Chapter II: Part 2

I have received the letter that you break off, in order, you say, to go into the country; and in spite of that you give me to understand that you are jealous of me, who am here, overwhelmed with business and fatigue. Ah, my dear, it is true I am wrong. In the spring the country is beautiful, and then the lover of nineteen will doubtless find means to spare an extra moment to write to him who, distant three hundred leagues from thee, lives, enjoys, exists only in thoughts of thee, who reads thy letters as one devours, after six hours' hunting, the meat he likes best. I am not satisfied with your last letter; it is cold as friendship. I have not found that fire which kindles your looks, and which I have sometimes fancied I found there. But how infatuated I am. I found your previous letters weigh too heavily on my mind. The revolution which they produced there invaded my rest, and took my faculties captive. I desired more frigid letters, but they gave me the chill of death. Not to be loved by Josephine, the thought of finding her inconstant ... but I am forging troubles--there are so many real ones, there is no need to manufacture more! You cannot have inspired a boundless love without sharing it, for a cultured mind and a soul like yours cannot requite complete surrender and devotion with the death-blow.

I have received the letter from Madame Chateau Renard. I have written to the Minister. I will write to the former to-morrow, to whom you will make the usual compliments. Kind regards to Madame Tallien and Barras.

You do not speak of your wretched indigestion--I hate it. Adieu, till to-morrow, _mio dolce amor_. A remembrance from my unique wife, and a victory from Destiny--these are my wishes: a unique remembrance entirely worthy of him who thinks of thee every moment.

My brother is here; he has learnt of my marriage with pleasure. He longs to see you. I am trying to prevail on him to go to Paris--his wife has just borne him a girl. He sends you a gift of a box of Genoa bonbons. You will receive oranges, perfumes, and orange-flower water, which I am sending.

Junot and Murat present their respects to you.

_A la citoyenne Bonaparte,_
_Rue Chantereine No. 6,_ (Address not in B.'s writing.)
_Chaussee d'Antin, Paris._

* * * * *

_April 10th.--Campaign opens (Napoleon's available troops about
35,000)._

_April 11th.--Colonel Rampon, with 1200 men, breaks the attack of
D'Argenteau, giving Napoleon time to come up._

_April 12th.--Battle of Montenotte, Austrians defeated. Lose 3500
men (2000 prisoners), 5 guns, and 4 stand of colours._

_April 14th.--Battle of Millesimo, Austrians and Sardinians
defeated. Lose over 6000 prisoners, 2 generals, 4500 killed and
wounded, 32 guns, and 15 stand of colours. Lannes made Colonel on
the battlefield._

_April 15th.--Battle of Dego, the allies defeated and separated._

_April 22nd.--Battle of Mondovi, Sardinians defeated. Lose 3000
men, 8 guns, 10 stand of colours._

No. 6.

_Carru, April 24th._

_To My Sweet Love._--My brother will remit you this letter. I have for him the most lively affection. I trust he will obtain yours; he merits it. Nature has endowed him with a gentle, even, and unalterably good disposition; he is made up of good qualities. I am writing Barras to help him to the Consulate of some Italian port. He wishes to live with his little wife far from the great whirlwind, and from great events. I recommend him to you. I have received your letters of (April) the fifth and tenth. You have been several days without writing me. What _are_ you doing then? Yes, my kind, kind love, I am not jealous, but sometimes uneasy. Come soon. I warn you, if you tarry you will find me ill; fatigue and your absence are too much for me at the same time.

Your letters make up my daily pleasure, and my happy days are not often. Junot bears to Paris twenty-two flags. You ought to return with him, do you understand? Be ready, if that is not disagreeable to you. Should he not come, woe without remedy; should he come back to me alone, grief without consolation, constant anxiety. My Beloved, he will see you, he will breathe on your temples; perhaps you will accord him the unique and priceless favour of kissing your cheek, and I, I shall be alone and very far away; but you are about to come, are you not? You will soon be beside me, on my breast, in my arms, over your mouth. Take wings, come quickly, but travel gently. The route is long, bad, fatiguing. If you should be overturned or be taken ill, if fatigue--go gently, my beloved.

I have received a letter from Hortense. She is entirely lovable. I am going to write to her. I love her much, and I will soon send her the perfumes that she wants.

N. B.

* * * * *

I know not if you want money, for you never speak to me of business. If you do, will you ask my brother for it--he has 200 louis of mine! If you want a place for any one you can send him; I will give him one. Chateau Renard may come too.

_A la citoyenne Bonaparte, &c._

* * * * *

_April 28th.--Armistice of Cherasco (submission of Sardinia to
France): peace signed May 15th._

_May 7th.--Bonaparte passed the Po at Placentia, and attacks
Beaulieu, who has 40,000 Austrians._

_May 8th.--Austrians defeated at Fombio. Lose 2500 prisoners,
guns, and 3 standards. Skirmish of Codogno--death of General La
Harpe._

_May 9th.--Capitulation of Parma by the Grand Duke, who pays
ransom of 2 million francs, 1600 artillery horses, food, and 20
paintings._

_May 10th.--Passage of Bridge of Lodi. Austrians lose 2000 men and
20 cannon._

_May 14th.--Bonaparte was requested to divide his command, and
thereupon tendered his resignation._

_May 15th.--Bonaparte enters Milan. Lombardy pays ransom of 20
million francs; and the Duke of Modena 10 millions, and 20
pictures._

_May 24th-25th.--Revolt of Lombardy, and punishment of Pavia by
the French._

_May 30th-31st.--Bonaparte defeats Beaulieu at Borghetto, crosses
the Mincio, and makes French cavalry fight (a new feature for the
Republican troops)._

_June 3rd.--Occupies Verona, and secures the line of the Adige._

_June 4th._--Battle of Altenkirchen (Franconia) won by Jourdan.

_June 5th.--Armistice with Naples. Their troops secede from the
Austrian army._

No. 7.

TO JOSEPHINE.

