The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1913-11-19
THE BATTLE OF hANAU'S
CENTENARY.



Napoleon's undaunted and lndom-
liable spirit, his inability To recognize
defeat when IL stared him in the face.
was never better Illustrated than in
the battle on Hanau, fought just n
century ago in the little city in Hesse-
cassel.
Defeated at Leipsic by an over
wheming army of the allies, the Cor
sican was forced To retreat toward
France. At iIanau he found his re-
treat barred by his former marshal
Wrcde, a Ravarian, i'm command of
an army of 10000 Austrians and Ba-
varians. Against this force of fresh
troops Napoleon could oppose only
10000 soldiers. all weak and worn by
their battles and formed marches.
This, then, is the end" said one
Of Napoleon's officers. but the en-
peror only sneered. AS he surveyed
the position of Wrede's forces, he
scOrnfully remarked: ALAS. poor
Wrede! ! made him a count. hut I
could not make him a general"
Like IA thunderboll, Napoleon hurled
his main column against the Bavar-
ian flank. The contest was bloody
ana protraCted, and the French suf-
fered severely, but Wrede was no
match ia strategy for Napoleon.
Wrede, while vainly trying to rally
his troops, was severely wounded. His
army was dispersed and the French
troops regained Mentz fter the VIC
tory. Napoleon declared: II will meet
The king of Bavaria again. He was
little prince whom ] made great. Now
he is a great prince whom ! shall
make little" He was a brave prophet,
the Corsican, and little dreamed that
he was the great prince who was to
be made little. He could not foresee
Flba. and at that time he had no
prescience of St Helena.
Karl Phillip, prince of Wrede who
Napolean a century ago. had been the
emperor's ally in the campaigns
against the Austrians. Prussians and
Russians. After the retreat from Rus
STA, claiming to be offended by some
insult which had been offeerd to him,
but more likely believing that Napo-
leon was near the end of his tether,
Wrede returned To Munish and joined
the anti-French party. He was large
~ instrumental in bringing about the
treaty whereby Bavaria joined the
coalition against France. In suisse
quent petty conflicts he was equally
unsuccessful but he contributed con-
siderably To the successful advance on
Paris. and his services were rewarded
by the dignities of field marshal and
prince.
Two days after Hanau the French
crossed the Rhine. and ten days later
the emperor was in Paris. Even then
he could have compromised by agree
ing to confine his activities to- France
Yet he could not believe that Europe,
so recently PROSTATE beneath his
feet. had power to hold him within
such limits While he dallied. the
English and Spanish armies, headed
by wellington, were on the frontier
Russia, Prussia, bavaria. Sweden and
the smaller German states were
marching armies To the eastern bor
der, and were preparing To cross the
Rhine. The few allies remaining to
France were tickle and not to he
trusted France had been draicad of
all its men by successive levies of
Conscriptions, and the raw material
for armies had been exhausted. Well
might the emperor say. in that crisis:
"All Europe was marching with us "A
year ago, but now all Europe is
marching against u.s."