:
Here is Castellane passing,
Twisted, hunchback,
Limping, badly put up"
The piece is much longer, but rather
hard to print. The marechal offered 10000
francs to the author if he would give his
name But the soldier-poet was not over
anxious to be introduced TO Castellane
who would have added to the reward a
little sentence of six months in jail Ma
poleon Ill discovered, nevertheless. the
name OF the composer, who was no other
than Gen. Pelissier, afterward a mare
chal de France also. Pelissier has left
in the army the reputation of a practical
joker of the worst kind: II appears that
he owed his epaulettes of colonel to Cas-
tellane who forgot the circumstances Of
the appointment and asked him one day
in presence of the assembled military who
was the fool responsible for his promo
ton to the command of a regiment"
Yourself Marechal," answered Pelis-
sier. A roar of laughter from the ranks
of the soldiers followed. as could be ex-
pected, and Castellane was so angry that
he concluded TO exterminate every one OF
them. With that noble object in view
he ordered a sham battle. during which
Pelissler's regiment of infantry was ord
cred to swim across the Adour, river
near the city of Tarbes. A dozen soldiers
were drowned, and the emperor. to avoid
a repetition of the experiment. ordered
Pelissier to go to Algeria with the troops
of his command Napoleon never doubted
that Castellane- would have kept his
word. He knew him as well as anybody
else, and for this reason sent him to
Lyons, whose population at one time in
tended to rebel against the imperial gov
eminent. The little marechal made his
appearance in that city one delightful
morning, and the first thing he did was
TO place battery of 200 guns on an emil
nence commanding the view of the most
populated quarters of Lyons. The guns
were loaded and ready for action. Then
he parade the balance of the troops,
about 40 1000 soldiers, on the Place Belcour.
and delivered TO the crowd, who were
anxious to obtain glimpse of him, a
very short speech, which has remained
historical:
II understand" he said, that you have
the idea of overthrowing the government
of his majesty the Emepror Napoleon III.
I want you to know that l win tolerate
no nonsense. You see these 200 guns.
They are loaded to the muzzle, and II
hear a single mouse creating a disturb
ance will lombard Lyons and set fire to
every corner of the city. Now make for
your homes and double quick"
THE crazy fool" remarked the mayor;
"he would do exactly what he has said"
The disturbing element of Lyons kept
perfectly quiet, as 1t was not doubted that
Castellane would have been true to his
word
The salary Of the marechal amounted to
$1,000 francs o year, to which his wife
added cheerfully $1,000 other francs for the
privilege of not living with him. One
popularity of Castellane was that no one
ever saw him without being in full dress
uniform, with his baton, the insignia of
his dignity, In hand, and the big hat,
adorned with feathers, squarely planted on
his head. The soldiers used TO say that
the marechal slept with his boots and
spurs on, and even when he took a bath he
kept his hat on, so as to impress his at
tendant with the respect due to the highest
dignity belonging TO the army. No wonder
that Madame la Marechal" was not over
anxious to keep company with her hus-
band. But Castellane did not mind that
at all. He managed to keep busy as long
as he lived. He kept others in hot water
all the time. One of his favorite amuse-
ments was to organize a small army of
street urchins and order them to plumber
a confectionery. The owner of the place
would naturally attempt to repulse the
invaders and regular battle was always
the result, under the leadership of Cas-
tellane. The emperor interfered on several
occasions, but the Marechal. for some
causes of his own, did not care very much
about the authority of Napoleon III. He
paid the damages out OF his own pocket
and thought that it was more than sufi-
Gent, as long as he consented 10 remain
away from Paris, where his wife resided al
the imperial court.
1t would require too much space to re-
call the numerous pranl1s of Castellane
but the character of the man who proved
TO be such a holy terror to the soldiers
wherever he went, deserves more than a
passing notice. Many legends have beer
circulated about him, but he has done
enough to deserve mention in the annals
of the army as historical figure, although
he never fought a single battle How
did he obtain the rank OF marechali
Through what mysterious agencies did he
come into possession of the numerous
crosses adjoining his uniform? No one
seems to know. The various deeds re,
corded in his biography are confined te
the tricks played by him on soldiers anC
officers alike. Young man." he would say
to the sentinel on duty at his door, leave
your gun against the wall and go across
the street and buy me few cigars; there
is a napoleon" on returning the sentine
would find the marechal in possession OF
the gun and was sent to jail for deserting
his post.
There is one ball given by CASTELAR,,
which the inhabitants of Lyons will no
forget for a long time. The marechal haC
noticed that a second lieutenant of CUR
assiers was in love with a young lady, tn,
only daughter of a rich silk manufacture
OF the city. The lieutenant being poor,
marriage was out Of the question-that is
every one thought so, except Castelane
who concluded to have the young coupl,
married, and just for the fun of it. as ht
stated afterwaId. Therefore, he organ
lied great ball, to which he invited the
officers OF the garrison and the aristoerat iC
people of Lyons. The lieutenant was
among the guests. and during the ball the
narechal introduced him to the young
lady, with the object of inducing them t.
dance together Everything went we'll