By the defeat of the Emperor in the campaign of 1813 the Confederation of the Rhine was dissolved forever. The princes who adhered to that league were now permitted to sue for forgiveness by bringing a year's revenue and a double conscription to the banner of the Allies. Bernadotte turned from Leipsic to reduce the garrisons which Napoleon had not seen fit to call in, and one by one they fell, though in most cases, particularly at Dantzic, Wirtemberg and Hamburg, the resistance was obstinate and long.

The Crown Prince of Sweden having witnessed the reduction of some of these fortresses, and intrusted the siege of others to his lieutenants, invaded Denmark and the government of that country severed its long adhesion to Napoleon by a treaty concluded at Kiel on the 14th of January, 1814. Sweden yielded Pomerania to Denmark; Denmark gave up Norway to Sweden; and 10,000 Danish troops having joined his standard, Bernadotte turned his face towards the Netherlands. Holland also revolted after Leipsic, the Prince of Orange returning in triumph from England and assumed administration of affairs in the November following. On the side of Italy, Eugene Beauharnais was driven beyond the Adige by an Austrian army headed by General Hiller, and it was not at all likely that he could hope to maintain Lombardy much longer. To complete Napoleon's perplexity his brother-in-law, Murat, was negotiating with Austria and willing, provided Naples was guaranteed to him, to array the force of that state on the side of the Confederacy. Beyond the Pyrenees, Soult, who had been sent from Dresden to retrieve, if possible, the fortunes of the army defeated in June at Vittoria, had been twice defeated; the fortresses had fallen, and except a detached, and now useless force under Suchet in Catalonia, there remained no longer a single French soldier in Spain.

Such were the tidings which reached Napoleon from his Italian and Spanish frontiers at the very moment when it was necessary for him to make head against the Russians, the Austrians, and the Germans, chiefly armed and supplied at the expense of England, and now rapidly concentrating in three great masses on different points of the valley of the Rhine. The royalists, too, were exerting themselves indefatigably in the capital and the provinces, having recovered a large share of their ancient influence in the society of Paris even before the Russian expedition. The Bourbon princes watched the course of events with eager hope. The republicans, meanwhile, were not inactive. They had long since been alienated from Napoleon by his assumption of the imperial dignity, his creation of orders and nobles, and his alliance with the House of Austria; these men had observed, with hardly less delight than the royalists, that succession of reverses which had followed Napoleon in his last two campaigns. Finally, not a few of Napoleon's own ministers and generals were well prepared to take a part in his overthrow. Talleyrand, and others only second to him in influence, were in communication with the Bourbons, before the allies crossed the Rhine. "Ere then," said Napoleon, "I felt the reins slipping from my hands."

The Allied Princes issued at Frankfort, a manifesto on the 1st of December in which the sovereigns announced their belief that it was for the interests of Europe that France should continue to be a powerful state, and their willingness to concede to her, even now, greater extent of territory than the Bourbon kings had ever claimed—the boundaries, namely, of the Rhine, the Alps, and the Pyrenees. Their object in invading France was to put an end to the authority which Napoleon had usurped over other nations. The hostility of Europe, they said, was against,—not France, but Napoleon—and even as to Napoleon, against not his person but his system. These terms were tendered to the Emperor himself, and although he authorized Caulaincourt to commence negotiations in his behalf, it was merely for the purpose of gaining time.

Napoleon's military operations were now urged with unremitting energy. New conscriptions were called for, and granted; every arsenal sounded with the fabrication of arms. The press was thoroughly aroused and with its mighty voice warned the allies against an invasion of the sacred soil of France. The French Senate was somewhat reluctant, however; they ventured to hint to the Emperor that ancient France would remain to him, even if he accepted the proposals of the allies. "Shame on you," cried the Emperor, "Wellington has entered the south, the Russians menace the northern frontier, the Prussians, Austrians, and Bavarians the eastern. Shame! Wellington is in France and we have not risen en masse to drive him back! All my allies have deserted—the Bavarian has betrayed me. No peace until we have burned Munich! I demand a levy of 300,000 men—with this and what I already have, I shall see a million in arms. I will form a camp of 100,000 at Bordeaux; another at Mentz; a third at Lyons. But I must have grown men: these boys only serve to incumber the hospitals and the road-sides. Abandon Holland! Sooner yield it back to the sea! Senators, an impulse must be given—all must march—you are fathers of families—the head of the nation—you must set the example. Peace! I hear of nothing but peace when all around should echo to the cry of war!"

The Senate drew up and presented a report which renewed the Emperor's wrath. He reproached them openly with designing to purchase inglorious ease for themselves, at the expense of his honor. "In your address" he said, "you seek to separate the sovereign from the nation. I alone am the representative of the people. And which of you could charge himself with a like burden? The throne is but of wood, decked with velvet. If I believed you, I should yield the enemy more than he demands; in three months you shall have peace, or I will perish. It is against me that our enemies are more embittered than against France, but on that ground alone am I to be suffered to dismember the State? Do not sacrifice my pride and my dignity to obtain peace. Yes, I am proud because I am courageous; I am proud because I have done great things for France. *** You wished to bespatter me with mud, but I am one of those men who may be killed yet not dishonored.

"Return to your homes *** even supposing me to have been in the wrong, there was no occasion to reproach me publicly; dirty linen should be washed at home. For the rest; France has more need of me, than I have of France."

Having uttered these words the Emperor repaired to his council of state and there denounced the Legislative Senate as one composed of one part of traitors and eleven of dupes. "In place of assisting," he said, "they impede me. Our attitude alone could have repelled the enemy—they invite him. We should have presented a front of brass—they lay open wounds to his view. I will not suffer their report to be printed. They have not done their duty, but I will do mine—I dissolve the Legislative Senate!"

The Pope was now released from his confinement and returned to Rome which he found in the hands of Murat, who had ere then concluded his treaty with Francis and was advancing into the north of Italy, with the view of co-operating in the campaign against Beauharnais, with the Austrians on one side and on the other with an English force recently landed at Leghorn, under Lord William Bentinck. Ferdinand also returned to Spain, after five years of captivity, amid universal acclamations. "When first informed of Murat's treason, by the Viceroy (Eugene)," says Bourrienne "the Emperor refused to believe it. 'No!' he exclaimed to those about him, 'It cannot be! Murat—to whom I have given my sister! Eugene must be misinformed. It is impossible that Murat has declared himself against me.' It was, however, not only possible but true." As St. Amand well says, in speaking of Murat's desertion: "He might have united his forces with those of Prince Eugene and have attacked the invasion in the rear; he would have saved the Empire of France; he would have died on the throne, covered with glory, instead of being shot!"

