davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-04-11

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The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-09-27
Napoleons Plan of Defense

The allies concentrated behind the Rhine
III early December for an immediate in
yeson of France. They had enrolled $780,
900 Russians and 250009 Austrians 100 600
PrGssians and 100000 Germans from other
states. which, with 1000 Swedes enabled
them to count upon a grand total of SOC, 900
troops They did not choose to wait, how
ever. to assemble those great masses, but
determined to open a winter campaign
with 100000 men, while the Emperor yet
had no more than $1,000 troops at the
French border.
With the exception of Switzerland there
We're then no neutral, buffer states be-
tween Germany and France. for Holland
and Belgium had been swallowed up in the
empire. whose frontier included not only
everything on the left bank of the Rhine
but also ran beyond the Elbe.
Lying on his maps in the Tuileries,
Napoleon studied the problem of defend
ing the French frontier The allies he
calculated, would com Elm three armies
Bulow would attempt to march through
Holland and Belgium, but he would OPP
pose him by concentrating at Antwerp
ana marching against his communica-
tons. THE enemy he instructed his
general in command in the Netherlands
viii never throw himself on Belgium so
long as you can place yourself between
him and Breda and can march on Cor
KUN"
A second army under Butcher might
come through Luxembourg, moving on the
River Meues. If so, Macdonald should
menace him from Liege and Charleroi,
defend those towns ana the river and foli-
low the right flank of the invading corps,
thus covering the debouches OF Paris,
WI lille Marmont should maneuver between
Thionville, Marsal and Metz, observing
and, If possible, containing the invader.
But If driven over the Moselle he should
throw di sion in the fortress of Metz
and anticipate Butcher on the high road TO
Paris. II. on the other hand, E.ucher
turned by the lower Mouse to threaten
Belgium, Macdonald should defend the
river, while Marmont should follow the
left flank of the enemy and do him the
utmost harm possible"
The third, or more properly, the main
allied army under Schwarzenberg, would
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-09-27
NAPOLEON -EIA5E2A CLlVo5 ms BOY
<0J2 The L11SZ TINE

You'd the Pyrennes, the Alps and the
Rhine. Spain and Germany had driA on
him out. The Austrians had invaded ltaly
and We're hastily snatcnng from him the
first of his fruits OF victory. while hem
ming in has viceroy Il, Milan. But ad-
Verslty only strengthened the feaits Of
Josepnine's son. who replied, when tho
King OF Bavaria limited at has forsakins
the Emperor and protecting himself, than
he was sure his royal father-,n-iay
would always prefer to find his son-in-
law private ciuzen but an honest man
rather than a King and a traitor"
Eugene's loyalty, however, could not
preserve Tor Napoleon the iron crown Of
the Lonbeards, while Murat's childish an |
futile perhdy was fast losing the rest
of the Italian peninsula. The King of
Naples, vainly STRIVING to save his royal
house of cards from the impending crash
of allying himself with the enemy. seized
Rome and marched northward, and Nap1-
leon. who had counted ON Having the
French soldiers in Italy join MIN III de-
Tense of France, had to march them
against his foolish and ungrateful orot,i-
er-ln-law.
The deserton of his old comrade in
arms, whom he had found in tavern
stable and had made King, was II
painful thrust, but the treachery of his
OWN SISTER, queen tafOllne, was the most
unlIindest cut of all. The conduct of
Murat, he said, lis infamous, but the
conduct of the Queen has no name.
Still another blow was dealt him Ia his
extremity by the hand of another of his
old marshals, when Bernadotte took from
him the last of his allies. The Crown
Prince of Sweden forehanded in picking
up the wrechage, moved upon Denmark.
which was compelled to renounce its alli-
ance with France and cede Norway to
Sweden and Heligoland to England
The i'll wind that was driving the EN-
pire on the rocks, however, blew open
the prison door of Pope Plus VII Napo-
leon no sooner saw Rome in the hands
OF Murat than he started the prisoner of
Fontanebleau on his homeward journey
to the Eternal City, that he might hirat
on that place like clap of thur lie -
Another prisoner also profited by the
misfortunes of the empire. Ferdinand be-
ing liberated from his captivity of I.earlv
six years TO return to Spain and lain
his crown. Thus Napoleon threw over
the ballast from his sinking ship, but too
late to keep it afloat.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-09-27
TRACING THE OIEEP1VG ElsnoER0eS JlzHo16771
az THE WALL 0F-A CO1~,Z22f ZAHESN-
5x6EZkdIe;E