_Tortona, Noon, June 15th._

My life is a perpetual nightmare. A presentiment of ill oppresses me. I see you no longer. I have lost more than life, more than happiness, more than my rest. I am almost without hope. I hasten to send a courier to you. He will stay only four hours in Paris, and then bring me your reply. Write me ten pages. That alone can console me a little. You are ill, you love me, I have made you unhappy, you are in delicate health, and I do not see you!--that thought overwhelms me. I have done you so much wrong that I know not how to atone for it; I accuse you of staying in Paris, and you were ill there. Forgive me, my dear; the love with which you have inspired me has bereft me of reason. I shall never find it again. It is an ill for which there is no cure. My presentiments are so ominous that I would confine myself to merely seeing you, to pressing you for two hours to my heart--and then dying with you. Who looks after you? I expect you have sent for Hortense. I love that sweet child a thousand times more when I think she can console you a little, though for me there is neither consolation nor repose, nor hope until the courier that I have sent comes back; and until, in a long letter, you explain to me what is the nature of your illness, and to what extent it is serious; if it be dangerous, I warn you, I start at once for Paris. My coming shall coincide with your illness. I have always been fortunate, never has my destiny resisted my will, and to-day I am hurt in what touches me solely (_uniquement_). Josephine, how can you remain so long without writing to me; your last laconic letter is dated May 22. Moreover, it is a distressing one for me, but I always keep it in my pocket; your portrait and letters are perpetually before my eyes.

I am nothing without you. I scarcely imagine how I existed without knowing you. Ah! Josephine, had you known my heart would you have waited from May 18th to June 4th before starting? Would you have given an ear to perfidious friends who are perhaps desirous of keeping you away from me? I openly avow it to every one, I hate everybody who is near you. I expected you to set out on May 24th, and arrive on June 3rd.

Josephine, if you love me, if you realise how everything depends on your health, take care of yourself. I dare not tell you not to undertake so long a journey, and that, too, in the hot weather. At least, if you are fit to make it, come by short stages; write me at every sleeping-place, and despatch your letters in advance.

All my thoughts are concentrated in thy boudoir, in thy bed, on thy heart. Thy illness!--that is what occupies me night and day. Without appetite, without sleep, without care for my friends, for glory, for fatherland, you, you alone--the rest of the world exists no more for me than if it were annihilated. I prize honour since you prize it, I prize victory since it pleases you; without that I should leave everything in order to fling myself at your feet.

Sometimes I tell myself that I alarm myself unnecessarily; that even now she is better, that she is starting, has started, is perhaps already at Lyons. Vain fancies! you are in bed suffering, more beautiful, more interesting, more lovable. You are pale and your eyes are more languishing, but when will you be cured? If one of us ought to be ill it is I--more robust, more courageous; I should support illness more easily. Destiny is cruel, it strikes at me through you.

What consoles me sometimes is to think that it is in the power of destiny to make you ill; but it is in the power of no one to make me survive you.

In your letter, dear, be sure to tell me that you are convinced that I love you more than it is possible to imagine; that you are persuaded that all my moments are consecrated to you; that to think of any other woman has never entered my head--they are all in my eyes without grace, wit, or beauty; that you, you alone, such as I see you, such as you are, can please me, and absorb all the faculties of my mind; that you have traversed its whole extent; that my heart has no recess into which you have not seen, no thoughts which are not subordinate to yours; that my strength, my prowess, my spirit are all yours; that my soul is in your body; and that the day on which you change or cease to live will be my death-day; that Nature, that Earth, is beautiful only because you dwell therein. If you do not believe all this, if your soul is not convinced, penetrated by it, you grieve me, you do not love me--there is a magnetic fluid between people who love one another--you know perfectly well that I could not brook a rival, much less offer you one.[15] To tear out his heart and to see him would be for me one and the same thing, and then if I were to carry my hands against your sacred person--no, I should never dare to do it; but I would quit a life in which the most virtuous of women had deceived me.

But I am sure and proud of your love; misfortunes are the trials which reveal to each mutually the whole force of our passion. A child as charming as its mamma will soon see the daylight, and will pass many years in your arms. Hapless me! I would be happy with one _day_. A thousand kisses on your eyes, your lips, your tongue, your heart. Most charming of thy sex, what is thy power over me? I am very sick of thy sickness; I have still a burning fever! Do not keep the courier more than six hours, and let him return at once to bring me the longed-for letter of my Beloved.

Do you remember my dream, in which I was your boots, your dress, and in which I made you come bodily into my heart? Why has not Nature arranged matters in this way; she has much to do yet.

N. B.

_A la citoyenne Bonaparte, &c._

* * * * *

_June 18th.--Bonaparte enters Modena, and takes 50 cannon at
Urbino._

_June 19th.--Occupies Bologna, and takes 114 cannon._

_June 23rd.--Armistice with Rome. The Pope to pay 21 millions, 100
rare pictures, 200 MSS., and to close his ports to the English._

_June 24th._--Desaix, with part of Moreau's army, forces the
passage of the Rhine.

No. 8.

TO JOSEPHINE.

_Pistoia, Tuscany, June 26th._

For a month I have only received from my dear love two letters of three lines each. Is she so busy, that writing to her dear love is not then needful for her, nor, consequently, thinking about him? To live without thinking of Josephine would be death and annihilation to your husband. Your image gilds my fancies, and enlivens the black and sombre picture of melancholy and grief. A day perhaps may come in which I shall see you, for I doubt not you will be still at Paris, and verily on that day I will show you my pockets stuffed with letters that I have not sent you because they are too foolish (_bete_). Yes, that's the word. Good heavens! tell me, you who know so well how to make others love you without being in love yourself, do you know how to cure me of love??? I will give a good price for that remedy.

You ought to have started on May 24th. Being good-natured, I waited till June 1st, as if a pretty woman would give up her habits, her friends, both Madame Tallien and a dinner with Barras, and the acting of a new play, and Fortune; yes, Fortune, whom you love much more than your husband, for whom you have only a little of the esteem, and a share of that benevolence with which your heart abounds. Every day I count up your misdeeds. I lash myself to fury in order to love you no more. Bah, don't I love you the more? In fact, my peerless little mother, I will tell you my secret. Set me at defiance, stay at Paris, have lovers--let everybody know it--never write me a monosyllable! then I shall love you ten times more for it; and it is not folly, a delirious fever! and I shall not get the better of it. Oh! would to heaven I could get better! but don't tell me you are ill, don't try to justify yourself. Good heavens! you are pardoned. I love you to distraction, and never will my poor heart cease to give all for love. If you did not love me, my fate would be indeed grotesque. You have not written me; you are ill, you do not come. But you have passed Lyons; you will be at Turin on the 28th, at Milan on the 30th, where you will wait for me. You will be in Italy, and I shall be still far from you. Adieu, my well-beloved; a kiss on thy mouth, another on thy heart.