For a time the inhabitants of the French provinces on the frontier believed it impossible that any foreign army would dare to invade their soil, and it was not until Schwartzenberg had crossed the Rhine between Basle and Schaffhausen on the 20th of December, that they were willing to believe in the sincerity of the Allies and their determination to carry the war into France itself. Disregarding the claim of the Swiss to preserve neutrality, Schwartzenberg advanced through that territory with his grand army, unopposed—an indefensible act in itself, and began to show himself in Franche-ComptÉ, in Burgundy, even to the gates of Dijon.

On the 1st of January, 1814, the Silesian army, under Blucher, crossed the river at various points between Rastadt, and Coblentz; and shortly after, the army of the north, commanded by Witzingerode and Bulow, began to penetrate the frontier of the Netherlands.

The Pyrenees had been crossed by Wellington and the Rhine by three mighty hosts, amounting altogether to 300,000 men and including every tongue and tribe from the Germans of Westphalia to the wildest barbarians of Tartary. "Seven hundred thousand men," says Dumas, "trained by their very defeats in the great school of Napoleonic war, were advancing into the heart of France, passing by all fortified places and responding, the one to the other, by the single cry, 'Paris! Paris!'"

The allies proclaimed everywhere as they advanced, that they came as the friends, not the enemies of the French nation, and that any of the peasantry who took up arms to oppose them must be content to abide the treatment of brigands; a flagrant outrage against the most sacred and inalienable rights of mankind.

Meanwhile, nearer and nearer each day the torrent of invasion rolled on, sweeping before it, with but slight resistance, the various corps which had been left to watch the Rhine. Ney, Marmont, Victor and Mortier, commanding in all about 50,000 men, retired of necessity before the enemy.

It now became apparent that the allies had resolved to carry the war into the interior without waiting for the reduction of the great fortresses on the Rhenish frontier. They passed on with hosts overwhelmingly superior to all those of Napoleon's lieutenants, who withdrew, followed by crowds of the rustic population, rushing onwards towards Paris by any means of transport. Carts and wagons, filled with terrified women and children thronged every avenue to the capital.

The Emperor now resolved to break silence to the Parisians and prepared to reappear in the field. On the 22d of January, 1814, the official news of the invasion appeared. The next morning—Sunday—the officers of the National Guard to the number of nine hundred were summoned to the Tuileries. Napoleon took his station in the centre of the hall and immediately the Empress, with her son, the King of Rome, carried in the arms of Countess Montesquiou, appeared at his side.

"Gentlemen," said the Emperor "France is invaded; I go to put myself at the head of my troops, and with God's help and their valor, I hope soon to drive the enemy beyond the frontier." Here he took Marie Louise in one hand and her son in the other, and continued, "But if they should approach the capital, I confide to the National Guard the Empress and the King of Rome—my wife and my child!"—Several officers stepped from their places and approached with tears in their eyes.

The Emperor spent part of the 24th of January in reviewing troops in the court-yard of the Tuileries, while the snow was falling, and at 3 o'clock in the morning of the 25th once more left his capital, after having burnt his most secret papers, and embraced his wife and son for the last time, to begin his fifteenth campaign. Thiers says of this farewell: "Napoleon, when he left, unconscious that he was embracing them for the last time, hugged tenderly his wife and son. His wife was in tears, and she feared she would never see him again. She was in fact fated never to see him, although the enemy's bullets were not to kill him. She would certainly have been much surprised if she had been told that this husband, then the object of all her care, was to die on a distant island, the prisoner of Europe, and forgotten by her. As for him, no prediction would have astonished him,—whether the cruelest desertion, the most ardent devotion,—for he expected anything from men; he knew them to the core, though he treated them as if he did not know what they really were."

The Emperor again appointed Marie Louise Empress-Regent, placed his brother Joseph at the head of her council, gave orders for raising military defenses around Paris, and for converting many public buildings into hospitals. He arrived at Chalons ere midnight and found that Schwartzenberg with 97,000 men, and Blucher with 40,000 men, were now occupying an almost complete line between the Marne and the Seine. Blucher was in his own neighborhood and he immediately resolved to attack the right of the Silesian army,—which was pushing down the valley of the Marne, while its centre kept the parallel course of the Aube,—ere the Prussian marshal could concentrate all his own strength or be supported by Schwartzenberg who was advancing down the Seine towards Bar.

On the 27th of January a sharp skirmish took place at St. Dizier; and Blucher, who had committed all sorts of excesses during the last two days, warned of Napoleon's arrival, at once called in his detachments and took a post of defense at Brienne—the same town where Bonaparte had received his military education.

The Emperor marched through a thick forest upon the scene of his youthful studies and appeared there on the 29th, having moved so rapidly that Blucher was at dinner in the chateau when the French thundered at his gates, and with difficulty escaped to the rear through a passage, on foot and at the head of his staff.

The invaders maintained their place in the town courageously, and some Cossacks, throwing themselves upon the rear of the French, the Emperor was involved in the mÊlÉe; he quickly drew his sword and fought like a private dragoon and General Gourgaud shot a Cossack while in the act of thrusting a spear at Napoleon's back. The town of Brienne was burned to the ground by the Prussians in order to cover their retreat.

Alsusieff, the Russian commander, and Hardenberg, a nephew of the Chancellor of Prussia, were made prisoners and there was considerable slaughter on both sides. Blucher retired further up the Aube with a loss of 4,000 men and posted himself at La Rothiere, where Schwartzenberg, warned by the cannonade, hastened to co-operate with him.

While at St. Helena Napoleon said that during the charge of the Cossacks at Brienne defending himself, sword in hand, he recognized a particular tree under which, when a boy, he used to sit and read the "Jerusalem Delivered" of Tasso. The field had been in those days, part of the exercise-ground of the students, and the chateau, whence Blucher escaped so narrowly, their lodging.

