New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-05-26
NAPOLEON AGAIN.
COUNT DE sEGUR's MEMOIRS AND LORD
WOLsELEY's CRITICISMS.

Martin PIP. XVI, 40. d. Appleton & Co
MILITARY CAREER OF H.: NA ApodIi Il. THE the
pasns of An the H'sS %an 81 Authentic
Anecdotes OF the Da:.leiell as Tod. by the
Pre- Sc'0 BY Moa;somsry B. Gibbs. PIP. ia Chicago:
Tic Werner Company
NAPOLEON BONAPARTES FIRST CAMPAIGN:
M sne Sa": "a cavalry "y Tinted States Army
r. 81 Chicago a. c. McCurs & Co.
THE pEclINE AND FALL x OF NAP4LEoN;w I ES
Plans and illustrations PIP. VIZ 9T; ROBERTS
With only these volumes to furnish material
one might be able to make a fairly satisfactory
study OF Napoleon. The memoirs OF Count dc
sssur would contribute :he romantic element
Mr. Gibbs has gathered up all the tradition and
miscellaneous anecdote. Lieutenant Sargent has
made an object lesson of the only military cam
pa!gn in the history OF the world that is without
g mistake or even obvious piece of ill-fortune;
rh!e Lord Wolseey emphasizes the contrast be-
tween the earliest work add the latest in Napo-
,eor's military career and shows that he was
really defeated by nobody but himself IL would
be too much 10 expect equal literary excellence
in these works But each has an interest OF It's
own. The cosby narrative of Mr. GlDbs Is en-
rgrced by the Illustrations which are mostly
copies from famous paintings The pictures IN
Lord Wolsciey's hook e In some cases DOWN
rrnt In ,urv TO his sooe~ and digniiicd study OF
the melancholy years IT, the lie of man whom
he calls the greatest of Gods human creations.
They Nave little or nothing to do with the events
to which the text alludes. a plan OF the wafer
leo CAMPAIGN corrected according to the ols'ln-
suishod authors views Of TIE subject ana drawn
n a scale large enough for satisfactory study
would h;.vs beer: worth all of them many times
over I,eutenan; sarsen; has performed his task
ofecs
n more or less extended commentary on every
SIGNIFICANT movement in Napoleon's first cam
p.ieu He illustrates what Lord WolseIey de-
clares. namely the perfection Of Napoleon's mill
tarv achievements when his mental powers were
at their bes. This is apparent also in Count dc
Ssgur's illusions TO campaign. the one 'ha'
ended at Austerlitz, which did not fall within the
scope Of the work either Of Lord Wolseley or
I,eu.enant Sargent In the midst of real or
STIMULATED dismay and anger at the utter 1ahure
O. Villcneuve to carry out the Quixotic scheme OF
inva ding England, the Emperor turned his atten-
ton To a land campaign. For days he hao oeeh
uncertain as to the place where the meet on
which he spent go much time had taken refuge.
Finally he learned that Villeneuve was at Ferro''
THAT Is the end Of it," he exclaimed 'he will be
blocked I'D there. What navy. What an ad-
mira. What useless sacrifces." Lord Wolseley
y
proves IT, 1t occurred at Pont-de-Briques. which
Nanoleon had chosen as his headquarters prepar-
atorv to the naval expedition. The words quoted
vare uttered by a man who, with his hat pressed
down upon his head and his eyes ready appar-
entity to start from their sockets. appeared TO be
on the verge Of insanity. And yet ne recovered
OF the instant and dictated to Daru win a sort
of fierce caimness, an outline OF the campaign os
which he proposed to restore his fame win
nrcscience that seemed marvellous to those about
him ne provided for the VOLTAGE of an army
thar was then distributed along 200 leagues of
coas. for its march in several columns 10 the
Danube for the reurion of Its parts. and p edice1
starting from Boulogne, 1.-The principal events OF
this projected war, their dates and their decisive
r.sults the various fields Of battle. the victories
70 De gained" even the very days when 'he
French were TO enter Munich and Vienna. Two
months 200 leagues, and more than 2VOoVo OF the
enemy" adds De Segur, separated thought from
results, and yet. time and space and various
obstacles were all overcome. and the whoie lu-
ture il)umined by the genius Of our Emperor
The suddenness and thoroughress with when
Napoleon turned the military machine which he
had been so busily fitting together for months 10
a new purpose has lent color to the oehei that
this was his serious purpose all the time, and that
the noisy preparations for invading England
wer, mere pretence. The scene which Count De
Segur describes strengthens this view Of the mat
ter. 1t Is almost impossible to conceive of any
mortal brain setting forth the scheme OF long
and varied campaign without any previous de-
liberation. even with the fact admitted that the
man of Europe down to minute details. was as
complete in Napoleon's memory the picture
OF his own face But the author Of these memoirs
has no misgvngs. He seems to take 1t for
granted that Napoleon's decision to march to
Vienna was taken in a moment Of reaction from
disappoln;ment at the failure Of a venture upon
which he had really set his heart
The trouble is that De Segur evidently reserved
some OF his thoughts In making these memoirs
He had the tradition OF noble family 10 sus-
tain. and the military renown OF his grandfather
doubtless contributed to make him soldier
though nobody could have been more astonished
or erleved than the old Marshal to find that his
grandson had joined the armies OF the Republic
and was to serve under Bonaparte. De Segur
took this step first in the vague hope or spread
ing royalist ideas among the troops a youthful
fancy that was soon disspated. He had grown
up in the romantic atmosphere breathed Dy the
old nobility. He was something or poet ana
he seems never TO have lost the dreamers way of
looking at things which is more consistent with
tho life Of a soldier than with some other forms
OF activity He responded chivalrously to the i'd
yances which Napoleon made toward the OLD
society OF France. But he did this with an abid-
ing consciousness Of his rank. Having given his
allegiance 70 Napoleon. he would no more have
criticised rudely the motives OF this self-made
ruler than he would those of king Of the older
time. He took upon himself easily the reserved
manner which became second nature to those
about the Emperor So. II he had doubts as 10
the extemporaneousness Of this plan which ne
mentions fol the campaign that ended so mag
niHcently at Aus.erlitz, he must not be expected
IN EXPRESS them 1t was wonderful in any case,
oven II Napoleon had been silently maturing it
for months. De Segur testifes that whatever
errors there were in Napoleon's dates were due
% ,re ranidity of his movements. not to delay.