We have made peace with Rome--who gives us money. To-morrow we shall be at Leghorn, and as soon as I can in your arms, at your feet, on your bosom.

_A la citoyenne Bonaparte, &c._

* * * * *

_June 27th.--Leghorn occupied by Murat and Vaubois._

_June 29th.--Surrender of citadel of Milan; 1600 prisoners and 150
cannon taken._

FOOTNOTES

[14] _Un millier de baise_ (sic).

[15] So Tennant (_t'en offrir un_): but Baron Feuillet de Conches, an
expert in Napoleonic graphology, renders the expression _t'en
souffrir un_.

SERIES B

(1796-97)

"Des 1796, lorsque, avec 30,000 hommes, il fait la conquete de l'Italie, il est non-seulement grand general, mais profond politique."--_Des Idees Napoleonniennes._

* * * * *

"Your Government has sent against me four armies without Generals, and this time a General without an army."--_Napoleon to the Austrian Plenipotentiaries, at Leoben._

SERIES B

(For subjoined Notes to this Series see pages 211-223.)

LETTER PAGE

No. 1. _Sortie from Mantua_ 211

No. 2. _Marmirolo_ 211
_Fortune_ 212

No. 3. _The village of Virgil_ 212

No. 4. _Achille_ 212

No. 5. _Will-o'-the-Wisp_ 213

No. 6. _The needs of the army_ 213-5

No. 7. _Brescia_ 215

No. 9. _I hope we shall get into Trent_ 216

No. 12. _One of these nights the doors will be burst open_ 216-8

No. 13. _Corsica is ours_ 218

No. 14. _Verona_ 219

No. 15. _Once more I breathe freely_ 220

No. 18. "_The 29th_" 220

No. 20. _General Brune_ 221

No. 21. _February 3rd_ 221

No. 24. _Perhaps I shall make peace with the Pope_ 222

No. 25. _The unlimited power you hold over me_ 222

No. 1.

_July 5th._--Archduke Charles defeated by Moreau at Radstadt.

_July 6th.--Sortie from Mantua: Austrians fairly successful._

TO JOSEPHINE, AT MILAN.

_Roverbella, July 6, 1796._

I have beaten the enemy. Kilmaine will send you the copy of the despatch. I am tired to death. Pray start at once for Verona. I need you, for I think that I am going to be very ill.

I send you a thousand kisses. I am in bed.

BONAPARTE.

* * * * *

_July 9th.--Bonaparte asks Kellermann for reinforcements._

_July 14th._--Frankfort on the Main captured by Kleber.

_July 16th.--Sortie from Mantua: Austrians defeated._

No. 2.

_July 17th.--Attempted coup de main at Mantua: French unsuccessful._

TO JOSEPHINE, AT MILAN.

_Marmirolo_, _July 17, 1796_, 9 P.M.

I got your letter, my beloved; it has filled my heart with joy. I am grateful to you for the trouble you have taken to send me news; your health should be better to-day--I am sure you are cured. I urge you strongly to ride, which cannot fail to do you good.

Ever since I left you, I have been sad. I am only happy when by your side. Ceaselessly I recall your kisses, your tears, your enchanting jealousy; and the charms of the incomparable Josephine keep constantly alight a bright and burning flame in my heart and senses. When, free from every worry, from all business, shall I spend all my moments by your side, to have nothing to do but to love you, and to prove it to you? I shall send your horse, but I am hoping that you will soon be able to rejoin me. I thought I loved you some days ago; but, since I saw you, I feel that I love you even a thousand times more. Ever since I have known you, I worship you more every day; which proves how false is the maxim of La Bruyere that "Love comes all at once." Everything in nature has a regular course, and different degrees of growth. Ah! pray let me see some of your faults; be less beautiful, less gracious, less tender, and, especially, less kind; above all never be jealous, never weep; your tears madden me, fire my blood. Be sure that it is no longer possible for me to have a thought except for you, or an idea of which you shall not be the judge.

Have a good rest. Haste to get well. Come and join me, so that, at least, before dying, we could say--"We were happy for so many days!!"

Millions of kisses, and even to Fortune, in spite of his naughtiness.

BONAPARTE.

No. 3.

_July 18th.--Trenches opened before Mantua._

_July 18th._--Stuttgard occupied by Saint-Cyr, who, like Kleber,
is under Moreau.

_July 18th._--Wurtzburg captured by Klein and Ney (acting under
Jourdan).

TO JOSEPHINE, AT MILAN.

_Marmirolo, July 18, 1796_, 2 P.M.

I passed the whole night under arms. I ought to have had Mantua by a plucky and fortunate coup; but the waters of the lake have suddenly fallen, so that the column I had shipped could not land. This evening I shall begin a new attempt, but one that will not give such satisfactory results.

I got a letter from Eugene, which I send you. Please write for me to these charming children of yours, and send them some trinkets. Be sure to tell them that I love them as if they were my own. What is yours or mine is so mixed up in my heart, that there is no difference there.

I am very anxious to know how you are, what you are doing? I have been in the village of Virgil, on the banks of the lake, by the silvery light of the moon, and not a moment without dreaming of Josephine.

The enemy made a general sortie on June 16th; it has killed or wounded two hundred of our men, but lost five hundred of its own in a precipitous retreat.

I am well. I am Josephine's entirely, and I have no pleasure or happiness except in her society.

Three Neapolitan regiments have arrived at Brescia; they have sundered themselves from the Austrian army, in consequence of the convention I have concluded with M. Pignatelli.

I've lost my snuff-box; please choose me another, rather flat-shaped, and write something pretty inside, with your own hair.

A thousand kisses as burning as you are cold. Boundless love, and fidelity up to every proof. Before Joseph starts, I wish to speak to him.

BONAPARTE.