Blucher now assumed the offensive, having joined Schwartzenberg, and on the 1st of February assaulted the rear-guard of the French army. Proud of their numerical superiority they reckoned upon an easy triumph. The battle lasted all day. At nightfall the French were left in possession of their original positions. A battery of guns had been taken, however, and Napoleon lost on this occasion seventy-three guns, and some hundred prisoners, besides a number of killed and wounded. The result of this action was equivalent to a defeat of the French army. The cannoniers saved themselves, with their baggage, by forming a squadron and fighting vigorously as soon as they perceived that there was no time to use their pieces.

The battle of Brienne and the defense of La Rothiere, Dienville and La Giberie, had gloriously opened the campaign, but Blucher and Schwartzenberg had such considerable forces at their disposal that Napoleon might fear being surrounded, or cut off from his capital, if he persisted in retaining his position in the environs of Brienne. The allies had now definitely resolved to march on Paris.

While the division of Marmont retired down the Aube before Blucher, Napoleon himself struck across the country to Troyes which he had reasons to fear must be immediately occupied by Schwartzenberg. Here he was joined by a considerable body of his Guard, in high order and spirits, whose appearance restored, in a great measure, the confidence of the troops who had been engaged in the defense of La Rothiere. On the 3rd of February the Emperor received a dispatch from Caulaincourt, informing him that Lord Castlereagh, the English Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, had arrived at the headquarters of the allies, that negotiations were to be resumed the morning after at Chatillon, and requesting him to intimate distinctly at what price he would be willing to purchase peace.

Napoleon replied by granting Caulaincourt full powers to do everything necessary "to keep the negotiations alive and save the capital." The Duke was unwilling to act upon so broad a basis and sent back once more for a specific detail of the Emperor's purposes.

Napoleon had his headquarters at Nogent, on the Seine, some leagues below Troyes, when the dispatch reached him on the evening of the 8th of February, and his counsellors urged him to make use of this, probably last, opportunity. He was prevailed upon to agree to abandon Belgium, the left of the Rhine, Italy and Piedmont, but in the night after the consultation, and before the ultimatum had his signature, he received information which caused him to change all his views. When Maret visited him with his dispatches ready for signing Napoleon was poring over his maps, tracing the route of Blucher on Paris. "Oh here you are!" he exclaimed as Maret entered, "but I am now thinking of something very different—I am beating Blucher on the map. He is advancing by the road to Montmirail; I will set out and beat him to-morrow. Should this movement prove as successful as I expect it will, the state of affairs will be entirely changed, and we shall then see what can be done."

The Emperor had learned that Blucher, instead of continuing his march down the Aube, and in communication with Schwartzenberg on the Seine, had transferred his whole army to the Marne, and was now advancing towards Paris by the Montmirail road.

The separation of their forces by the allies was a great blunder and the Emperor, who at once detected it, could not resist the temptation which it presented to make one warlike effort more. Napoleon, therefore, refused to sign the dispatch on the morning of the 9th and having left small forces to defend the bridge over the Seine at Nogent and at Bray, commenced his march, with the main body of his army, upon Sezanne, prepared for one of the most extraordinary and successful manoeuvres which has ever been recorded in the annals of war.

Forty miles were traversed over a most difficult country, usually considered impassable in winter,—ere the troops halted with the dark. Next morning the army moved again with equal alacrity, and at length debouched on the road by which Blucher's army was advancing, at Champaubert.

The central division was passing when Napoleon suddenly appeared at this point, and was altogether unable to resist his assault. They dispersed in confusion with great loss and fled towards the Marne. The General-in-chief, Ousouwieff, at the head of twelve regiments was completely routed. He was taken with 6,000 of his men, and the remainder were drowned in a swamp, or killed on the field of battle. Forty pieces of cannon, and all the ammunition and baggage were left in the power of the victor. Napoleon had now interposed his army between the advanced guard of the Silesian army, commanded by Sacken, and the rear commanded by Blucher himself.

The van of the same army turned, on hearing the cannonade of Champaubert, and countermarched with the view of supporting Alsusieff only to share the fate of the centre, and were put to flight after the loss of one-fourth of the division.

Now it was Blucher's turn to be beaten. Napoleon mounted his horse at midnight on the 13th and came up with him at Montmirail. At 8 o'clock in the morning the shouting of the soldiers announced the presence of the Emperor. Blucher would gladly have declined battle, but it was out of his power. He was conquered but retreated with great skill and courage. After many hours of hard fighting his retreat became a flight. Blucher was frequently obliged to defend himself with his sabre during the day, surrounded by his staff, and chiefly owed his escape to the darkness of the night.

He retired in alternate squares, sustaining all day the charges of the French with much loss of life and at length cut his way, at Etoges, through a column of heavy horse, sent round to intercept him, and drawn up on the causeway.

On the following day there was a fresh success. A hostile column, endeavoring to protect Blucher's retreat, was taken at Chateau Thierry, where the French troops entered pell-mell upon the Russians and Prussians. Five generals of these two nations were among the prisoners.

Blucher finally crossed the Marne at Chalons. In five days Napoleon's armies had been successful three times; he had shattered and dispersed the Silesian army, and above all, recovered the spirits of his own soldiery.

A column of 7,000 Prussian prisoners, with a considerable number of guns and standards, reminded the Parisians that the commander of the French troops had not forgotten the art of warfare and their hopes were considerably heightened on hearing of these successes against the allies. But these allied armies, annihilated each day, reappeared incessantly, and always ready for battle. All Europe was now contending against the Emperor and her beaten and dispersed soldiers were immediately replaced by fresh troops. "So alarmed were the Allies at the near approach of their terrible enemy," says Scott, "that a message was sent to Napoleon, from the Allied Sovereigns, by Prince Schwartzenberg's aide-de-camp, Count Par, stating their surprise at his offensive movements, since they had given orders to their plenipotentiaries at Chatillon to sign the preliminaries of peace, on the terms which had been assented to by the French envoy." Napoleon had, however, learned the meaning of such messages in the course of his career, and paid no attention to this one.

