New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-09-20
NAPOLEON'S GENERALS.
MEMOIRS OF ONE WHO NEVER MADE
ANY MISTAKES.

THE MEMOIRS OF PAE0N r TEB A1my Ta n.e
lated and Condensed by Arthur John Butier,
T rn Wolnm :" Pr x. 4si ass The Macmillan
Company.
There is one remarkable characteristic OF Gen
eral Thiebaults "reminiscences as presented IN
these volumes which deserves TO be dwelt upon
Ue did not think his career as soldier all that
.. .,or,a have been But he bames nobody ex-
or, n,useIf He criticised other French mill
,.rv men OF his time with freedom; those who
road these volumes may infer that nearly all the
merit in the armies OF the first Republic and the
Nrst Empire was confined to the oifcers VINO
were excluded from the highest rank. But the
criticism which Thebault lavishes upon marshais
ora commanders-in-che is not inspired by the
feeling that these men stood IN MS way II Is
more like that grumbing which is said TO be the
,rark Of a good soldier. There arc not very many
cot leaders of armies brought forward in THE
hault's book Napoleon was one; ana Masseha
and Iannes: and Moreau. II he had not been a
-. o,d several men who were killed when
.sor ,vare still only colonies or brigadiers; ana
n,,isbau,. himself II he had not been so silent
,or tho chance of advancement was open 10
,,rotbese are about all whom he Is willing 10
ra,sa OF them all Thiebault is perhaps the
only one who never made any mistakes either III
strategy or tactics His uniform censure on NM
Golf was on one occasion uttered by an acqualht-
ance.
"you never let yourself go enough" said TINS
adviser: you are worth more than you 'h'hN'
hnt in order to make the most OF your 'aie"'s
vou require a confidence in yourself which you
have not got" This hit Thiebaults view or MS
ou,n case precisely. THE history OF my life
ne adds lis in that sentence.
Memoirs written from such point OF view
ora NOT common in literature. Indeed they are
almost without example in the many personal
bistores relating to the Revolutionary ana Ma
noleonic periods which have recently been pre-
sented to the public Beside such person do
he whom Thiebaut calls "Rotten" Barras' me
n.r,t himself seems the very flower of reticence
and modesty His resentments are shgh' CONF
,arsa with the absorbing hatreds which Barras
,-.-,,..od 70 the acrid pen of his literary execu-
TOR He is not eager to demosh any reputation
,oss a NO that of Marshal Sout. and to Mar
shall Soult he devotes only the review OF s'neio
battle and the study of single campaign Win
,borouchlv destructive purpose OF others ne
,vr;tes with asperity. but with fewer signs Oh
personal irritation. Everywhere he is the trench
ant military critic convinced Of his own accu-
racy Of Judgment. and all the more severe pe-
cause he never had the opportunity 10 make 'ne
h,unders Of which some of his victims were
guilty.
IN his seriousness. he seems more German than
French. and that trait in him is a reminder 'ha'
bis bovhood was spent in Berlin. he gre" up
,oval 70 France but also a worshipper OF FREEZER
,ck the Great who was his fathers pehelactoi'
Occasional illusions in his memoirs sho" 'i"'
NO retained his admiration for the Prussiah oon-
oueror TO the last. while other passages sHo"
that after twenty years campaigning III '"'
1,ro,cb service he could when he chose. write
as a foreigner might do with indifference u ma
.,ono, nreiudces The French soldier was by
No means perfect being for him. and MS views
o- d,scipline were often more like those OF FREQ
or,ck than those Of his fellow-oicers. In Short
h stoo6 from first TO last rather without than
Within the ruling circles of France. He despiseo
rou,s XVI as coarse and clownsh, and he SYM
nath,zed from the outset with the Revolution
He hated the Bourbons to such an extent 'iia'
he associated them with Robespierre anu '"e
Terror. In these feelings lay the causes OF MS
career -
A voung man with less education could hardly
be imagined. If Thebaults own account were
IN be taken without question. Perhaps he wlshed
II TO be thought that he owed everything 10
genius But as there was some talk OF hlahins
him priest his book knowledge could not nave
been as meagre as he represents IL. NeNer'"e-
LOGS u was not he who chose profession The
profession thrust itself upon him In the form
NJ eroup OF Young Parsians looking for arms
in the early hours Of the Revolution. They asheo
him 70 he enrolled with them. He balanced Tor
. nor,ent the chances Of success or failure. OF
King or people. and consented HIS service De-
Gan IN the ranks and the inference Is permitted
that his whole training was by practice ana
observation But quite by accident slips IN
line about the military school Of Berlin Thus
n Ia plain that our General has overcome inc
modest part he assumes. He was NJ before
hand for something better than the ranks ne
WAS critical too. from the outset But ne was
himself a staff officer before he began TO come
in contact with the men who were soon 10 DE
foremost in the armies Of France He compia-
Gently listened to the envious remarks or Mural
who feared he would never be anything but
major of the mounted chasseurs. while he ex-
nec.ed to see Captain Thebault general almost
any day.
A. last when he. as well as others had wearied
themselves looking for real ieader' MS eyes
,,-ers greeted one day with the sight Of puny
6pure a statuesque face and name that caused
him TO exclaim "Bonaparte. Who the deuce is
$50, Those were the times Of the young
cors,csn's adversely. He was bby, but. never
.ho,ess he had already the fame OF Toulon and
saorgio and Roya behind him. and now ne was
Barras's chief subordinate. while Barras MINI
self seemed for moment to be master OF France.
But il was not these things nor even the de-
feat OF the rebellious National Guards, when
stirred Thiebauts admiration for this new gen.
eral. What awakened him was the indiferehce
with which Bonaparte displayed Ignorance OF
military subjects when he was seeking informa-
ton. He knew nothing OF tactics and In those
DAYS could not have handled regiment But
he knew the bounds of his knowledge and what
questions to ask and he poured them out in end
less profusion. That he, young general, should
care nothing for the smiles Of we-taught sub