No. 4.

TO JOSEPHINE, AT MILAN.

_Marmirolo, July 19, 1796._

I have been without letters from you for two days. That is at least the thirtieth time to-day that I have made this observation to myself; you are thinking this particularly wearisome; yet you cannot doubt the tender and unique anxiety with which you inspire me.

We attacked Mantua yesterday. We warmed it up from two batteries with red-hot shot and from mortars. All night long that wretched town has been on fire. The sight was horrible and majestic. We have secured several of the outworks; we open the first parallel to-night. To-morrow I start for Castiglione with the Staff, and I reckon on sleeping there. I have received a courier from Paris. There were two letters for you; I have read them. But though this action appears to me quite natural, and though you gave me permission to do so the other day, I fear you may be vexed, and that is a great trouble to me. I should have liked to have sealed them up again: fie! that would have been atrocious. If I am to blame, I beg your forgiveness. I swear that it is not because I am jealous; assuredly not. I have too high an opinion of my beloved for that. I should like you to give me full permission to read your letters, then there would be no longer either remorse or apprehension.

Achille has just ridden post from Milan; no letters from my beloved! Adieu, my unique joy. When will you be able to rejoin me? I shall have to fetch you myself from Milan.

A thousand kisses as fiery as my soul, as chaste as yourself.

I have summoned the courier; he tells me that he crossed over to your house, and that you told him you had no commands. Fie! naughty, undutiful, cruel, tyrannous, jolly little monster. You laugh at my threats, at my infatuation; ah, you well know that if I could shut you up in my breast, I would put you in prison there!

Tell me you are cheerful, in good health, and very affectionate.

BONAPARTE.

No. 5.

TO JOSEPHINE, AT MILAN.

_Castiglione, July 21, 1796_, 8 A.M.

I am hoping that when I arrive to-night I shall get one of your letters. You know, my dear Josephine, the pleasure they give me; and I am sure you have pleasure in writing them. I shall start to-night for Peschiera, for the mountains of ----, for Verona, and thence I shall go to Mantua, and perhaps to Milan, to receive a kiss, since you assure me they are not made of ice. I hope you will be perfectly well by then, and will be able to accompany me to headquarters, so that we may not part again. Are you not the soul of my life, and the quintessence of my heart's affections?

Your proteges are a little excitable; they are like the will-o'-the-wisp. How glad I am to do something for them which will please you. They will go to Milan. A little patience is requisite in everything.

Adieu, _belle et bonne_, quite unequalled, quite divine. A thousand loving kisses.

BONAPARTE.

No. 6.

TO JOSEPHINE, AT MILAN.

_Castiglione, July 22, 1796._

The needs of the army require my presence hereabouts; it is impossible that I can leave it to come to Milan. Five or six days would be necessary, and during that time movements may occur whereby my presence here would be imperative.

You assure me your health is good; I beg you therefore to come to Brescia. Even now I am sending Murat to prepare apartments for you there in the town, as you desire.

I think you will do well to spend the first night (July 24th) at Cassano, setting out very late from Milan; and to arrive at Brescia on July 25th, where the most affectionate of lovers awaits you. I am disconsolate that you can believe, dear, that my heart can reveal itself to others as to you; it belongs to you by right of conquest, and that conquest will be durable and for ever. I do not know why you speak of Madame T., with whom I do not concern myself in the slightest, nor with the women of Brescia. As to the letters which you are vexed at my opening, this shall be the last; your letter had not come.

Adieu, _ma tendre amie_, send me news often, come forthwith and join me, and be happy and at ease; all goes well, and my heart is yours for life.

Be sure to return to the Adjutant-General Miollis the box of medals that he writes me he has sent you. Men have such false tongues, and are so wicked, that it is necessary to have everything exactly on the square.

Good health, love, and a prompt arrival at Brescia.

I have at Milan a carriage suitable alike for town or country; you can make use of it for the journey. Bring your plate with you, and some of the things you absolutely require.

Travel by easy stages, and during the coolth, so as not to tire yourself. Troops only take three days coming to Brescia. Travelling post it is only a fourteen hours' journey. I request you to sleep on the 24th at Cassano; I shall come to meet you on the 25th at latest.

Adieu, my own Josephine. A thousand loving kisses.

BONAPARTE.

* * * * *

_July 29th.--Advance of Wurmser, by the Adige valley, on Mantua,
and of Quesdonowich on Brescia, who drives back Massena and
Sauret._

_July 31st.--Siege of Mantua raised._

_August 3rd.--Bonaparte victorious at Lonato._

_August 5th.--Augereau victorious at Castiglione, completing the
Campaign of Five Days, in which 10,000 prisoners are taken._

_August 8th.--Verona occupied by Serrurier._

_August 15th._--(Moreau arrives on the Danube) _Wurmser retreats
upon Trent, the capital of Italian Tyrol_.

_August 18th._--Alliance, offensive and defensive, between France
and Spain.

_September 3rd._--Jourdan routed by Archduke Charles at
Wurtzburg.

No. 7.

TO JOSEPHINE, AT MILAN.

_Brescia, August 30, 1796._

Arriving, my beloved, my first thought is to write to you. Your health, your sweet face and form have not been absent a moment from my thoughts the whole day. I shall be comfortable only when I have got letters from you. I await them impatiently. You cannot possibly imagine my uneasiness. I left you vexed, annoyed, and not well. If the deepest and sincerest affection can make you happy, you ought to be.... I am worked to death.

Adieu, my kind Josephine: love me, keep well, and often, often think of me.

BONAPARTE.

No. 8.

TO JOSEPHINE, AT MILAN.

_Brescia, August 31, 1796._

I start at once for Verona. I had hoped to get a letter from you; and I am terribly uneasy about you. You were rather ill when I left; I beg you not to leave me in such uneasiness. You promised me to be more regular; and, at the time, your tongue was in harmony with your heart. You, to whom nature has given a kind, genial, and wholly charming disposition, how can you forget the man who loves you with so much fervour? No letters from you for three days; and yet I have written to you several times. To be parted is dreadful, the nights are long, stupid, and wearisome; the day's work is monotonous.

This evening, alone with my thoughts, work and correspondence, with men and their stupid schemes, I have not even one letter from you which I might press to my heart.