Scarcely had the Parisians seen the prisoners from Montmirail marched along their boulevards, before they heard that the Cossacks were in possession of Fontainebleau. Napoleon had left small divisions of his army to guard the Seine at Nogent and Bray, and the enemy soon discovered that the Emperor and his chief force were no longer in that quarter. While he was beating Alsusieff, Sacken and Blucher had made good the passage of the Seine at three different points, driving the discomfited guardians of these important places before them. Schwartzenberg now had his quarters at Nangis, and was, obviously, resolved to reach Paris, if possible, while Napoleon was on the Marne. The light troops of the grand allied army were scattering confusion on both sides of the Seine, and one party of them was so near the capital as Fontainebleau.

Napoleon now committed to Marmont and Mortier the care of watching the Chalons road and the remains of Blucher's army, and marched with his main body on Meaux where on the 15th of February he received reinforcements of 20,000 veterans from Spain, commanded by Grouchy.

The latter's troops had aided Marmont on the 14th in a victory over Blucher at the village of Vauchamp which cost the allies ten thousand prisoners, ten flags, ten pieces of cannon and many prisoners, including General Ouroussoff, in command of the Russian rear-guard.

On the 16th Victor and Oudinot were engaged with the van of Schwartzenberg, on the plains of Guignes, when the Emperor came rapidly to their assistance. The enemy immediately drew back, and concentrated his strength at Nangis. Napoleon attacked that position on the morning of the 17th, and with such effect that the allies were completely routed and retreated after considerable loss. They halted, however, at Montereau and Victor, who commanded the pursuers on that route, failed to dislodge them because of greatly inferior numbers. Napoleon came up on the morning of the 18th and rebuked Victor; then dismissed him from the service. The marshal, with tears streaming down his face, said: "I will procure a musket, I have not forgotten my old trade; Victor will place himself in the ranks of the Guard."

The Emperor was vanquished by this noble language. "Well! Well! Victor," said he, tendering his hand, "remain; I cannot restore you your corps, since I have given it to Gerard, but I award you two divisions of the Guard; go and take the command of them, and let there be no longer a question of anything between us."

The attack then commenced with fury and the bridge and town of Montereau were carried. The defense was long and stern, however, and Napoleon was occasionally seen pointing cannon with his own hand, under the heaviest of the fire. The artillerymen protested at the exposure of his person and entreated him to withdraw. He persisted in his work, answering gaily, "My children! the bullet that shall kill me is not yet cast." The inhabitants of Montereau associated themselves with this triumph by firing from their windows on the Austrians as they passed through the town.

After distributing praises and rewards to the generals who had contributed to gaining this battle, Napoleon thought of those who had delayed their march, or exhibited negligence in their command, and among those reprimanded were Generals Guyot, Digeon and Montbrun, the latter for having abandoned the forest of Fontainebleau to the Cossacks, without resistance.

Pursuing his advantage Napoleon saw the grand army of the invaders continue their retreat in the direction of Troyes, and on the morning of the 22d arrived before Mery. This town he found occupied, much to his astonishment, not by a feeble rear-guard of Schwartzenberg but by a powerful division of Russians, commanded by Sacken and therefore belonging to the apparently indestructible army of Blucher. These unexpected enemies were charged in the streets, and at length retired out of the town,—which was burnt to the ground in the struggle,—and thence beyond the Aube. The Emperor then halted, and spent the night of the 22d of February in a charcoal burner's cottage at Chatres.

Meanwhile negotiations were still pending at Chatillon. Caulaincourt, receiving no answer to his second dispatch sent to Napoleon at Nogent on the 8th of February, proceeded to act on the instructions dated at Troyes on the 3d; and in effect accepted the basis of the Allies. When Schwartzenberg was attacked at Nangis, on the 17th, he had just received the intelligence of Caulaincourt's having signed the preliminary articles, and he, therefore, sent a messenger to ask why the Emperor, if aware of his ambassador's act, persisted in hostilities; but received no answer.

Napoleon sent instead a private letter to the Emperor of Austria, once more trying to gain his friendship. The reply of Francis, written to him from Nangis, reached Napoleon at Chatres on the 23d. It announced Francis' resolution on no account to abandon the general cause, but declared that he lent no support to the Bourbonists, and urged Napoleon to avert by concession, ere it was too late, total ruin from himself and his House. Napoleon returned the envoy with a note signifying that now he would not consent to a day's armistice, unless the Allies would fall back so as to leave Antwerp in their front. The same evening news came from Paris that the Council of State had discussed the proposals of the Allied Powers, and with only one dissenting voice, now entreated the Emperor to accept them. He was urged, anew, to send to Chatillon and accept the basis to which Caulaincourt had agreed. He answered that he had sworn at his coronation to preserve the territory of the Republic entire, and that he could not sign this treaty without violating his oath. "If I am to be scourged" said he, "let the whip come on me of necessity, and not through any voluntary stooping of my own." The truth of these attempts at negotiation is that the Allies merely desired a simple suspension of arms, in order to gain time to reinforce themselves, and also in order to interrupt the too rapid course of Napoleon's successes in the last eight days. This the Emperor easily discerned through the maze of the contrary declarations of the foreign negotiators, and in fact is avowed by the historians of the campaigns of the Allies.

Napoleon now resolved to push on as far as Troyes, at the same time permitting proposals for an armistice to be considered at Lusigny, and negotiations for peace to proceed at Chatillon. The Emperor had meanwhile requested Oudinot and Macdonald, with their divisions, to manoeuvre in the direction of Schwartzenberg, in order to keep the Austrians in check.