VAS particularly anxious to take Ant
werp from Napoleon, as he had forth
fled that port until, as he boosted it
was a loaded pistol held at the head
of England The Gar, implacable as
The English, was eager to enter Paris
and destroy the Bonapart throne. But
tue Austrians, having already fetalken
virtually everything he had captured
from them. We're less eager for the
pursuit.
ss4ln allied Europe only five or six
marches from Paris, Napoleon, never
taeless. could not bend his pride and
bring himself to accept any bounds to
his sovereignty. Like a high powered
locomotive descending from great
height at top speed he could not stop
until he was thrown and ditched. Ills
fan must equal his rise his misfortunes
must be in proportion to his fortunes.
Again he blew on the ashes of the
burned out patriotism of France. He
sought to stir the passions of the people
with stories of the faVages which the
invaders were committing, although
even the savage CossaclSs We're hardly
outdoing the veterans whom he had led
through conquered lands. SO green
were the alien pillagers that they mis-
took their liquid loot for beer until the
sparkling vintage of Champagne went
TO their headS ana tnelr rect ulu All put
demoralized the allied army.
Paris was ouaking with fear as 1t saw
two armies only a few days removed
from its unprotected gates. That wanton
metropolis of folly had even. been brought
to its knees in prayer, which Napoleon
recognized as the sign that it had reached
the last stage OF desperation. Are the
people of Paris going crazy?' he dem>nd-
ed. stop those prayers of 40 hours and
those Misereres, he commanded King
Joseph, 1t was not for one who believed
God was always on the side of the heav-
lest battalions to seek divine aid for the
outnumbered legions of the empire.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-09-27


10 ilhlsn ms meal, ana was fortunate
TO De apie TO make MS escape by back
way ne rallleo MS forces out on the
shoN-eoVered heids ana plazed at the
town uh1ii mldmght, but the sehoolboy
OIL Brlenne mad come INTO his own and
held IT, seated in the chateau he heard
sgaln the never forgotten tones of the
Del In the Old church tower at the foot
OF the hill, and once more he slept in
the bed ever after cherished by the
counts of Brienne. which he had first
occupied when he came 10 years before
TO let the villagers see the crown the
little Corsican had won.
But that crown, beside which all other
crowns had paled and before which the
nations mad bowed in subsection, that
crown which millions of bayonets had
guarded, could now command no more
than 100000 ill-armed, ill-clad, ill-fed and
lll-trained defenders against the over
whelmins hosts of the Romanoffs, the
Hapsburgs and the Hohenzollerns, band
ed together to snatch it from his brow
Butcher was determined to retake
Br1enne and on the third day he re-
turned to the attack, when Napoleon
went forth to meet him about the viii
lage OF La Rotherie, which lies across
the priarie in view of the old belfry. AL
though he soon discovered that the
marshal was now in touch with the
army of the sovereigns and that he
was facing $4,000 men with only 10000
a stubborn. all-day fight. 1t was an
other snow battle. for the combat was
waged in the midst of a cold and heavy
snowstorm: but unlike the memorable
snow battle in the schoolyard, an En-
pire was The prize at stake now.
And Napoleon lost. After sacrificing
a full tenth of his little army, he re-
treated under cover of darkness to
another night in the chateau. But il
was night filled with alarms, and at
in the morning he hurriedly rode away
from Brienne forever to fall back
across one more river in retreat
which really began at Moscow.
Racing to His Fall
Hastily crossing the Aube, he ran
into Troyes. that picturesque old town
of narrow. winding streets and timber
houses. There, in the ancient capital
of Champagne, he stood by the shore
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-09-27