The Staff has gone; I set off in an hour. To-night I get an express from Paris; there was for you only the enclosed letter, which will please you.

Think of me, live for me, be often with your well-beloved, and be sure that there is only one misfortune that he is afraid of--that of being no longer loved by his Josephine. A thousand kisses, very sweet, very affectionate, very exclusive.

Send M. Monclas at once to Verona; I will find him a place. He must get there before September 4th.

BONAPARTE.

* * * * *

_September 1st.--Bonaparte leaves Verona and directs his troops on Trent. Wurmser, reinforced by 20,000 men, leaves his right wing at Roveredo, and marches via the Brenta Gorge on Verona._

No. 9.

TO JOSEPHINE, AT MILAN.

_Ala, September 3, 1796._

We are in the thick of the fight, my beloved; we have driven in the enemy's outposts; we have taken eight or ten of their horses with a like number of riders. My troops are good-humoured and in excellent spirits. I hope that we shall do great things, and get into Trent by the fifth.

No letters from you, which really makes me uneasy; yet they tell me you are well, and have even had an excursion to Lake Como. Every day I wait impatiently for the post which will bring me news of you--you are well aware how I prize it. Far from you I cannot live, the happiness of my life is near my gentle Josephine. Think of me! Write me often, very often: in absence it is the only remedy: it is cruel, but, I hope, will be only temporary.

BONAPARTE.

* * * * *

_September 4th.--Austrian right wing defeated at Roveredo._

_September 5th.--Bonaparte enters Trent, cutting off Wurmser from
his base. Defeats Davidowich on the Lavis and leaves Vaubois to
contain this general while he follows Wurmser._

_September 6th.--Wurmser continues his advance, his outposts
occupy Vicenza and Montebello._

_September 7th.--Combat of Primolano: Austrians defeated. Austrian
vanguard attack Verona, but are repulsed by General Kilmaine._

_September 8th.--Battle of Bassano: Wurmser completely routed, and
retires on Legnago._

No. 10.

TO JOSEPHINE, AT MILAN.

_Montebello, Noon, September 10, 1796._

_My Dear_,--The enemy has lost 18,000 men prisoners; the rest killed or wounded. Wurmser, with a column of 1500 cavalry, and 500 infantry, has no resource but to throw himself into Mantua.

Never have we had successes so unvarying and so great. Italy, Friuli, the Tyrol, are assured to the Republic. The Emperor will have to create a second army: artillery, pontoons, baggage, everything is taken.

In a few days we shall meet; it is the sweetest reward for my labours and anxieties.

A thousand fervent and very affectionate kisses.

BONAPARTE.

* * * * *

_September 11th.--Skirmish at Cerea: Austrians successful.
Bonaparte arrives alone, and is nearly captured._

No. 11.

TO JOSEPHINE, AT MILAN.

_Ronco, September 12, 1796_, 10 A.M.

_My dear Josephine_,--I have been here two days, badly lodged, badly fed, and very cross at being so far from you.

Wurmser is hemmed in, he has with him 3000 cavalry and 5000 infantry. He is at Porto-Legnago; he is trying to get back into Mantua, but for him that has now become impossible. The moment this matter shall be finished I will be in your arms.

I embrace you a million times.

BONAPARTE.

* * * * *

_September 13th.--Wurmser, brushing aside the few French who
oppose him, gains the suburbs of Mantua._

_September 14th.--Massena attempts a surprise, but is repulsed._

_September 15th.--Wurmser makes a sortie from St. Georges, but is
driven back._

_September 16th.--And at La Favorite, with like result._

No. 12.

TO JOSEPHINE, AT MILAN.

_Verona, September 17, 1796._

_My Dear_,--I write very often and you seldom. You are naughty, and undutiful; very undutiful, as well as thoughtless. It is disloyal to deceive a poor husband, an affectionate lover. Ought he to lose his rights because he is far away, up to the neck in business, worries and anxiety. Without his Josephine, without the assurance of her love, what in the wide world remains for him. What will he do?

Yesterday we had a very sanguinary conflict; the enemy has lost heavily, and been completely beaten. We have taken from him the suburbs of Mantua.

Adieu, charming Josephine; one of these nights the door will be burst open with a bang, as if by a jealous husband, and in a moment I shall be in your arms.

A thousand affectionate kisses.

BONAPARTE.

* * * * *

_October 2nd._--(Moreau defeats Latour at Biberach, but then
continues his retreat.)

_October 8th._--Spain declares war against England.

_October 10th.--Peace with Naples signed._

No. 13.

TO JOSEPHINE, AT MILAN.

_Modena, October 17, 1796_, 9 P.M.

The day before yesterday I was out the whole day. Yesterday I kept my bed. Fever and a racking headache both prevented me writing to my beloved; but I got your letters. I have pressed them to my heart and lips, and the grief of a hundred miles of separation has disappeared. At the present moment I can see you by my side, not capricious and out of humour, but gentle, affectionate, with that mellifluent kindness of which my Josephine is the sole proprietor. It was a dream, judge if it has cured my fever. Your letters are as cold as if you were fifty; we might have been married fifteen years. One finds in them the friendship and feelings of that winter of life. Fie! Josephine. It is very naughty, very unkind, very undutiful of you. What more can you do to make me indeed an object for compassion? Love me no longer? Eh, that is already accomplished! Hate me? Well, I prefer that! Everything grows stale except ill-will; but indifference, with its marble pulse, its rigid stare, its monotonous demeanour!...

A thousand thousand very heartfelt kisses.

I am rather better. I start to-morrow. The English evacuate the Mediterranean. Corsica is ours. Good news for France, and for the army.

BONAPARTE.

* * * * *

_October 25th._--(Moreau recrosses the Rhine.)

_November 1st.--Advance of Marshal Alvinzi. Vaubois defeated by
Davidovich on November 5th, after two days' fight._

_November 6th.--Napoleon successful, but Vaubois' defeat compels
the French army to return to Verona._

No. 14.

TO JOSEPHINE, AT MILAN.

_Verona, November 9, 1796._

_My Dear_,--I have been at Verona since the day before yesterday. Although tired, I am very well, very busy; and I love you passionately at all times. I am just off on horseback.