Napoleon learned at Troyes, in the night of the 26th of February, that the Prussian army was in motion. His resolution was soon taken. He again hastened to the succor of his capital, and came, with the prodigious celerity which rendered his marches and manoeuvres so distinguishing, to fall upon the rear of Blucher, who still had Marmont and Mortier in front. Marching rapidly across the country to Sezanne he received intelligence that these two generals, finding themselves inferior in numbers to Blucher, had retired before him in the direction of FertÉ-sous-Jouarre, and were in full retreat to Meaux. This point he considered as almost a suburb to Paris and he quickened his speed accordingly. Hurrying on, at FertÉ-Goucher he was at once met and overtaken by evil tidings. Schwartzenberg, having discovered the Emperor's absence, had immediately assumed the offensive, defeated Oudinot and Macdonald at Bar-sur-Aube on the 27th, and driven them before him as far as Troyes; and Augereau, who commanded in the neighborhood of Lyons, announced the arrival of a new and great army of the Allies in that quarter. On the 1st of March an important treaty was ratified at Chaumont between the sovereigns of Austria, England, Russia and Prussia, by which the four contracting powers bound themselves each to maintain in the field an army of one hundred and fifty thousand men until the objects of the war were attained; England, as usual, engaging, over and above, to furnish a subsidy of four millions sterling. In a second clause, each of the four powers was bound never to make a separate peace with the common enemy. About the same time the commissioners at Lusigny broke up the negotiations for an armistice, on the plea of inability to settle the line of demarcation.

Napoleon's operations were not checked, however. Having been detained for some time at FertÉ, in consequence of the destruction of the bridge, he took the direction of Chateau Thierry and Soissons, where he hoped to receive Blucher, while Mortier and Marmont received orders to assume the offensive in front of Meaux. The Emperor hoped in this manner to throw himself on the flank of Blucher's march, as he had done before at Champaubert; but the Prussian received intelligence of his approach and drawing his troops together, retired to Soissons. Napoleon proceeded thither with alacrity, believing that the French garrison intrusted with the care of that town, and its bridge over the Marne, was still in possession of it, and would enable him, therefore, to force Blucher into action with this formidable obstacle in his rear. He did not know that Soissons had been taken by a Russian corps, retaken by a French one and fallen once more into the hands of the enemy, ere the Emperor came in sight of it. He assaulted the place with much vigor but the Russians repelled the attack. Learning that Blucher had filed his main body through the town and posted himself behind the Marne, Napoleon marched up the left bank of the river and crossed it also at Bery.

A few leagues in front of this place, on the height of Craonne, two Russian corps,—those of Sacken and Witzingerode,—were already in position, and the Emperor lost no time in charging them there, in the hope of destroying them ere they could unite with Blucher. The battle of Craonne began at 11 a. m. on the 7th of March and lasted until 4 o'clock in the afternoon. The resistance of the enemy was most stubborn and the Emperor was preparing for a final effort, when suddenly the Russians began to retreat and he remained master of the field. He followed them; but they continued to withdraw having been ordered to fall back on the plateau of Laon, in order to form thereon the same line with Blucher, who was once more eager for a decisive conflict,—having been reinforced by the vanguard of Bernadotte's army.

On the 9th of March Napoleon found his enemy strongly posted along an elevated ridge, covered with wood, and further protected in front by a succession of terrace walls,—the enclosures of vineyards. There was a heavy mist on the lower ground and the French were advancing up the hill ere their movement was discovered. They were met by a storm of cannonade which broke their centre, and on either flank the French were all but routed. On all points they were repelled, except at the village of Athies, where Marmont had some advantage. Night interrupted the contest, and the armies bivouacked in full view of each other. Napoleon, although he had suffered severely, resolved to renew the attack and mounted his horse accordingly at 4 o'clock in the morning of the 10th. At that moment news came that Marmont's corps had just been assaulted at Athies and were compelled to fly towards Corbeny.

The battle of Laon continued, all day, however; Napoleon was unable to turn his adversaries and on the 11th he commenced his retreat, leaving thirty cannon and 10,000 men. Soissons had been evacuated by the allies when concentrating themselves for the battle of Laon, and Napoleon threw himself into that town, and was making rapid efforts to strengthen it in expectation of the Prussian advance, when he learned that a detached Russian corps had seized Rheims.

The possession of this city could hardly fail to establish Blucher's communications with Schwartzenberg, and Napoleon instantly marched thither in person leaving Marmont to hold out as well as he could in case that should be the direction of Blucher's march. The Emperor came upon Rheims with his usual rapidity and on the 13th took the place by assault.

In this crisis, in which Napoleon was battling against numbers overwhelmingly his superior, it is remarkable to note the energy with which he turned from enemy to enemy, and behold his fearless assaults on vastly superior numbers, his unwearied resolution and exhaustless invention. In his every movement he seemed a perfect master of warfare; but he was battling against odds which even his indomitable will, courage and foresight, could not overcome. It should not be forgotten, also, that in addition to this extraordinary series of campaigns, he continued to conduct, from his perpetually changing quarters, the civil business of his Empire.

The Allies, by a series of victories in various quarters, were now, to all appearance, in full march upon Paris, both by the valley of the Marne, and by that of the Seine, at a moment when Napoleon had thought to defeat their movements by taking up a position between them at Rheims. When Schwartzenberg learned that the Emperor was at this point his old terror returned, and the Austrian instantly proposed to fall back from Troyes. This did not please Lord Castlereagh who announced that the Grand Army might retire if the sovereigns pleased, but that if such a movement took place the subsidies of England must be considered at an end. The Czar also opposed the over-caution of Schwartzenberg, who then took courage, and his columns instantly resumed their march down the Seine, to offer battle to Napoleon at Arcis.

The Emperor was now struggling to decide which of two courses to pursue; should he hasten after Blucher on the Marne, what was to prevent Schwartzenberg from reaching Paris ere the Silesians, already victorious at Laon, could once more be brought to action by an inferior force: should he throw himself on the march of Schwartzenberg, would not the fiery Prussian be at the Tuileries long before the Austrian could be checked on the Seine? There remained a third course—namely, to push at once into the country in the rear of the Grand Army and thus strike the advancing Allies, both the Austrians and Prussians, with terror, and paralyze their movements. Would they persist in their cry, "On to Paris!" when they knew Napoleon to be posting himself between them and their resources, and at the same time relieving and rallying around him all the garrisons of the great fortresses of the Rhine? While Napoleon was thus tossed with anxiety for means to avert, if it were yet possible, the visitation of these mighty armies upon Paris, and unaware of Castlereagh's very effective threat, the capital showed small symptoms of sympathizing with him. The machinery of government was clogged in every wheel, and the necessity of purchasing peace by abandoning him was the common burden of conversation.

