The interview of Erfurt took place. Napoleon set out for Spain; he attacked and dispersed all that were opposed to him; and the English army would have been destroyed had he been enabled to pursue it himself; but the fourth Austrian war broke out, and he was obliged to hurry to the assistance of Bavaria. Prince Berthier sent me orders to rejoin the army. The Emperor was already with it; I found him at Landshut, just after he had gained the battle of Ratisbonne; I was not well pleased with my reception: he asked me drily, "How do your Prussians and Dantzickers get on? You ought to have made the latter pay me what they owe me. You see we have not all been killed in Spain; I still have men enough left to beat the Austrians." I felt the allusion.

We marched on Vienna. The Emperor became more good-humoured, and treated me more kindly. The battle of Esslingen took place. Thousands of brave men lost their lives; Marshal Lannes was disabled; the cavalry and artillery were destroyed; and the village of Esslingen, the most important point that remained for us to defend, was inundated by twenty battalions of Hungarian grenadiers. We could no longer maintain our station: the enemy had already penetrated into the square-work which Napoleon had directed to be fortified the day before. Count Lobau advanced to meet them, and checked their progress; but they immediately received reinforcements. The Emperor perceived this, and I was directed to take two battalions of the young guard, and to hasten to the assistance of our troops: I was to disengage them, to effect a retreat with them, and to take a position between the village and the remainder of the guard, on the banks of the Danube, near the bridge which had been broken. The Austrian columns advanced from all quarters on this point: our position became most hazardous. On our left, Massena still occupied Gros Aspern; he had lost great numbers of his force, but he still maintained his ground. I placed myself at the head of my two battalions and entered the village. I drew up my troops in the rear of General Mouton, and went to deliver to him the Emperor's orders; but the whole of the enemy's reserve, under the command of the Archduke Charles, deployed at some distance. "You have," said I to Count Lobau, "astonished those masses by your resistance; let us charge them with the bayonet, and drive them back upon the columns that are advancing: if we succeed, the Emperor and the army will give us credit for our success; if we fail, the responsibility will rest with me."—"With both of us," replied the General. Our five battalions moved forward, charged, repulsed, and dispersed the enemy at the point of the bayonet. We were masters of the village. The Archduke endeavoured in vain to recover it: five times he led his troops to the charge, and five times he was defeated. He experienced immense loss: ours was also considerable. Generals Mouton and Grosse were wounded; several other officers were killed. Napoleon was delighted with this affair; he complimented me very highly, and added, "If ever you did well in not executing my orders, you have done so to-day; for the safety of the army depended on the taking of Esslingen."

Napoleon thought that the people of Vienna were more unfavourable to us than in our preceding campaigns; he made the remark to me. I replied that despair had contributed greatly to produce the feeling; that the people were every where tired of us and of our victories. He did not like this sort of reflections.

Schill was then traversing Saxony: Napoleon was informed of the circumstance, and was vexed at it. This was a mode of sounding the public opinion. Prussia was making a prelude to that insurrectionary war, which she afterwards maintained against us. I confess, I did not believe the fact when I heard of it; I entertained too high an opinion of the national loyalty. I endeavoured to subdue the Emperor's prejudices; but his suspicions were stronger than any thing I could say to remove them. Another circumstance contributed to render him distrustful;—the conduct of the Russians was not more frank than that of the Prussians; they were shuffling. This want of good faith rendered him furious: he resolved to be revenged on them; but he required time for it.

The battle of Wagram took place: I was not engaged in it. Three days before the battle, I had accompanied Napoleon to the island of Lobau: I was in one of the Emperor's carriages with General Lauriston. We were overturned, and I had one of my shoulders dislocated, and three ribs broken.

The Emperor pursued the enemy as far as Znaim, and returned to establish himself at Schoenbrunn; where he afterwards learnt the defeat and death of Schill. This news gave him satisfaction, though he would have been better pleased had that partisan been taken prisoner.

During the negotiations there were several conspiracies at Vienna. Some persons, who were convicted of having been engaged in them, were condemned to death; two citizens and a Jew were to be executed; I was fortunate enough to obtain their pardon.

Napoleon was pretty generally in good humour; but the reports forwarded to him by the police occasionally interrupted his gaiety. His enemies had spread a ridiculous report of his insanity, which vexed him. "It is the fauxbourg St. Germain," said he, "which invents these fine stories; they will provoke me at last to send the whole tribe of them to la Champagne pouilleuse."

One day I was soliciting him for the promotion of two officers: "I will not make so many promotions," said he; "Berthier has already made me do too much in that way." Then, turning to Lauriston; "Lauriston," said he, "we did not get on so fast in our time; did we? I continued for many years in the rank of Lieutenant!"—"That may be, Sire, but you have since made up famously for your lost time."—He laughed at my repartee, and my request was granted.