I embrace you a thousand times.

BONAPARTE.

* * * * *

_November 12th.--Combat of Caldiero: Napoleon fails to turn the
Austrian position, owing to heavy rains. His position desperate._

_November 15th.--First battle of Arcola. French gain partial
victory._

_November 16th and 17th.--Second battle of Arcola. French
completely victorious "Lodi was nothing to Arcola" (Bourrienne)._

_November 17th._--Death of Czarina Catherine II. of Russia.

_November 18th.--Napoleon victoriously re-enters Verona by the
Venice gate, having left it, apparently in full retreat, on the
night of the 14th by the Milan gate._

No. 15.

From BOURRIENNE'S "LIFE OF NAPOLEON," vol. i. chap. 4.

_Verona, November 19th, Noon._

_My Adored Josephine_,--Once more I breathe freely. Death is no longer before me, and glory and honour are once more re-established. The enemy is beaten at Arcola. To-morrow we will repair Vaubois' blunder of abandoning Rivoli. In a week Mantua will be ours, and then your husband will clasp you in his arms, and give you a thousand proofs of his ardent affection. I shall proceed to Milan as soon as I can; I am rather tired. I have received letters from Eugene and Hortense--charming young people. I will send them to you as soon as I find my belongings, which are at present somewhat dispersed.

We have made five thousand prisoners, and killed at least six thousand of the enemy. Good-bye, my adored Josephine. Think of me often. If you cease to love your Achilles, if for him your heart grows cold, you will be very cruel, very unjust. But I am sure you will always remain my faithful mistress, as I shall ever remain your fond lover. Death alone can break the chain which sympathy, love, and sentiment have forged. Let me have news of your health. A thousand and a thousand kisses.

No. 16.

TO JOSEPHINE, AT MILAN.

_Verona, November 23, 1796._

I don't love you an atom; on the contrary, I detest you. You are a good for nothing, very ungraceful, very tactless, very tatterdemalion. You never write to me; you don't care for your husband; you know the pleasure your letters give him, and you write him barely half-a-dozen lines, thrown off anyhow.

How, then, do you spend the livelong day, madam? What business of such importance robs you of the time to write to your very kind lover? What inclination stifles and alienates love, the affectionate and unvarying love which you promised me? Who may this paragon be, this new lover who engrosses all your time, is master of your days, and prevents you from concerning yourself about your husband? Josephine, be vigilant; one fine night the doors will be broken in, and I shall be before you.

Truly, my dear, I am uneasy at getting no news from you. Write me four pages immediately, and some of those charming remarks which fill my heart with the pleasures of imagination.

I hope that before long I shall clasp you in my arms, and cover you with a million kisses as burning as if under the equator.

BONAPARTE.

No. 17.

_Verona, November 24, 1796._

I hope soon, darling, to be in your arms. I love you to distraction. I am writing to Paris by this courier. All goes well. Wurmser was beaten yesterday under Mantua. Your husband only needs Josephine's love to be happy.

BONAPARTE.

No. 18.

TO JOSEPHINE, AT GENOA.

_Milan_, _November 27, 1796_, 3 P.M.

I get to Milan; I fling myself into your room; I have left all in order to see you, to clasp you in my arms.... You were not there. You gad about the towns amid junketings; you run farther from me when I am at hand; you care no longer for your dear Napoleon. A passing fancy made you love him; fickleness renders him indifferent to you.

Used to perils, I know the remedy for weariness and the ills of life. The ill-luck that I now suffer is past all calculations; I did right not to anticipate it.

I shall be here till the evening of the 29th. Don't alter your plans; have your fling of pleasure; happiness was invented for you. The whole world is only too happy if it can please you, and only your husband is very, very unhappy.

BONAPARTE.

No. 19.

TO JOSEPHINE, AT GENOA.

_Milan_, _November 28, 1796_, 8 P.M.

I have received the courier whom Berthier had hurried on to Genoa. You have not had time to write me, I feel it intuitively. Surrounded with pleasures and pastimes, you would be wrong to make the least sacrifice for me. Berthier has been good enough to show me the letter which you wrote him. My intention is that you should not make the least change in your plans, nor with respect to the pleasure parties in your honour; I am of no consequence, either the happiness or the misery of a man whom you don't love is a matter of no moment.

For my part, to love you only, to make you happy, to do nothing which may vex you, that is the object and goal of my life.

Be happy, do not reproach me, do not concern yourself in the happiness of a man who lives only in your life, rejoices only in your pleasure and happiness. When I exacted from you a love like my own I was wrong; why expect lace to weigh as heavy as gold? When I sacrifice to you all my desires, all my thoughts, every moment of my life, I obey the sway which your charms, your disposition, and your whole personality have so effectively exerted over my unfortunate heart. I was wrong, since nature has not given me attractions with which to captivate you; but what I do deserve from Josephine is her regard and esteem, for I love her frantically and uniquely.

Farewell, beloved wife; farewell, my Josephine. May fate concentrate in my breast all the griefs and troubles, but may it give Josephine happy and prosperous days. Who deserves them more? When it shall be quite settled that she can love me no more, I will hide my profound grief, and will content myself with the power of being useful and serviceable to her.

I reopen my letter to give you a kiss.... Ah! Josephine!... Josephine!

BONAPARTE.

* * * * *

_December 24th._--French under Hoche sail for Ireland; return
"foiled by the elements."

_January 7th, 1797.--Alvinzi begins his new attack on Rivoli,
while Provera tries to get to Mantua with 11,000 men via Padua and
Legnago. Alvinzi's total forces 48,000, but only 28,000 at Rivoli
against Bonaparte's 23,000._

_January 9th._--Kehl (after 48 days' siege) surrenders to Archduke
Charles.

_January 10th.--Napoleon at Bologna advised of the advance, and
hastens to make Verona, as before, the pivot of his movements._

No. 20.

_January 12th.--Combat of St. Michel: Massena defeats Austrians._

TO JOSEPHINE, AT MILAN.

_Verona, January 12, 1797._

Scarcely set out from Roverbella, I learnt that the enemy had appeared at Verona. Massena made some dispositions, which have been very successful. We have made six hundred prisoners, and have taken three pieces of cannon. General Brune got seven bullets in his clothes, without being touched by one of them--this is what it is to be lucky.