In this extreme situation, the gravity and peril of which he measured with a glance, the Emperor felt that he could only escape by a striking and decisive action, and he did not hesitate to direct the intended blow towards Schwartzenberg, whose approach already spread alarm throughout the capital. The Emperor Alexander, on learning the successes of Napoleon at Craonne and Rheims, had feared that Schwartzenberg, by approaching the capital alone, would be again beaten separately, and that all these daily and isolated defeats would end by discouraging the troops of the Coalition, already filled with apprehension and alarm. The Czar, therefore, insisted in that council of war held at Troyes, that the two grand allied armies should forthwith manoeuvre so as to effect their junction in the environs of Chalons, in order to march thence on Paris, and crush everything which might be opposed to their passage.

This advice had prevailed and Napoleon met, on the 20th, before Arcis, the entire army of Schwartzenberg, which was bearing in a mass for this town, in order to cross the Aube, and rapidly gain the plains of Champagne where the junction was to be effected.

This sudden change of system in the military operations of the Allies completely disarranged all the plans of Napoleon, who quickly perceived the difficult and perilous position in which he was placed, by encountering an army three times as strong as his own, where he had only thought to find a rear-guard. However, he quickly decided to take the chance by casting into the struggle the weight of his own example, and reckoning his personal dangers for nothing. His cavalry had orders to attack the Austrian light troops while the infantry debouched from Arcis; but they were repulsed by the overpowering numbers opposed to them and driven back upon the town. In this extremity, Napoleon evinced the same heroic and almost reckless courage which he had shown at Lodi and Arcola, and on other occasions. He threw himself, sword in hand, among the broken cavalry, called on them to remember their former victories, and checked the enemy by an impetuous charge in which he and his staff-officers fought hand to hand with the invaders. "Surrounded in the crowd by the charges of cavalry," says Baron Fain, in a volume called "The Manuscript of 1814," giving an account of the engagement at Arcis, "he freed himself only by making use of his sword. On divers occasions, he fought at the head of his escort, and, far from avoiding the dangers, he seemed, on the contrary, to brave them. A shell fell at his feet; he awaited its bursting, and disappeared in a cloud of dust and smoke; he was believed to be lost; presently he arose, flung himself upon another horse, and again went to place himself beneath the fire of the batteries! *** Death would have nothing to do with him!"

In spite of the prodigious efforts of the French army, and the unchangeable heroism of its chief, the battle of Arcis could not hinder the passage of the Aube, by the Austrians. The Emperor retired in good order, on the 21st, after having done the enemy much harm, and held him in check for a whole day; but Schwartzenberg ended by gaining the road which was to conduct him to Blucher.

Napoleon now decided on throwing himself upon the rear of the Allies. They were for some time quite uncertain of his movements after he quitted Rheims, until an intercepted letter to Marie Louise informed them that he was at St. Dizier, where Napoleon had slept on the 23d. He continued to manoeuvre on the country beyond this point for several days. Having seized the roads by which the Allies had advanced, he took many prisoners of distinction on their way to headquarters and at one time the Emperor of Austria himself escaped narrowly a party of French hussars. At St. Dizier, Caulaincourt rejoined the Emperor and announced to him the definite rupture of the negotiations with the Allies. This, however, was no surprise; but was expected. The only real discomfiture it caused was among the malcontents in the army, whose chief regret was at being from Paris, and who asked each other, barely out of hearing of the Emperor, "Where are we going? What is to become of us? If he falls, shall we fall with him?"

On the 26th of March the distant roaring of artillery was heard at intervals on the boulevards of Paris and the alarm began to be violent. On Sunday the 27th, Joseph Bonaparte held a review in the Place Carrousel. That same evening the allies passed the Marne at various points and at 3 o'clock in the morning they took Meaux. The regular troops now marched out of the capital, leaving all the barriers in charge of the National Guard. On the 29th the Empress, her son, and most of the members of the Council of State, set off attended by 700 soldiers, for Rambouillet from which they continued their journey to Blois. Queen Hortense, afflicted at seeing the Empress-Regent and her son abandon the capital to intriguers and conspirators, strongly pressed her to remain, and said with a prophetic conviction: "If you leave the Tuileries, you will never see them again!"

"One of the most astonishing circumstances of the moment," says Pons de L' Herault, a historian of the period, "is undeniably, the obstinacy with which the King of Rome refused to depart. This obstinacy was so great, that it became necessary to use violence in order to remove the young prince. The cries of the infant-king were heart-rending. He repeated several times: 'My father told me not to go away!' All the spectators shed tears." The young prince had declared again and again that "his papa was betrayed" and his declaration has never been satisfactorily accounted for and can only be explained by the supposition that he had heard the subject discussed among those who considered that all was lost in abandoning the capital.

Joseph now published the following proclamation: "Citizens of Paris! A hostile column has descended on Meaux. It advances; but the Emperor follows close behind, at the head of a victorious army. The Council of Regency has provided for the safety of the Empress and the King of Rome. I remain with you. Let us arm ourselves to defend this city, its monuments, its riches, our wives, our children—all that is dear to us. Let this vast capital become a camp for some moments; and let the enemy find his shame under the walls which he hopes to overleap in triumph. The Emperor marches to our succor. Second him by a short and vigorous resistance, and preserve the honor of France."

The appeal did not produce the results hoped for. Some officers urged Savary to have the streets unpaved and persuade the people to arm themselves with stones and prepare for a defense such as Saragossa. He answered, shaking his head, "the thing cannot be done."

On the 30th the Allies fought and won the final battle. The French occupied the whole of the range of heights from the Marne at Charenton, to the Seine beyond St. Denis; the Austrians beginning the attack about 11 o'clock towards the former of these points, while nearly in the midst between them, a charge was made by the Russians on Pantin and Belleville. The French troops of the line were commanded by Marmont and Mortier; those battalions of the National Guard, whose spirit could be trusted, and who were adequately armed, took their orders from Marshal Moncey and formed a second line of defense. The scholars of the Polytechnic School volunteered to serve at the great guns, and the artillery though weak in numbers, was well arranged. At the barrier of Clichy, in particular, the Allies met with a spirited resistance. The pattern of the French soldiers, the brave Moncey, was there, with his son, and with him Allent, the leader of his staff; celebrated artists and distinguished writers surrounded him and shared his perils. Among the former was Horace Vernet whose Napoleonic pictures have since become famous in two continents. The defense of the city, while brave and determined was ineffectual, and courage was at length compelled to yield to numbers.

