Life of Napoleon Bonaparte. Volume II

The minister, who went regularly at five o'clock in the morning to the office of the war-department, where he had to repair heavy disasters, recruit the army, put a stop to dilapidations, organise two hundred battalions of a thousand men each, bring back to their corps 80,000 men, who had, in the course of a few years, absented themselves without permission, and accomplish an extraordinary levy of 40,000 horse, did not return to his house, in the rue Cisalpine, till between five and six in the evening. Joseph and his wife were almost always there. Joseph sometimes turned the conversation on the incapacity of the Directory, the difficulty of things remaining as they were, and the necessity of new-modelling the administration.

Bernadotte, on the contrary, thought that if the five directors were reduced to three, one of whom should go out of office every three years, the constitution would go on very well. He found in that form of government the creation of a patrician order exclusively charged with the government of the state. The Roman republic was his model, and he saw in the constitution of the year four a great analogy to the consular privileges and the rights of senators. By the 135th article of that constitution, no one could aspire to become a Director, without having been first a member of one of the two councils, a minister of state, &c. As that condition was already fulfilled in his case, it was natural that he should incline towards the preservation of a form of government which placed him on an equality with kings, and gave him the hopes of seeing many kings tributary to, or at least protected by, the Republic. These discussions sometimes became rather unreserved, and it was at such a time that Joseph intimated to Bernadotte, in a sort of half-confidence, the possibility of his brother's speedy return. The minister had sufficient presence of mind to conceal his indignation; but his surprise was so visible that Joseph was alarmed by it. He endeavoured to diminish the impression which his communication had produced. He said, "That what he had advanced was merely a simple conjecture on his part, which might become a probability – perhaps, even (added he) a reality; for he has conquered Egypt – his business is at an end – he has nothing more to do in that quarter." – "Conquered!" replied Bernadotte – "Say rather, invaded. This conquest, if you will call it so, is far from being secure. It has given new life to the coalition, which was extinct; it has given us all Europe for our enemies; and rendered the very existence of the Republic doubtful. Besides, your brother has no authority to quit the army. He knows the military laws, and I do not think that he would be inclined, or would dare, to render himself liable to punishment under them. Such a desertion would be too serious a matter; and he is too well aware of its consequences." Joseph went away a few moments afterwards; and this conversation having proved to him that Bernadotte did not concur in his opinions, it became an object to produce a breach between him (Bernadotte) and Siêyes.

Bernadotte retired from the ministry, and Buonaparte arrived about three weeks afterwards. Not being able to doubt that the Directors themselves were either dupes of Buonaparte's ambition, or his accomplices, and that they were meditating with him the overthrow of the established order of things, General Bernadotte persevered in offering his counsels and services to those members of the government, or of the Legislative Body, who might have opposed those designs. But the factions and the intriguing went on at a more rapid pace; and every day Buonaparte increased his party by the accession of some distinguished personage.

On the 16th Brumaire, at five o'clock, Bernadotte went to General Buonaparte's where he was invited to dinner. General Jourdan was of the party. He arrived after they had sat down to table. The conversation was entirely on military subjects; and Bernadotte undertook to refute the maxims which Buonaparte was laying down relative to the system of war by invasion. Bernadotte concluded nearly in these words: – "There is more trouble in preserving than in invading;" alluding to the conquest of Egypt. The company rose and went to the drawing-room. Immediately afterwards there arrived several very distinguished members of the council, and a good many men of letters; Volney and Talleyrand were of the number. The conversation was general, and turned on the affairs of the west of France. Buonaparte, raising his voice a little, and addressing somebody near him, said – "Ah! you see a Chouan in General Bernadotte." The general, in answering him, could not refrain from smiling. "Don't contradict yourself," said he; "it was but the other day that you complained of my favouring the inconvenient enthusiasm of the friends of the Republic, and now you tell me that I protect the Chouans. This is very inconsistent." The company continued to increase every minute; and, the apartments not being very spacious, Bernadotte went away.

Many persons have thought that the answers given by Bernadotte to Buonaparte on this occasion, had retarded for twenty-four hours the movement which had been prepared. Others, on the contrary, have alleged that, the 17th being a Friday, Buonaparte, naturally superstitious, had deferred the execution of the project till the 18th.