I give you a thousand kisses. I am very well. We have had only ten men killed, and a hundred wounded.

BONAPARTE.

* * * * *

_January 13th.--Joubert attacked; retires from Corona on Rivoli in
the morning, joined by Bonaparte at night._

_January 14th.--Battle of Rivoli: Austrian centre defeated.
Bonaparte_ _at close of day hurries off with Massena's troops to
overtake Provera, marching sixteen leagues during the night.
Massena named next day enfant cheri de la victoire by Bonaparte,
and later Duc de Rivoli._

_January 15th.--Joubert continues battle of Rivoli: complete
defeat of Austrians. Provera, however, has reached St. Georges,
outside Mantua._

_January 16th--Sortie of Wurmser at La Favorite repulsed. Provera,
hurled back by Victor (named the Terrible on this day), is
surrounded by skilful manoeuvres of Bonaparte, and surrenders with
6000 men. In three days Bonaparte had taken 18,000 prisoners and
all Alvinzi's artillery. Colonel Graham gives Austrian losses at
14,000 to 15,000, exclusive of Provera's 6000._

_January 26th.--Combat of Carpenedolo: Massena defeats the
Austrians._

_February 2nd.--Joubert occupies Lawis. Capitulation of Mantua, by
Wurmser, with 13,000 men (and 6000 in hospital), but he, his
staff, and 200 cavalry allowed to return. Enormous capture of
artillery, including siege-train abandoned by Bonaparte before the
battle of Castiglione. Advance of Victor on Rome._

No. 21.

TO JOSEPHINE, AT BOLOGNA.

_Forli, February 3, 1797._

I wrote you this morning. I start to-night. Our forces are at Rimini. This country is beginning to be tranquillised. My cold makes me always rather tired.

I idolise you, and send you a thousand kisses.

A thousand kind messages to my sister.

BONAPARTE.

* * * * *

_February 9th.--Capture of Ancona._

No. 22.

TO JOSEPHINE, AT BOLOGNA.

_Ancona, February 10, 1797._

We have been at Ancona these two days. We took the citadel, after a slight fusillade, and by a _coup de main_. We made 1200 prisoners. I sent back the fifty officers to their homes.

I am still at Ancona. I do not press you to come, because everything is not yet settled, but in a few days I am hoping that it will be. Besides, this country is still discontented, and everybody is nervous.

I start to-morrow for the mountains. You don't write to me at all, yet you ought to let me have news of you every day.

Please go out every day; it will do you good.

I send you a million kisses. I never was so sick of anything as of this vile war.

Good-bye, my darling. Think of me!

BONAPARTE.

No. 23.

TO JOSEPHINE, AT BOLOGNA.

_Ancona, February 13, 1797._

I get no news from you, and I feel sure that you no longer love me. I have sent you the papers, and various letters. I start immediately to cross the mountains. The moment that I know something definite, I will arrange for you to accompany me; it is the dearest wish of my heart.

A thousand and a thousand kisses.

BONAPARTE.

No. 24.

TO JOSEPHINE, AT BOLOGNA.

_February 16, 1797._

You are melancholy, you are ill; you no longer write to me, you want to go back to Paris. Is it possible that you no longer love your comrade? The very thought makes me wretched. My darling, life is unbearable to me now that I am aware of your melancholy.

I make haste to send you Moscati, so that he may look after you. My health is rather bad; my cold gets no better. Please take care of yourself, love me as much as I love you, and write me every day. I am more uneasy than ever.

I have told Moscati to escort you to Ancona, if you care to come there. I will write to you there, to let you know where I am.

Perhaps I shall make peace with the Pope, then I shall soon be by your side; it is my soul's most ardent wish.

I send you a hundred kisses. Be sure that nothing equals my love, unless it be my uneasiness. Write to me every day yourself. Good-bye, dearest.

BONAPARTE.

No. 25.

_February 19th.--Peace of Tolentino with the Pope, who has to pay
for his equivocal attitude and broken treaty._

TO JOSEPHINE, AT BOLOGNA.

_Tolentino, February 19, 1797._

Peace with Rome has just been signed. Bologna, Ferrara, Romagna, are ceded to the Republic. The Pope is to pay us thirty millions shortly, and various works of art.

I start to-morrow morning for Ancona, and thence for Rimini, Ravenna, and Bologna. If your health permit, come to Rimini or Ravenna, but, I beseech you, take care of yourself.

Not a word from you--what on earth have I done? To think only of you, to love only Josephine, to live only for my wife, to enjoy happiness only with my dear one--does this deserve such harsh treatment from her? My dear, I beg you, think often of me, and write me every day.

You are ill, or else you do not love me! Do you think, then, that I have a heart of stone? and do my sufferings concern you so little? You must know me very ill! I cannot believe it! You to whom nature has given intelligence, tenderness, and beauty, you who alone can rule my heart, you who doubtless know only too well the unlimited power you hold over me!

Write to me, think of me, and love me.--Yours ever, for life.

BONAPARTE.

* * * * *

_March 16th.--Bonaparte defeats Archduke Charles on the
Tagliamento._

_March 25th.--Bonaparte writes the Directory from Goritz that "up
till now Prince Charles has manoeuvred worse than Beaulieu and
Wurmser."_

_March 29th.--Klagenfurt taken by Massena._

_April 1st.--Laybach by Bernadotte._

_April 17th.--Preliminaries of peace at Leoben signed by
Bonaparte._

_April 18th._--Hoche crosses the Rhine at Neuwied.

_April 21st_.--Moreau at Kehl.

_April 23rd._--Armistice of two Rhine armies follows preliminaries
of Leoben.

_May 16th.--Augereau enters Venice._

_June 28th._--French capture Corfu, and 600 guns.

_July 8th._--Death of Edmund Burke, aged sixty-eight.

_July 18th._--Talleyrand becomes French Minister of Foreign
Affairs.

_September 4th._--Day of 18th Fructidor at Paris. Coup d'Etat _of
Rewbell, Larevelliere-Lepeaux, and Barras, secretly aided by
Bonaparte, who has sent them Augereau to command Paris_.

