The Washington herald., 1914-03-08
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fend the narrow path along de noun
famous shores. Apparently he must wait
noisily proclaimed the formation OF the
Army OF Reserve at Dion. obviously for
ffhe purpose Of meeting the invaders in
the Valley Of the Rhone. But the spies
of the enemy and the representatives of
the foreign press. who rushed to Dion.
found only the skeleton Of a military
body there. This exposure of his feeble
resources brought upon Napoleon the de-
risive laughter Of the nations. His boast
ed Army of the Reserve was the butt OF
the earicaturists and the jest of London
The foreign governments. however, did
not know that his extraordinary success
in hastily patching up peace with the
revolted provinces of Western France and
his general pacification of the country had
released, for the first time since the Rev
olution began. all the military forces and
strength of the republic for foreign sery-
ice. He needed no army to defend his
government at home, and even in the gar
risons of Paris he left only 2.3o0 men, a
much smaller force than was employed
to preserve the peace in London itself
While his phantom army at Dion was
contributing to the gayety of nations. a
regiment was quietly forming here bri-
gade there in various parts Of France and
Switzerland. Its own officers had no idea
of its real destination. Even the minister
of war was not in the secret
As those mysterious and fystified
COIn1ldnQS. coming Dy met
on the banks of Lake Geneva at Lau-
same they were amazed to find them
selves an army-the real Army of the Re
serve-under the command of Napoleon
against the Alps at Martigny He was
going to steal up the Alpine wall and
jump down on the unsuspecting AUS
triansi
His Scorn of Difficulties.
Magnificent highways run over the Alps
today and luxurious express trains run
under them-it is hardly more than an
hour from Martigny itself to Italy by the
great Simplon tunnel. But there was not
a wagon track for 1.-THE Path of Ma
poleon." Among the mere foot trails over
the steep passes he chose the steepest of
all, the Great st. Bernard, because it
was the shortest and would take him clos
est to the rear of the Austrians.
AS another youth with the same sad
brow and flashing blue eye, who bore
mid snow and ice a banner with a
strange device, was warned by the pru-
awful avalanche of the st. Bernard. the
army engineers, returning from their in
spection shook their cautious heads at
the young first consul and echoed try
"Dificuit. granted" he replied to the
engineers: but is it possible?' They ad-
mite! mitted the possibility. Then let US
But no doubt he had his secret watch
word-"Empirer'
If Charlemagne had led an army over
the St. Bernard 1000 years before and
Hannibal had crossed the Alps 1900 years
before with troops reared beneath a
tropic sun and encumbered with a train
of elephants, why should Napoleon be
daunted? IAN, army can pass at all
times, he said, wherever two men ca
set their feet"
How He Provided.
For nearly a week he sent his army
out of Martigny, a division a day, to
scale the 6,60o-foot wall that towers above
the town and from its top to let them
Aosta on the other side. For two months
he had been considering the providing for
the march. He had collected all the nee
essary supplies as secretly as he had as
sembled the army itself.
His troops marching, In a few hours
from the warm sunshine OF the lowlands
into the ice and snow Of the sunless
gorges might succumb to the change and
the cold; he had laid in an immense
stock Of clothing and shoes, and he saw saw
and shod. AS the day grew warmer
and the snow began to melt, the perils
from avalanches would increase: he or
dered each division to be at the foot of
2 o'clock in the morning, thus making
the most dangerous part OF the passage
in the night. To fortify the weaker for
the crossing and to resuscltate them At
the end of their arduous tramp, he set
up hospitals on either side Of the noun
an almost barren region, soon left all
vegetation behind; he arranged for the
army to carry every morsel or food and
forage for men and beasts. There was
the back of each man.