On the 17th Brumaire, between eleven and twelve at night, Joseph Buonaparte, returning to his house in the rue du Rocher by the way of the rue Cisalpine, called at the house of Bernadotte. He, being in bed, sent to request Joseph to return next day. He did so before seven o'clock in the morning of the 18th. He told Bernadotte that his brother desired to speak with him; that the measures to be taken had been discussed the evening before, and that they wished to inform him of them. They both went immediately to Buonaparte's house in the rue de la Victoire. The court, the vestibule, and the apartments, were filled with generals and officers of rank. Many of the officers had the air of persons in a state of excitation from wine. Bernadotte was shown into a small room; Joseph did not go in. Buonaparte was sitting at breakfast with one of his aides-de-camp, who, as far as can be remembered, was Lemmarois. General Lefebvre, afterwards Duke of Dantzic, then commanding the 17th military division, of which Paris was the headquarters, was standing. Bernadotte, seeing him in that attitude, did not doubt that he was detained a prisoner. He immediately took a chair, sat down, and made a sign to Lefebvre to do the same. Lefebvre hesitated, but a glance from Buonaparte reassured him. He sat down respectfully, looking at Buonaparte. The latter, addressing himself to Bernadotte, said, with embarrassment, – "Why, you are not in uniform!" On Bernadotte answering – "I am not on duty," Buonaparte replied – "You shall be immediately." – "I do not think so," said Bernadotte. Buonaparte rose, took Bernadotte by the hand, and carried him into an adjoining room. "This Directory governs ill," said he; "it would destroy the Republic if we did not take care. The Council of Ancients has named me commandant of Paris, of the national guard, and of all the troops in the division. Go and put on your uniform, and join me at the Tuileries, where I am now going."

Bernadotte having declined doing this, Buonaparte said – "I see you think you can count upon Moreau, Bournonville, and other generals. You will see them all come to me – Moreau himself;" and, speaking very fast, he named about thirty members of the Council of Ancients, whom Bernadotte had believed to be the greatest friends of the constitution of the year IV. "You don't know mankind," added he; "they promise much, and perform little."

Bernadotte having declared that he did not choose to be involved in a rebellion of this kind, nor to overturn a constitution which had cost the lives of a million of men, – "Well," said Buonaparte, "you will stay till I receive the decree of the Council of Ancients; for till then I am nothing." Bernadotte, raising his voice, said – "I am a man whom you may put to death, but whom you shall not detain against his will." – "Well, then!" said Buonaparte, softening his voice, "give me your word that you will do nothing against me." – "Yes, as a citizen; but if I am called upon by the Directory, or if the Legislative Body gives me the command of its guard, I shall oppose you, and you shall not have the upper hand." – "What do you mean by as a citizen?" – "I will not go to the barracks, nor places of public resort, to inflame the minds of the soldiers and the people."

"I am quite easy," answered Buonaparte; "I have taken my measures; you will receive no appointment; they are more afraid of your ambition than of mine. I wish merely to save the Republic; I want nothing for myself; I shall retire to Malmaison, after having brought about me a circle of friends. If you wish to be of the number, you shall be made very welcome." Bernadotte said in reply, as he was going away – "As to your being a good friend, that may be; but I am convinced that you will always be the worst of masters."

Bernadotte left the room; Buonaparte followed him into the lobby, and said to Joseph with an agitated voice – "Follow him." Bernadotte passed through a crowd of generals, officers of rank, and soldiers, who filled the court of the house, and a part of the street, making some impression upon them by his looks, which expressed his disapprobation of their conduct. Joseph followed Bernadotte, and came up to him in the court of the house. He asked him to go to his house, in the rue du Rocher, where he had assembled several members of the Legislative Body. When he arrived at Joseph's, he found a dozen of persons, among whom were several deputies devoted to Buonaparte, and particularly Salicetti. Breakfast was served. During the few moments they remained at table, they spoke of the resolutions which would be taken, and Joseph repeated that his brother wished for nothing but the consolidation of freedom, that he might then have it in his power to live like a philosopher at Malmaison.

