The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-04-02
NAPOLEON |. INTERVIEWED.
HIS OTN ACCOUNT OF THE RETURN
FROM ELLA TO FRINGE.

In Twenty Days n Handful of Soldiers Be-
came an Army-And the Bourbons Ran
Away-A Marvellous March-GourEaud's
Memoirs and Their Revelations.
The journal Inedit" Of Gen. Gourgaud. who
was for three years n companion in exile OF
Napoleon at st. Helena. has Just been pub
lished in Paris. 1t is n record OF curious con-
versations with the great General. presented
in the style OF an accomplished interviewer.
Among them the most important. perhaps.
from a revolutionary and historical point OF
view. Is the Return from Elba." given as fol-
lows. In the ex-Emperor's own words as closely
as the memory. and possibly the notes. Of
Gourgaud could follow them:
AT O'Clock we arrived at the Gulf OF Juan.
Immediately after landing 1 placed ~outposts on
the roads to stop all communications. and l
sent twenty-five men as a detachment toward
Antilles. A great crowdo OF people surrounded
us. astonished at our arrival and our small
force. A Mayor. among others. noticing the
weakness Of my men. said to me. We were be-
ginning to become happy and tranquil. and
now you are going to bring trouble upon u.s.
I could not tell how his expression wounded
my feelings.
soon a courier OF the Prince OF Monaco. In a
bright uniform. came to me. He had formerly
been in Paris. attached to the equipage OF the
Empress. He recognized me-. l asked him
what was the news. He told me that the
troops aud the people were for me. and that
from Paris to Montelimart they shouted vive
rEmpereurl' but, on the other hand. Provence
was not so we'll disposed. The details that he
gave relieved our minds OF the disappointment
which was caused by our failure at Antilles.
Soon the Prince OF Monaco himself came. He
had been somewhat roughly treated by Cam
bronze. l paciled him. telling him that he
might return to his principally after my de-
parture. He said that he doubted the success
ofmy enterprise. considering my small follow
ing. He was speaking according to the salons:
his courier according to the people,
AT the rising OF the moon l set out. thor
oughly approaching the Importance OF march
ing with celebrity. Nobody. not even Bertrand.
knew the route that l wanted to take. At the
moment OF my departure there was some MUIR
muring because l did not march upon Antilles
' to get back my twenty-five men. A few shells.
they said. would be sufficient for that. I calcu-
lated that 1t would take at least two hours to
reach Antilles and two hours to come back. and
at least three or four hours before the town.
and consequently that 1t would be half a day
lost. II I succeeded it would not amount
to much. and IL I failed. which was
probable. the first check would give confidence
to my enemies and also give them time to or
ganize. My plan was to reach Grenoble. the
centre OF the provin ce. where there was a large
garrison. an arsenal and artillery: in fact. all
sorts of military means. The success Of my
enterprise consisted, therefore. in capturing
rapidly Grenoble, winning over the troops. and.
above all things. in not losing any time.
Il organized an advance guard of 100 men
commanded by Cambronne. and when l
reached the crossroads leading to AviRnon and
Grassc. l gave the order. To the right and
only then l revealed my project to march upon
Grenoble. i did not want to rest in Grasse,
which had n Dnpulntinn NJ 10 0ln 60 7 boItnl
my troops on a height beyond it. to give them
time to breakfast. A few former terrorists pro-
posed to me to revolutionize Grasse. l told
them not to bulge. and oven to pay no atten-
ton to the wearers Of white cockades, telling
them that for fifty millions they would not dare
AT Diene the people manifested more JOY
to meet MS. had left at Grasse my two pieces
Of cannon and my carriage. after having given
arsenal Of Antilles. i had also left 1900 guns.
Of which ] had no need. Everywhere the
ttap' I was surrounded. by a great multitude
Wssrs as ! i G,S9 a eirefa Of s tSe T1 I'll eyIe,yb2Tdhy c
The MOBILES. they said: And they wanted e
Of the villages. and, told their fellow citizens
that | was surely Bonararte, The peasants
with my etigy ana or ed out. Yes. it's he. sure
.nouGhr All assured us that the people, and
were detested. We encountered no troops, I'VE
found SistGron evacuated; IGverdo brought
this country. was in hiding. Our imaginations
We're Sc, to work. bnt everybody, down to the
the cause Of the French nation.
vo W. mars marSh ned VIII iIbf great rapi d x. The a ,hc
!, sPmy toIIowe T"I a fIfn the le2 rear guard IN 1de was ,ssa' tive sse
leagues behind with the, treasure. The gen
darmes that we mes sold US their horses toi
found Camhronne. who told me that he was
-, fTH ittSSt to sed TSIriA him Sei sSS g told Ept1 him on t6 of 'h ht
; should have gone boldly into the town. The
!, peasants assured US that the soldiers wonlt
; Fifth would not allow the bearers Of The flag o
truce to approach them. I turned them witt
. vance "a guard. In this way / reached the g" troop "q,
esat tha na dtd not qsa e1bGi2Sra axe us moH HeT h m n1,insr be {,
, command wanted them to fire upon us. Blu
tn. soldiers had not loaded their guns.
on n,i e IN oSman thH Il 6 Sat was s9il pn fait fsEfd Ii 4,
> told me that uI to that moment he believed h
!; TISHMs % a9ln Ms al hlG h dnsy; but IN 5sa ATM n1T Si he m TSn, sw fol,
MatrScHand's aldes,de.camr wanted to open aF'
ana a large body Of cavalry. scsos,ed seysra
i iP@ts their guns, made then ,T,ebonnd; an'
> chief Of the artillery battalion. Rey. who relieve,
= our minus coUlVletsly. ITO WAS very tntnu
y siastic and assured us that we could driv
= away with whips any force that might be sen
y against us. and that the garrison Of Grenobl
: was for us. We were preceded and followed b
i thousands OF peasants. who were delighted
S SDan whG sr Farth Les on BoI Xd;n,sn TF de- soT IA &c E%do
y yGre. and finally the Seventh OF the line. loine
+ us. After that there was no more doubt il
I my mind as to the success OF the enterprise.
= I'VE arrived before Grenoble at 10 o'clock il
: the evening. We found the gates shut and tn
y Vre rEmpereu~F But nevertheless the
wouldn't open the gates. assuring US that tina
q roll Of the drums. after which | told the sol
diers that Gen. .Marohand was dismissed
y They said, II he IL dismissed. that alters IN
case and they opened the gates. asked tn
Colonel who defended the gates why he ha
not opened them sooner. He replied that h
had given. his word OF honor to Marchand t
give him time to escape with the troops tina
he was able to take with him.
= From Cannes to Grenoble / was an adven
" turer. In the latter town l became a sovereig
once more. l received an aide-de-camp froI
KraYer. st. Eon. who gave me fun details In re