The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1898-07-21

MN AESI 8 y a armies
-sSSsMaaEess; since Waterloo
have contained
fighting corps which strove to emulate
the proves Of those far famed reserves.
The history Of the Old Guard, nowhere
definitely given, is something like this /:
When General Bonaparte took the field
with the civic title Of first consul, the
body of soldiers answering to the house
hold guards Of all royal and imperial
armies when led by their monarch took
the name Of Consular Guard. Following
the old custom when be became emper-
OF still larger contingent gathered
around him and was known as the I'm
perial Guard. The Old Guard was al
ways part Of the Imperial Guard Of
France, but when it acquired it's special
name it was for reasons that distinguish
ed it as the elite corps Of France.
Napoleon's wars were so destructive
OF French soldiers that the Imperial
Guard had to be recruited and the old
battalions, jealous Of the hard won lau-
rels, did not wish to share them with
novices fresh from the pillow; hence a
new corps called the Young Guard, and
in time second Young Guard, the first
taking the name Of Middle Guard.
One Of Napoleon's veterans described
the Old Guard in language which,
though howery, as becomes the theme,
comedies with all that has been handed
down regarding this unique corps. He
said: "The soldiers Of the Old Guard
were nearly all old peasants, born be-
fore the repu bile, men 5 feet inches
in height, thin and we'll built, who had
held the plow for convent and chateau.
Afterward they were levied with all
the rest of the people and went to Ger
many, Holland, Italy, Egypt, Poland,
Spain and Russia under Kleber, Hoche
and Marceau first and under Napoleon
afterward. He took special care of them
and paid them literally. They regarded
themselves as the proprietors Of an i'm
mense farm which they must defend
and enlarge more and more. This gain
ed them consideration. They were de-
Tending their own property. They no
longer knew parents, relatives and COM
patriots. They only knew the emperor.
He was their god. And lastly they
adopted the king of Rome, who was to
inherit all with them and to support
and honor them in their old age.
" Nothing like them was ever seen.
They were so accustomed to march, to
dress their lines, to load. and fire and
cross bayonets thatit was done mechan-
1cally in measure whenever there was
necessity. When they advanced carry
ing arms, with their great caps, their
white waistcoats and CATERS, they all
looked just alike. You could plainly
see that it was the right arm of the en-
peror which was coming. When it was
said in the ranks, The guard is going
to move, it was as if they had said,
'The battle is gained.' - 49, 49,
The name of Marshal Bessieres is
linked in glory with that Of the Old
Guard. Bessieres was the companion of
Murat, the country hostler, when he set
out for Paris in search of adventure in
1890. Both enlisted in the Constitution
al Guard, formed to defend the house.
hold Of Louis XVI. Faithful to the
king until the end, Bessieres entered
the republican army as captain and in
Italy won the heart of Napoleon by GAL
lantry in battle. He was given COM
mand of picked body of the Consular
Guard, which always attended Napole-
on in person, and in time rose to the
head Of the Imperial Guard. At Wa
gram Bessieres had his horse killed un-
der him and was thrown with such vio-
lence that he lay on the field as one
dead. Afterward Napoleon said to him:
1.-The ball which struck you down drew
tears from all my guard. Return thanks
for it. It ought to be dearHto you.''
Bessieres led the guard in all it's
fercest battles and was second to none
but Murat in the brilliancy Of charges
in mounted battalions. The night before
the battle Of Borodino Napoleon sent for
Bessieres and ordered him to distribute
from the private imperial stores three
days rations Of biscuit and rice to the
members of the guard :;
The historian Of Napoleon and his
marshals, Headley, says that during the
retreat from Moscow Bessieres, with
the faithful guard, that no disaster
could shake and no losses dishearten,
lowered like a protecting spirit around
Napoleon. Though their thousands had
dwindled to hundreds and tolls that
seemed endless wasted them at every
step, and famine and cold and victori-
GUS enemy thinned their ranks daily,
and the most appalling sights that ever
met the human eye were before them
constantly -dismay and despair on
every side-they, with their worn yet
firm hearted leader, faithful to their
trust, still maintained order and cour-
age. Singing gayly past the batteries
that tore their ranks asunder, standing
in squares around their emperor as he
bivouacked in the snow, and furnishing
him the last fragrant of fuel that could
be gathered, while they one after an
other dropped dead in their footsteps,
they fasten themselves on our affections
and stand to the remotest time as
model of fidelity and firmness. ~
The next year, 1918, Bessieres was
shot dead while calamity accommodating
the position Of the advance guard Of the
allied army on the eve Of the. battle Of
Lutzen. Different commanders thereaft-
-