Bernadotte went to the garden of the Tuileries, and passed along the front of the 79th demi-brigade. The officers having recognised him, though not in uniform, came up to him, and asked him for information as to what was going to happen. Bernadotte answered in general terms, expressing his wish that the public tranquillity might not be endangered by the movement about to take place. The soldiers, having in their turn recognised the general who had commanded them at the siege and taking of Maestricht, loudly expressed their astonishment at his not being along with the generals, who, said they, were then deciding, in the palace, the fate of France.

Bernadotte having observed what he might expect, in case of need, from this corps, and from some detachments before whom he had presented himself on the Boulevard and on the Pont de la Révolution, went to General Jourdan's, presuming that the Directory would send for him to take care of the safety of the government. He found at Jourdan's a good many members of the Council of Five Hundred, among others Augereau, afterwards Duke of Castiglione. He had scarcely arrived, when a great number of the members came to announce the communication of the decree of the Council of Ancients, which, in virtue of the 102d article of the Constitution, transferred the sitting of the Legislative Body to St. Cloud.

Bernadotte, on his return home, learned from his wife that the Adjutant-General Rapatel, attached to General Moreau's staff, had just been there, and that he had been sent by Buonaparte and Moreau, to persuade him to join them at the Tuileries. Buonaparte had said to him – "You have served under General Bernadotte. I know that he has confidence in you. Tell him that all his friends are assembled at the Tuileries, and that they are desirous of seeing him among them; add that they love their country as much as he, and that they strongly wish to see him appear among the number of those to whom she this day owes her safety."

Siêyes and Roger Ducos had already joined Buonaparte at the Tuileries. The three Directors, Gohier the President, Moulins and Barras, remained at the Luxembourg. The secretary-general, Lagarde, was still faithful to the majority of the Directory. As General Bernadotte had foreseen, that majority cast their eyes on him for the ministry of war, and the general command of the troops, and of the national guards of the 17th division. The resignation of Barras, and the defection of the secretary-general, put a stop to this nomination. Buonaparte, having no longer any thing to fear, made a new division of the different commands, and assigned to Moreau, with an hundred horse, that of the Luxembourg, where Gohier and Moulins were detained.

Moreau, dissatisfied with the indifference with which he had been treated by Buonaparte, and acquainted with his intentions and projects, was already thinking of forsaking his cause, which he regarded as unjust and traitorous to the nation. He again desired Rapatel to go, towards evening, to Bernadotte's, to invite him, on the part of Moreau, to go to the Luxembourg, that they might consult together as to the measures to be taken for preventing Buonaparte from seizing the Dictatorship. Bernadotte's answer to these overtures was, that he was bound by the word of honour which he had given, not to undertake any thing as a citizen; but that he was free to act if called on or summoned to do so by a public man; that if Moreau would march out of the Luxembourg, at the head of the detachment which he commanded, present himself at his door, and summon him, in the name of the public good, to make common cause with him in the defence of liberty and of the constitution which had been sworn to, he, Bernadotte, would mount his horse with his aides-de-camp, put himself under Moreau's command, address the troops, and cause Buonaparte to be immediately arrested and tried as a deserter from the army of Egypt, and as having violated the constitution, by accepting a command given him by a mere fraction of the Legislative Body. Moreau, bound down by the duty of military discipline, according to which he was under the orders of General Buonaparte, did not agree to Bernadotte's proposal; and the latter, therefore, did not think himself at liberty to go to the Luxembourg.

Bernadotte, from seven o'clock till ten, had conferences with Salicetti, Augereau, Jourdan, Gareau, and a dozen of the most influential members of the Council of Five Hundred. It was decided, that, next morning, Bernadotte should be named commandant of the guard of the Legislative Body, and of all the troops in the capital, and they separated. Salicetti ran to the Tuileries to tell Buonaparte what had happened, and he, who dreaded so courageous an adversary as Bernadotte, charged Salicetti to be present next morning at five o'clock, at the preparatory meeting which was to take place before going to St. Cloud, and to tell every one of the deputies, that he, Buonaparte, had made the greatest efforts to prevent a decree of deportation being issued against the deputies who had formed the design of giving to Bernadotte the command of the armed force.