boy in his arms and looked into his blue
eyes for the last time. For the last time,
too, he folded Marie Louise in his embrace
as he was departing at 3 O'Clock on a
dreary January morning to hattie with
her father
Back at Brienne
Although he had been going away to
the wars for full score of years, he
never before had gone ON such an expe-
dition as lay ahead of him now. In other
campaigns he had scared over the Alps
and the Pyrenees. or sped across the
Frussian, Polish and Russian plains to
fight his foes. on their own ground. Now
he must meet them on the soil of France
with his back against the wall of Paris
Only Is months had passed since he
stood ON the banks of the Moslova but
neither the Pc nor the Niemen, neither
the Danube nor the Vistua, neither the
Oder nor the Elbe, nor yet the Rhine
formed now his first line of defense He
had been driven back i'm a year from the
rivers of Muscovy to the rivers of Gaul
and must fight for his throne on the
banks of the Seine itself
And It was in the very schoolyard of
his youth at Bfienne that he fought the
first battle for his crown
The drama OF this mans life was
highly theatrical from prologue TO cpl
when the curtain rose upon him stand
ing at bay amid the charred ruins Of
Brienne. Driven from Cairo and Mos
cow, Rome and Vienna, Madrid and Ber-
lin. hunted out to Egypt and Syria and
Russia, Spain and Austria and Poland.
Italy and Germany and Holland, chased
from river to river across the face Of
Europe, he took refuge In the village of
his boyhood days, and from behind It's
garden walls he turned upon the aveng
ing nations Russian Cossacks and Prus-
sian Uhlans, the soldiers of all the lands
which his legions had overrun We're upon
him, and village lanes resounded with
the yells of the eager pack.
Some Uhlans almost rode him down
in a neighboring town and had nearly
surrounded him when a French brigade
came up just in time to cut him out.
After they were beaten off he saw the
priest of the place,s standing by the
roadside, and recognizing him as one of
his teachers in the friars school, he ex-
claimed:
what 1t is you. my dear MASTER.
7 don't need to ask if you know this
neighborhood The father assured
him. sire, / could find my way every
where blindfolded." Roustan thereupon
was ordered to dismount and give his
horse to the clerical guide, who led
the way toward Brienne.
1T was dusk when Napoleon approached
the town. riding beside his old teacher.
Blucher had occupied the place and his
troops We're settling themselves for the
night The general himself was eating
his supper in the big chateau when
hail of shots suddenly descended and the
French cavalry dashed up to the front
gate.
The old Prussian marshal did not stop
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-09-27
Gold Rut No Man

With the armies of 80 nations at his
frontier and Il British army under
Wellington actually ON the soil of
southern France, he found his treasury
his arsenals and his barracks empty.
All the hundreds of Millions of dollars
winch he had collected in tribute from
conquered states We're swallowed up in
the disasters in Spain, Russia and Ger
many. For he had supported his armies
almost entirely from ievies on other
countries.
He had not only made war support
war" as he said, but he also expected
The strietest honesty and economy
throughout the civil administrations
Thus in the midst of endless wars the
total cost of his government to the
french people who numbered 80, 100000
never rose much above 100000. 900 a
Year. And his finances were as simple
as they We're successful While the
wars We're loading down England and
all the other governments with enor-
nous debts, he pursued, like the pru-
aent administrator of a little town,
The pay as you go policy, and refused
10 contract national debt
Nor did he spend all he took in. on
The contrary in the splendor of imper-
1al power, he never lost the homely
virute of thrift, and every year he laid
bN against rainy day nearly $4,000 600
Those savings from the annual appro-
Iriation for himself. his family and his
palaces, he boarded under the Tuileries
and now that the rainy day had come
he went down ito the cellar and took
the money for his campaign.
But alas. He had not saved any of
the human millions whom the people
had intrusted to him. Had he been as
1iarsimonious with blood as with gold
It would have served him In good stead
now. Almost all the arm bearing popu-
h11
Tor five years he had been running
into debt and drawing the conscvripts
TO his colors year and two years be-
fore the appointed time. He had not
been so improvident as not to leave
enough of the human crop for seed
For two decades the most stalwart
candidates for paternity had been car
ried OF to die in the wars or drag them
selves home physical wrecks. And the
effect OF that awful waste was already
making itself painfully apparent in the
aeclining birth rate of France.
Hard as it was to gather even a few
Thousand men and boys of all ages and
all sizes, it was harder still to find
].orses for them to rideu and good
onlskets TO put in their unframed
hands But old muskets and hunting
pieces were made to serve. Even pixies
were collected and distributed among
the peasants of the border as better
NeapoHs IMAM scy ines. supplies OF unl-
forms and shoes being scant. many
conscripts We're sent to the front with
out cartridge boxes and in their blue
blouses, round hats and sabots.
There were virtually no forts. for
Napoleon had been the destroyer not
the builder of citadels. which he had
captured only to dismantle. He had
conquered Europe in open fields and
generally had disdained even to throw
mp breastworks. His only castle had
been his bayonets and his batteries
while his frontier had been as far from
The boundaries of France as the Vistula
and the Tiber.
c:-I....- CHI.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-09-27
The Wife and Child