_September 18th._--Death of Lazare Hoche, aged twenty-nine,
_probably poisoned by the Directory, which has recalled
Moreau, retired Bernadotte, and will soon launch Bonaparte on
the seas, so that he may find failure and Bantry Bay at Aboukir_
(Montgaillard).

_September 30th._--National bankruptcy admitted in France, _the
sixth time in two centuries_.

_October 17th.---Treaty of Campo-Formio; Bonaparte called
thereupon by Talleyrand "General Pacificator."_

_November 16th._--Death of Frederick William II., _King of
Prussia, aged fifty-three_; _succeeded by his son, Frederick
William III., aged twenty-seven_.

_December 1st.--Bonaparte Minister Plenipotentiary at Congress of
Rastadt, and_

_December 5th.--Arrives at Paris._

_December 10th.--Bonaparte presented to the Directory by
Talleyrand._

_December 27th.--Riots at Rome: Joseph Bonaparte (ambassador)
insulted; General Duphot (engaged to Joseph's sister-in-law,
Desiree) killed._

SERIES C

THE MARENGO CAMPAIGN, 1800

LETTERS OF THE FIRST CONSUL BONAPARTE TO HIS WIFE

_3rd Outlaw._ "By the bare scalp of Robin Hood's fat friar,
This fellow were a king for our wild faction!

_1st Outlaw._ "We'll have him; sirs, a word.

_Speed._ "Master, be one of them,
It is an honourable kind of thievery."

_The Two Gentlemen of Verona_,
Act iv., Scene I.

SERIES C

(For subjoined Notes to this Series see pages 223-225.)

LETTER PAGE

Christmas Day, 1799 223

No. 3. Ivrea, May 29th 224
_M.'s_ 224
_Cherries_ 224

No. 4. _Milan_ 224

THE CAMPAIGN OF MARENGO, 1800.

EVENTS OF 1798.

NAPOLEONIC HISTORY.--_May 20th._--_Napoleon sails from Toulon for
Egypt._

_June 11th.--Takes Malta; sails for Egypt (June 20th)._

_July 4th.--Captures Alexandria._

_July 21st.--Defeats Mamelukes at Battle of the Pyramids, and
enters Cairo the following day._

_August 1st.--French Fleet destroyed by Nelson at the Battle of
the Nile._

_October 7th.--Desaix defeats Mourad Bey at Sedyman (Upper
Egypt)._

* * * * *

GENERAL HISTORY.--_January 4th._--Confiscation of all English
merchandise in France. Commencement of Continental system.

_January 5th._--Directory fail to float a loan of 80 millions
(francs), and

_January 28th._--Forthwith invade Switzerland, ostensibly to
defend the Vaudois, under a sixteenth-century treaty, really to
revolutionise the country, and seize upon the treasure of Berne.

_February 15th._--Republic proclaimed at Rome. French occupy the
Vatican, and

_February 20th._--Drive Pope Pius VI. into exile to the convent of
Sienna.

_March 5th._--Capture of Berne by General Brune.

_April 13th._--Bernadotte, ambassador, attacked at the French
Embassy in Vienna.

_May 19th._--Fitzgerald, a leader in the Irish rebellion,
arrested.

_August 22nd._--General Humbert and 1100 French troops land at
Killala, County Mayo.

_September 8th._--Humbert and 800 men taken by Lord Cornwallis at
Ballinamack.

_September 12th._--Turkey declares war with France, and forms
alliance with England and Russia.

_November 19th._--Wolfe-Tone commits suicide.

_December 5th._--Macdonald defeats Mack and 40,000 Neapolitans at
Civita Castellana.

_December 9th._--Joubert occupies Turin.

_December 15th._--French occupy Rome.

_December 29th._--Coalition of Russia, Austria, and England
against France.

EVENTS OF 1799.

NAPOLEONIC HISTORY.--_January 23rd._--_Desaix defeats Mourad Bey
at Samhoud (Upper Egypt). February 3rd.--Desaix defeats Mourad Bey
at the Isle of Philae (near Assouan)--furthest limit of the Roman
Empire. Napoleon crosses Syrian desert and takes El Arish
(February 20th) and Gaza (February 25th), captures Jaffa (March
7th) and Sour, formerly Tyre (April 3rd). Junot defeats Turks and
Arabs at Nazareth (April 8th), and Kleber defeats them at Mount
Tabor (April 16th). Napoleon invests Acre but retires (May 21st),
re-enters Cairo (June 14th), annihilates Turkish army at Aboukir
(July 25th); secretly sails for France (August 23rd), lands at
Frejus (October 9th), arrives at Paris (October 13th); dissolves
the Directory (November 9th) and Council of Five Hundred (November
10th), and is proclaimed First Consul (December 24th)._

* * * * *

GENERAL HISTORY.--_January 10th._--Championnet occupies Capua.

_January 20th._--Pacification of La Vendee by General Hedouville.

_January 23rd._--Championnet occupies Naples.

_March 3rd._--Corfu taken from the French by a Russo-Turkish
force.

_March 7th._--Massena defeats the Austrians, and conquers the
country of the Grisons.

_March 25th._--Archduke Charles defeats Jourdan at Stockach.

_March 30th._--Kray defeats French (under Scherer) near Verona,

_April 5th._--And again at Magnano.

_April 14th._--Suwarrow takes command of Austrian army at Verona;

_April 22nd._--Defeats French at Cassano, with heavy loss.

_April 28th._--French plenipotentiaries, returning from Radstadt,
murdered by men in Austrian uniforms--Montgaillard thinks by
creatures of the Directory.

_May 4th._--Capture of Seringapatam by General Baird.

_May 12th._--Austro-Russian army checked at Bassignana.

_May 16th._--Sieyes becomes one of the Directory.

_May 20th._--Suwarrow takes Brescia,

_May 24th._--And Milan (citadel).

_June 5th._--Massena defeated at Zurich by Archduke Charles; and
Macdonald (_June 19th_) by Suwarrow at the Trebbia.

_June 18th._--Gohier, Roger-Ducos, and Moulin replace Treilhard,
Lareveillere-Lepeaux, and Merlin on the Directory.