On the 19th, at seven o'clock in the morning, Generals Jourdan and Augereau, followed by eight or ten deputies of the Council of Five Hundred, (among whom were Gareau and Talot,) went to General Bernadotte's in the rue Cisalpine. They informed him that Salicetti had made them aware, on the part of Buonaparte, that Siêyes had proposed to arrest a number of the deputies of the two Councils, in order to prevent their appearing at St. Cloud. They asked Bernadotte what he thought of the events of the day. He saw nothing in the communication of Salicetti, but the desire of rendering these deputies favourable to Buonaparte. Some of these legislators seemed to feel grateful for the service which Buonaparte had done them the evening before. Bernadotte did not appreciate this act of generosity as they did; but he agreed in their opinion as to the conciliatory measures which they seemed to wish to adopt, and, entering into their views, he explained himself in these terms: – "Let one of you mount the tribune; let him describe succinctly the internal situation of France, and her successes abroad; let him say, that the departure of an army for Egypt, while it has involved us in war, has deprived us of an army of more than 30,000 veterans, and a great many experienced generals; that, nevertheless, the Republic is triumphant; that the coalition is broken up, since Suwarrow is returned to Russia; that the English, with a prince of the blood at their head, have left the Batavian republic and retired to England; that the line of defence is maintained between the Alps and the Ligurian Appenines; that 200,000 conscripts are hastening to arrange themselves into battalions to reinforce the armies, and 40,000 cavalry are raising; that the insurrection of the west is reduced to a few scattered bands, and that a royalist army in the Upper Garonne has been destroyed or dispersed; that, to obtain a peace quite as honourable as that of Campo Formio, it is only necessary for France to maintain this formidable attitude; that, in order to maintain it, union and mutual confidence are indispensable; that, although the Council of Ancients have violated the constitution, in naming Buonaparte general-in-chief of the 17th division, and in giving him the command of the national guard and the guard of the Directory, the Council of Five Hundred is not now engaged in deliberating on this violation of the constitution, but rather on the means of giving security to the French people, the two Councils, and the Government of the State; that, for this purpose, the Council of Five Hundred names General Bernadotte colleague to General Buonaparte; that these two generals shall understand each other in regard to the employment of the armed force, and the distribution of commands, in case of this force being employed; but that the tranquillity which prevails in Paris and the vicinity, renders it certain that there will be no occasion for this force being put in motion. Send me this decree; in twenty minutes after receiving it, I shall be in the midst of you with my aides-de-camp; I shall take the command of the corps that I shall find on my way, and we shall see what is to be done. If it is necessary to declare Buonaparte an outlaw, you will always have on your side a general, and a great proportion at least of the troops."

The deputies immediately set off for St. Cloud. The unhappy custom of delivering set speeches from the tribune, produced the loss of precious time. The debate became warm: and the taking individually the oath to the constitution caused a useless loss of more than an hour and a half. No other resolution was taken. Buonaparte made his appearance, and the events which then happened at St. Cloud are well known.

After having been repulsed from the Council of Five Hundred, Buonaparte, stammering with agitation, addressed the soldiers. "Are you for me?" – "We are for the Republic," said they – (It was at this time that Lucien, President of the Council, harangued the troops.) What would have become of him had Bernadotte been there? Buonaparte felt this himself; for he said, at this period – "I am not afraid of Bernadotte's consenting to my being assassinated; but he will harangue the troops, and that is what I have to fear."

Buonaparte was made aware, the same evening, of the language which Bernadotte had used to the deputies at his house in the rue Cisalpine. The expressions he had really made use of, though they must have been disagreeable enough to Buonaparte, particularly in so far as related to his escape from Egypt, and his ulterior designs against the liberty of France, were exaggerated, and represented to Buonaparte so as to indicate personal hatred.

Buonaparte, though he never found an opportunity of taking open revenge against Bernadotte, let slip no opportunity of injuring him, by placing him, as a general, in difficult situations, and leaving him, in the most perilous and delicate circumstances, without instructions or orders. The following occurrence, which took place soon afterwards, will give a correct idea of this conduct on the part of Buonaparte.