Realizing the desperate chances of his
situation, he again invested Marie Lou
Use with the regency. and chose Joseph
Bonaparte, the dethroned King of Spain,
as her chief adviser. Assembling the Of
hcers or the National Guard. that Paris-
Ian militia which so often march across
the pages OF revolutionary history. in the
great hall where he had sssan Louis XVI
compelled to put on the red cap of lib
erty nearly % years before he held his
last levee with the Empress to which
the eourticrs all came, hiding their fears
pehlnd their smiles or their treacheries
behind their fawnings.
When the Emperor entered the salon
the Empress was with him, and between,
then was the King of Rome, his yellow
curls 1ailing over the shoulders of the
piue coat of his uniform of the National
Guard, That simple pictpe of the father
and mother and son touched the, hea IF
and kindled a devotion beyond any words
however eloquent.
After the three had walked directly 20
the large group of officers the Emperor
said to them: Gentlemen. I am about to
go to the army, but intrust to Won what
] hold dearest In the world--rny wife and
son. Let there be no political divisions ;,
Then he took his son in his arms and
carried him among the officers and court
iers. who cheered and wept while thew
pledged their lives for the protection of
the Empress ard the King of Rome
In few hours more Napoleon held his
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-09-27
The Little Corporal Again

Two days after his arrival in Troyes,
the Emperor rose from his maps and
exclaimed: Il am going to beat Blucheri9
Starting at once on a swift cross-country
march, he ordered the detachment re-
naming behind at Troyes to maintain a
noisy show of aggressiveness toward
Schwarzenberg. shout 'Vive lEmpreur
and make that cautious commander feel
that hess still had Napoleon in front of
lim.
While both Schwarzenbers and Butcher
supposed him stiii at Troves, while the
former was slowly maneuveIing with
extreme prudence and the latter was flat
tering himself he had stolen march on
the great captain, he fell like cloudiess
thunderbolt upon the carelsssly strung-out
column of Butcher For one swift week
the Emperor was again the Little Corporal
Of Montenotte, of Lodi, of Castglione
and of Rivoli. Catching up some veteran
dragons of the Spanish campaign, who
had galloped across France without un-
bridling' he drove them on without CIV
ing them breathing time. He marched
his conscripts all night and kept them
lighting all day. and like a whirlwind
tore through wondering villages. where ne
never before had been seen. Loading his
infantry into the carts of the peasantry,
he carried his little band over sushy
roads 90 miles in SO hours. His appearance
thrilled alike the populace and the troops,
and We are told that under the inspira-
ton OF his presence the cavalry attacks
were fiercer,' and that even the fire
OF the cannon was heavier"
First striking one of Butchers divisions
at ChamDaubert. only 1900 of its 5000 men
escaped him. Next he fought what is
called the battle of Montnirail and routed
two other divisions while he pounced
upon The marshal himself the following
day and hurled him from Chateau Ihierry.
in four whirling days his 10000 men
smashed to pieces an army of more than
$4,000 when its van was within 90 or 60
miles of Paris. Butcher found himself
driven back IN disorder to Chalons sur
Marine, more than 100 miles from his goal,
and with a loss of nearly 10000 men.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-09-27
A Second Army Whipped

Schwarzenoerg recoiled from the dis
aster as if, he himself had received the
blow. Drawing back from his march on
Paris, he hastily started more than a
third of the army of the sovereigns to-
ward Switzerland to protect his communi-
cations.
Turning in a flash from Butcher. Napol-
con smote and paralyzed the left wing of
the army of the sovereigns when it was
only IL miles or days march from Fon-
tainebleau Throwing himself upon it at
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-09-27