By 2 o'clock the Allies were victorious at all points except Montmartre. Marmont then sent several aides-de-camp to request an armistice and offer a capitulation in order to save the capital. The Czar and the King of Prussia professed their willingness to spare the city, provided the regular troops would evacuate it.

Blucher meanwhile continued pressing on at Montmartre and shortly after 4 o'clock, the victory being completed in that direction, the French cannon were turned on the city and shot and shells began to spread destruction within its walls. The capitulation was drawn up at 5 o'clock, close to the barrier St. Denis.

It was not until the 27th that Napoleon distinctly ascertained the fact of both the allied armies having marched directly on Paris. He instantly resolved to hasten after them, in hopes of arriving on their rear ere they had mastered the heights of Montmartre. Arriving at Doulevent on the 29th he received a message from Lavalette, his Post-Master General, who wrote: "The partisans of the Stranger are making head, aided by secret intrigues. The presence of the Emperor is indispensable—if he desires to prevent his capital from being delivered to the enemy. There is not a moment to be lost!"

Urging his advance accordingly, Napoleon reached Troyes on the night of the 29th, his men having marched fifteen leagues since daybreak. General Dejean, his aide-de-camp, rode on before him bound for Paris to announce to the Parisians that the Emperor flew to succor them.

On the 30th Macdonald attempted to convince him that the fate of Paris must have been decided ere he could reach it, and advised him to march, without further delay, so as to form a conjunction with Augereau. "In that case," said the marshal, "we may unite and repose our troops, and yet give the enemy battle on a chosen field. If Providence has decreed our last hour, we shall at least die with honor, instead of being dispersed, pillaged and slaughtered by Cossacks."

The Emperor was unwilling to abide by the counsel of his marshal, but continued to advance; finding the road beyond Troyes clear he threw himself into a postchaise and traveled on before his army at full speed. At Villeneuve L'Archereque he mounted on horseback and galloping without a pause, reached Fontainebleau late at night. Here he ordered a carriage, and taking Caulaincourt and Berthier, drove on towards Paris. He was still of the belief that he was yet in time—until, while he was changing horses at an inn called "La Cour de France," but a few miles from Paris, General Belliard came up, at the head of a weary column of cavalry marching towards Fontainebleau, in consequence of the provisions of Marmont's treaty with the Allies. He was too late! Paris had capitulated!

Leaping from his carriage as the words reached his ears, the Emperor exclaimed, "What means this? Why here with your cavalry, Belliard? And where are the enemy? Where are my wife and boy? Where Marmont? Where Mortier?"

Belliard, walking by his side, told him of the events of the day. Still the Emperor insisted on continuing his journey although again informed there was no longer an army in Paris; that the regulars were all coming behind, and that neither they nor he himself, having left the city in consequence of a convention, could possibly return to it. It seemed impossible for him to comprehend the astounding intelligence of Belliard who said; "Paris is surrounded by one hundred and thirty thousand enemies."

Napoleon bade Belliard turn with his cavalry and follow him. "Come" said he "we must return to Paris,—nothing goes aright when I am away—they do nothing but blunder!" As he progressed he continued, "You should have held out longer—you should have raised Paris—they cannot like the Cossacks—they would surely have defended their walls. Go! Go! I see everyone has lost his senses. This comes of employing fools and cowards."

The Emperor and Belliard continued Paris-ward, until they were met, a mile beyond the post-house, by the first column of the retreating infantry. Their commander, General Curial, reiterated what Belliard had said. "In proceeding to Paris," he said, "you rush on to death or captivity." The Emperor then became at once perfectly composed and abandoned his design, gave orders that the troops, as they arrived, should draw up behind the little river Essonne, and dispatched Caulaincourt to Paris to ascertain if it were yet possible for him to interpose in the treaty. Having taken this measure he turned back towards Fontainebleau.

Caulaincourt reached the Czar's quarters at Pantin early in the morning of the 31st of March where he found a deputation from the municipality of Paris waiting to present the keys of the city and invoke the protection of the conqueror. The Czar received them immediately on arriving and promised that the capital, and all within it, should be treated with perfect consideration.

Caulaincourt then found his way to Alexander; but he was dismissed immediately. The Allies had practically agreed in favoring the restoration of the Bourbons, ere any part of their forces entered the capital, and a proclamation signed, "Schwartzenberg, Commander of the Chief of the Allied Armies" was distributed throughout Paris in which there were many phrases not to be reconciled with any other position. The royalists welcomed with exultation the dawn of the 31st and issued proclamations of their own appealing for restoration, besides parading the streets without interruption from either the civil authorities or of the National Guard, although decorated with the symbols of their cause.

At noon the first of the Allied troops began to pass the barrier and enter the city, and the triumphal procession lasted for several hours. Fifty thousand troops, horse, foot and artillery, marched along the boulevards and in their midst appeared the youthful Czar and the King of Prussia, followed by a dazzling suite of princes, ambassadors and generals.

The Czar repaired to the hotel of Talleyrand where a council was convened. Alexander and Frederick were urged to re-establish the House of Bourbon. They hesitated: "It is but a few days ago" said the Czar, "since a column of five or six thousand troops suffered themselves to be cut in pieces before my eyes, when a single cry of 'Vive le Roi!' would have saved them." One of those present answered "Such things will go on as long as you continue to treat with Bonaparte even although at this moment he has a halter round his neck." The Czar did not understand this allusion until it was explained to him that the Parisians were busy pulling down Napoleon's statue from the top of the great pillar in the Place Vendome.

Alexander now signed a proclamation asserting the resolution of the Allies "to treat no more with Napoleon Bonaparte, or any of his family." That same evening the Czar, by his minister, declared that "Louis XVIII will immediately ascend the throne." A few days later myriads of hands were busy in every corner of the city pulling down the statues and pictures and effacing the arms of Napoleon.

Caulaincourt returned to Fontainebleau in the night between the 2d and 3d of April and informed Napoleon that the monarchs he had so often spared, and whose royal destinies he could have closed after Austerlitz, Jena, and Wagram, refused to treat with him,—and demanded his abdication. He added that the Allies had not yet, in his opinion, made up their minds to resist the scheme of a regency, but that he was commissioned to say that nothing could be arranged as to ulterior questions, until he, the Emperor, had formally abdicated.