The measures for restoring tranquillity in the west of France, in the month of January 1800, had never been entirely completed; for, at the same moment that they were taken, several departments were put out of the pale of the constitution. The Chouans of these departments were organised as militia, and as guerillas, who plundered the diligences, and murdered the persons who became proprietors of the national domains. They were regularly paid, and had communications with the enemies of the Republic, by means of the English fleets which threatened the coasts. At this critical moment, Bernadotte was invested with the civil and military command of these departments. By his firm and prudent conduct, he repressed the seditious movements, and re-established good order and obedience to the laws. Many free corps, numbers of individuals belonging to which, for want of being properly employed, were in the pay of the Chouan chiefs, were organised as regular troops; and by this measure he furnished government with the means of drawing from these departments troops for the army of Italy. But when these troops were to begin their march to Dijon, a serious insurrection broke out at Vannes, on the 28th Fructidor, year VIII., (4th September 1800.) The 52d demi-brigade refused to march till they should receive their arrears of pay. The commandant and officers who wished to restore order among them were maltreated. Bernadotte being informed of this transaction, hastened to Vannes to quell the insurrection; but the corps had left the place. He gave orders to General Liebert, commanding the 22d military division, to assemble the 52d demi-brigade on its way to Tours; to come before it, followed by his staff and the council of war; to make the military penal code be read; to order the colonels to point out one or two men in each company who had made themselves most remarkable in the revolt of the 28th; to deliver these men to the council of war, and to have them tried on the spot, &c. &c.

Bernadotte's orders were executed on the 4th Vendemaire, (25th September,) when the 52d demi-brigade was drawn up on the parade at Tours, and the ringleaders of the revolt arrested in presence of a great number of spectators, without the smallest disturbance taking place.

Bernadotte made a report of this event to the First Consul, and to Carnot, the minister of war; but as the result of the measures he had taken was not yet known, the Consul put on the margin of the report: – "General Bernadotte has not done well in taking such severe measures against the 52d demi-brigade, not having sufficient means to bring them to order in the heart of a town where the garrison is not strong enough to repress mutiny."

The result was different. The soldiers returned to their duty, and themselves denounced the authors of the insurrection. The demi-brigade continued its route to Italy; and, two days afterwards, the Consul was profuse in his encomiums on the prudence, foresight, and firmness of the general whose conduct he had been so hasty in disapproving. – The letter which he wrote to Bernadotte on this subject, was in these terms: —

"Paris, 10th Vendemaire, year IX.

"I have read with interest, Citizen-general, the account of what you have done to restore order in the 52d, and also the report of General Liebert, of the 5th Vendemaire. Give this officer the assurance of the satisfaction of Government with his conduct. Your promotion of the colonel of brigade to the rank of general of brigade is confirmed. I desire that this brave officer may come to Paris. He has given an example of firmness and energy most honourable to a military man.

"I salute you,"Buonaparte."

All men, doubtless, are liable to err; but the eagerness of the Consul to attach blame to the conduct of a military and political commander, charged with the maintenance of discipline and obedience to the laws, appears evidently to have proceeded more from private hatred than from any duty which the government had to perform; for there was no occasion to give his judgment so precipitately, and he might have waited the final result of the measures he censured, more especially as the scene had taken place in a district agitated by faction and civil war. Bernadotte's friends, who were still in the ministry of war, and even frequented the saloons of the Consul, were anxious to make him acquainted with Buonaparte's evil intentions towards him. Every despatch which he received informed him that the police were forming secret intrigues and conspiracies; that agents were scattered among the Army of the West and the Army of the Rhine, to endeavour to make the staffs of those armies commit themselves, in order to have a pretext for disgracing the generals who commanded them. Reports were circulated among the members of these staffs; one day the Consul was dying; next day the population of Paris had risen, and the constitution of the year IV. was re-established, with the necessary modifications. The persons employed in raising these reports, watched the looks of the generals, and reported their slightest expressions. These snares roused the indignation of General Bernadotte, and the army he commanded; and it is not going too far to say, that it was in the Army of the West and the Army of the Rhine that plans for the preservation and security of constitutional freedom originated. Men who were obliged by profession and duty to yield to the force of military discipline, and who neither had, nor wished to have any thing to do with the intricacies of civil policy, were all at once inspired with a new spirit, and tacitly formed an association guided by their opinions; so much so, that, during the course of the year 1801, the Consul perceived, from the reserve and behaviour of many of the generals towards him, that a change had taken place in the confidence entertained as to his intentions on the subject of public liberty and individual security.