WV .munition, without money and
ssss--zzss--sss,.f without forts and without men,
tzzssz&Ng Napoleon, in the opening
weeks of the year 1874, turned
al bay to face world in arms and de-
fend France and his crown against a
mighty host OF Germans, Russians and
Austrians swarming on the banks of
the Rhine.
lie had lost two great armies in a
year and half and now France herself
lay bleeding exhausted and Respondent
For y years she had been giving her
sons to war and greving over her UNI
returning brave, sunk to rest unknelled
and uncoffined beneath the palm and
the pine, until their unburied bones half
eneifcled the earth, from the swamps
of Santo Domingo to the mountains of
Galilee, from the salt mounds of Cadiz
to the melancholy wastes of Russia. Year
after year she had gathered her. martial
brood and buried army after army at
the walls OF her foes But now, when
her own gates We're assailed. they were
without defenders.
The Emperor called upon the nation
to rise and repe the invader from the
lfohtief which no foe had passed in the
- years since he trained his cannon on
the British in the harbor of To-
But the France that had risen in her
wonderful strength the last time a Ger
man had dared cross the Thine was the
France of the Revolution, which Napo-
icon himself had slain on the steps of
st. Roch and in the Orangery at St
Cloud. we must pull on the boots of
1893, he cried. But the spirit of 80 was
dead and even he could not call it
back nor command the French denoe-
lacy TO rise from its grave beneath the
Wreekase OF his empire ard his despot-
ism.
The nation had been reduced to one
man and he alone remained to face
allied Europe How he was over
whelmed, it is easy enough to imagine.
but how he breasted the tide week after
week and beat it back time and again
ever remains an amazing chapter in his
tory.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-09-27
At the Frontier


trary to Napoleons forecast, the Dutch
people rose to welcome him and he had
no difficulty in going where he pleased
Butcher came down the Moselle, but in
stead of crossing Belgium. he advanced
through Lorraine, drove Victor from
Nancy and easily captured Toul
The main army, under Schwarzenberg,
and accompanied by the Gar, the Eii-
perols of Austria and the King of Pruss'a.
dld not scruple to ignore Swiss neutral
ity, and, crossing the Rhine between
Basic and Schaffhausen. it assembled at
Solothurn, on the soil of Switzerland Il
lad protected its crossing and advance Ky
sendlng out small bodies Il week and 70
days before, to invest the more strongly
fortified places, such as Strasburg. Hunin-
sen, Belfort, Breisach and Schlett stadt
while minor fortresses, like Blamont and
Landskrom, Were seized. But no slne "
blood was wasted in assaulting steonG-
holds, the allies being content to TASK
them and leave before each just enough
watehdogs to shut in the garrisons.
Nevertheless this duty required SO
many troops and so wide dispersal that
the army of the .sovereigns was extended
over front of almost 200 miles when il
moved into France, early in January. But
It's advance, in overwhelming numbers,
was military promenade. The French
i'eipiessly iell Dack from town TO town
and from river to river. while the iiYad-
ing forces swept forward until they stood
at the borders of Burgundy and CHAM
payne where they looked down the val
ieys of the Seine and the Marine toward
Paris
Thus the Cossacks were in the heart of
eastern France before Napoleon could
piece together the semblance of an army
O fdefense He did not leave Paris, indeed
until nearly month had passed since the
allies first crossed his frontier.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-09-27
With His Back TO The Wall of Paris

~ I'M atts DdNk W Tue NdH vi IaI1S
Dates and EVonts-Ase a.
November q. 1813-Napoleun returned to
Paris from his defeat at Leipsic
December H. 1Si3-Released and recog-
nized King Ferdinand of Spain.
December 20, 19l3-Army of the SOW
ereigns crossed the Rhine.
January !. 1S14-Blucher's army crossed.
January Il, 1Sl4-Murat allied himself
with Austria.
January a. 1S1i-Napoleon lost his last
ally-Denmark.
January n 2i. 1914-Napoeon released
Pope Pfus VII.
January &c, lSll-Napoleon left for the
front.
January %, 1Sl4-Won battle of Brienne.
February 1, lS14-Lost battle of La Ro-
There
February 10 1slt-won battle of Cham
paubert.
February Ii, 1sii-won battle of Mont
mirail
February a. 1s1i-Won battle of Nom
tereau.
February "a, 1sl4--Refused to grant arm
stice.
March I, 1sl4-Won battle of Craone
March 20, 1s14-Narrowy escaped at Ar
els sur Aube
March % 1sl4-started toward the Rhine.
March q, 1S1l-Allies started for Paris.
March IS, 1Sl4-Napoleon began his race
TO Paris.
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-09-27

The Sinking Ship
But he no longer held anything be-
The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-09-27

THoUT arms and without am
munition, without money and
without forts and without men,
Napoleon, in the opening