Napoleon was not yet prepared to give up his throne; the news both irritated him and made him indignant. He again wished to try the lot of arms; but his old companions-in-arms declared they would take no further part in the war. The next day, the 4th of April, he reviewed some of his troops, addressed them on "the treasonable proceedings in the capital," and announced his intention of instantly marching thither, being answered by shouts of "Paris! Paris!" Nearly 50,000 men were now stationed around Fontainebleau. On parade, Napoleon looked pale and thoughtful, while his convulsive motions manifested his internal struggles, and he did not stop many minutes. On retiring to the chateau, after the review, the Emperor was followed by his marshals, who informed him that if he refused to negotiate on the basis of his personal abdication, and persisted in risking an attack on Paris, they would not accompany him. He paused for a moment in silence—then a long debate ensued, ending in his drawing up and signing the following: The Allied Powers having proclaimed that the Emperor Napoleon was the sole obstacle to the re-establishment of peace in Europe, he, faithful to his oath, declares that he is ready to descend from the throne, to quit France, and even to relinquish life, for the good of his country; which is inseparable from the rights of his Son, from those of the Regency in the person of the Empress, and from the maintenance of the laws of the Empire.

Done at our Palace of Fontainebleau, April the 4th, 1814.

Caulaincourt was appointed to bear this document to Paris and the marshals proposed that Ney should accompany him. It was suggested that Marmont should also form a part of the deputation but he being in command at Essonne, Macdonald was named in his stead. The officers now desired to know on what stipulations, as concerned the Emperor personally, they were to insist. "On none," he answered; "obtain the best terms you can for France—for myself I ask nothing." They then departed.

Shortly afterwards Napoleon asked Oudinot if the troops would follow him. "No, Sire" answered the marshal, "you have abdicated."

"Yes, upon certain conditions."

"The soldiers" resumed Oudinot, "do not comprehend the difference; they think you have no more any right to command them."

"Well then," said Napoleon, "it is no more to be thought of; let us wait for accounts from Paris."

Marmont, whom he had loaded with favors, had in the meantime joined the Allies, and by a nocturnal march of his army passed over into the midst of the enemy, enabling them to appear more exacting than ever, and which caused Napoleon to denounce his treason to the army by an order of the day in which he scanned the conduct of the Senate who had also, on April 2d, declared Napoleon Bonaparte and his family expelled from the throne of France. "Marshal Marmont's desertion was a mortal blow to the Imperial cause," says Meneval. "It decided the Emperor Alexander, who till then had appeared to hesitate on the question of a regency, to exact in the name of the Allied Powers, the unconditional abdication of the Emperor." Talleyrand said dryly, when someone called Marmont a traitor, "his watch only went a little faster than the others," and in this he spoke truthfully, for officers of all ranks now rapidly abandoned the camp at Fontainebleau, and presented themselves to swear allegiance to the new government, impatient to enjoy in peace the honors and riches with which Napoleon had loaded them.

Caulaincourt, Ney and Macdonald, on being admitted to the presence of the Czar, the act of abdication was produced. Alexander was surprised that it should have contained no stipulations for Napoleon personally; "but I have been his friend" said he "and I will willingly be his advocate. I propose that he shall retain his imperial title, with the sovereignty of Elba, or some other island."

When Napoleon's envoys retired from the presence of the Czar it still remained doubtful whether the abdication would be accepted in its present form, or the Allies would insist on an unconditional surrender. At length they signified their intention to accept of nothing but an unconditional abdication. These terms were finally borne by the marshals to their waiting chief. The marshals returned in the night about twelve. Ney entered first: "Well, have you succeeded?", said Napoleon.

"Revolutions do not retrograde," answered the veteran marshal, "this has begun its course; it was too late: tomorrow the Senate will recognize the Bourbons."

"Where shall I be able to live with my family?"

"Where your Majesty pleases; for example, in the isle of Elba, with a revenue of six millions."

"Six millions! that is a great deal for a soldier as I am. I see very well I must submit."

The form of abdication submitted by the marshals was to the following purport:

1st. The imperial title to be preserved by Napoleon, with the free sovereignty of Elba, guards, and a navy suitable to the extent of that island; a pension, from France, of six millions of francs annually.

2d. The Duchies of Parma, Placentia and Guastalla to be granted in sovereignty to Marie Louise and her heirs, and

3d. Two millions and a half of francs annually to be paid, by the French government, in pensions to Josephine and other members of the Bonaparte family.

Napoleon hesitated when he received the formal ultimatum of the invading powers. He thought seriously of continuing the war, but the group of his personal followers had been rapidly thinned by desertion.

On the 11th of April he at length abandoned all hope and the next day executed an instrument called the treaty of Fontainebleau formally "renouncing for himself and his heirs, the thrones of France and Italy." Concerning the act Napoleon said, "I blush for it; what avails a treaty, since they will not settle the interests of France with me. If only my personal interests are concerned, there is no need of a treaty. I am conquered; I yield to the fate of arms. All I ask is, not to be accounted a prisoner of war." To all suggestions referring to his providing for his future wants he replied, "What matters it? A horse and a crown a day are all I want!"

"Napoleon, when he affixed his name to the abdication" says Baron Fain, his secretary, "made two or three scratches, and a dent, with the stump of his pen, or back of a knife, on the little, round, claw-footed, yellow table, on which it was signed. After the resignation of the Empire, he spent his time either in conversation in his apartment, or in a small English garden at the back of the palace.... Napoleon, during those days of distress, was seated alone for hours and amused himself by kicking a hole, a foot deep, with his heel, in the gravel beneath.... At the moment of Bonaparte's abdication, he remarked that instruments of destruction had been left in his way; he seemed to think that they were placed there purposely, in order that he might attempt his own life; and with a sardonic smile, said, 'Self-murder is sometimes committed for love—what folly! Sometimes for the loss of fortune—there it is cowardice! Another cannot live after he has been disgraced—what weakness! But to survive the loss of Empire, to be exposed to the results of one's contemporaries,—that is true courage!'"