Array Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne - The Collected Works of Napoleon Bonaparte

Adieu, dear. Kindest and most affectionate regards.

Napoleon.

December 27th.21—Peace of Presburg.

December 31st.—Napoleon arrives outside Munich, and joins Josephine the next morning.

Table of Contents

"Battles then lasted a few hours, campaigns a few days."

—Bignon, On Friedland (vol. vi. 292).

1806.

January 1st.—The Elector of Bavaria and the Duke of Wurtemberg created Kings by France.

January 23rd. —Death of William Pitt, aged 47.

February 15th.—Joseph Bonaparte enters Naples, and on

March 10th is declared King of the Two Sicilies.

April 1st.—Prussia seizes Hanover.

June 5th.—Louis Bonaparte made King of Holland.

July 6th.—Battle of Maida (Calabria. English defeat General Reynier. French loss 4000; English 500).

July 12th.—Napoleon forms Confederation of the Rhine, with himself as Chief and Protector.

July 18th.—Gaeta surrenders to Massena.

August 6th.—Francis II., Emperor of Germany, becomes Emperor of Austria as Francis I.

August 15th.—Russia refuses to ratify peace preliminaries signed by her ambassador at Paris on July 25th.

September 13th. —Death of Charles James Fox, aged 57.

No. 1.

October 5th.—Proclamation by the Prince of the Peace against France (germ of Spanish War).

To the Empress, at Mayence.

October 5, 1806.

It will be quite in order for the Princess of Baden to come to Mayence. I cannot think why you weep; you do wrong to make yourself ill. Hortense is inclined to pedantry; she loves to air her views. She has written me; I am sending her a reply. She ought to be happy and cheerful. Pluck and a merry heart—that's the recipe.

Adieu, dear. The Grand Duke has spoken to me about you; he saw you at Florence at the time of the retreat.

Napoleon.

No. 2.

To the Empress, at Mayence.

Bamberg, October 7, 1806.

I start this evening, my dear, for Cronach. The whole of my army is advancing. All goes well. My health is perfect. I have only received as yet one letter from you. I have some from Eugène and from Hortense. Stephanie should now be with you. Her husband wishes to make the campaign; he is with me.

Adieu. A thousand kisses and the best of health.

Napoleon.

October 8th.—Prussia, assisted by Saxony, Russia, and England, declares war against France.

October 9th.—Campaign opens. Prussians defeated at Schleitz.

October 10th.—Lannes defeats them at Saalfeld. Prince Louis of Prussia killed; 1000 men and 30 guns taken.

October 11th.—French peace negotiations with England broken off.

No. 3.

To the Empress, at Mayence.

Gera , October 13, 1806 , 2 A.M.

My Dear ,—I am at Gera to-day. My affairs go excellently well, and everything as I could wish. With the aid of God, they will, I believe, in a few days have taken a terrible course for the poor King of Prussia, whom I am sorry for personally, because he is a good man. The Queen is at Erfurt with the King. If she wants to see a battle, she shall have that cruel pleasure. I am in splendid health. I have already put on flesh since my departure; yet I am doing, in person, twenty and twenty-five leagues a day, on horseback, in my carriage, in all sorts of ways. I lie down at eight, and get up at midnight. I fancy at times that you have not yet gone to bed.—Yours ever,

Napoleon.

October 14th.—Battles of Jena and Auerstadt.

No. 4.

October 15th.—Napoleon at Weimar, He releases 6000 Saxon prisoners, which soon causes peace with Saxony.

To the Empress, at Mayence.

Jena , October 15, 1806 , 3 A.M.

My Dear ,—I have made excellent manœuvres against the Prussians. Yesterday I won a great victory. They had 150,000 men. I have made 20,000 prisoners, taken 100 pieces of cannon, and flags. I was in presence of the King of Prussia, and near to him; I nearly captured him and the Queen. For the past two days I have bivouacked. I am in excellent health.

Adieu, dear. Keep well, and love me.

If Hortense is at Mayence, give her a kiss; also to Napoleon and to the little one.

Napoleon.

No. 5.

October 16th.—Soult routs Kalkreuth at Greussen; Erfurt and 16,000 men capitulate to Murat.

To the Empress, at Mayence.

Weimar , October 16, 1806 , 5 P.M.

M. Talleyrand will have shown you the bulletin, my dear; you will see my successes therein. All has happened as I calculated, and never was an army more thoroughly beaten and more entirely destroyed. I need only add that I am very well, and that fatigue, bivouacs, and night-watches have made me fat.

Adieu, dear. Kindest regards to Hortense and to the great M. Napoleon.—Yours ever,

Napoleon.

October 17th.—Bernadotte defeats Prussian reserve at Halle.

October 18th.—Davoust takes Leipsic, and an enormous stock of English merchandise.

October 19th.—Napoleon at Halle.

October 20th.—Lannes takes Dessau, and Davoust Wittenberg.

October 21st.—Napoleon at Dessau.

No. 6.

October 23rd.—Napoleon makes Wittenberg central depôt for his army.

To the Empress, at Mayence.

Wittenberg, October 23, 1806, Noon.

I have received several of your letters. I write you only a line. My affairs prosper. To-morrow I shall be at Potsdam, and at Berlin on the 25th. I am wonderfully well, and thrive on hard work. I am very glad to hear you are with Hortense and Stephanie, en grande compagnie . So far, the weather has been fine.

Kind regards to Stephanie, and to everybody, not forgetting M. Napoleon.

Adieu, dear.—Yours ever,

Napoleon.

No. 7.

October 24th.—Lannes occupies Potsdam.

To the Empress, at Mayence.

Potsdam, October 24, 1806.

My Dear ,—I have been at Potsdam since yesterday, and shall remain there to-day. I continue satisfied with my undertakings. My health is good; the weather very fine. I find Sans-Souci very pleasant.

Adieu, dear. Best wishes to Hortense and to M. Napoleon.

Napoleon.

October 25th.—Marshal Davoust enters Berlin; Bernadotte occupies Brandenburg.

October 28th.—Prince Hohenlohe surrenders at Prenzlau to Murat with 16,000 men, including the Prussian Guard.

October 30th.—Stettin surrenders with 5000 men and 150 cannon.

No. 8.

November 1st.—Anklam surrenders, with 4000 men, to General Becker.

To the Empress, at Mayence.

November 1, 1806 , 2 A.M.

Talleyrand has just arrived and tells me, my dear, that you do nothing but cry. What on earth do you want? You have your daughter, your grandchildren, and good news; surely these are sufficient reasons for being happy and contented.

The weather here is superb; there has not yet fallen during the whole campaign a single drop of water. I am very well, and all goes excellently.

Adieu, dear; I have received a letter from M. Napoleon; I do not believe it is from him, but from Hortense. Kindest regards to everybody.

Napoleon.

November 2nd.—Kustrin surrenders, with 4000 men and 90 guns, to Davoust.

No. 9.

To the Empress, at Mayence.

Berlin, November 2, 1806.

Your letter of October 26th to hand. We have splendid weather here. You will see by the bulletin that we have taken Stettin—it is a very strong place. All my affairs go as well as possible, and I am thoroughly satisfied. One pleasure is alone wanting—that of seeing you, but I hope that will not long be deferred.