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THE LIFE OF THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. [CHAP. XIII.] authorities of the town in which it is directed to convene.

"4th. Each assembly shall commission three of its members to repair to the general in chief, with the lists and statements above mentioned; immediately upon which the assemblies are to be dissolved. Their existence is not to last more than twelve hours.

"The general in chief forbids, under the severest penalties, the agents of the army, military commissaries, and the officers generally, from making any requisitions whatever, unless the same be signed by the intendant general."

The practical efficacy of this order, in bringing to light every abuse, and exposing to censure or punishment its author, no matter what might be his rank, is very remarkable, when it is considered that in most cases measures of this kind have the effect of concealing the abuses, and sheltering the culprits complained of. The prompt dissolution which he decreed to assemblies created by himself, is worthy of particular attention, as evincing the extreme apprehension under which this wonderful man always laboured at seeing power exercised by popular bodies.

By means of this just and energetic measure, he not only guarded the resources of the country, and maintained the discipline of the army, but must have laid a deep foundation of respect and influence in the hearts of the Italian people.

About this time, the Aulic council not having gained any real victories in Italy, circulated through the German journals, the account of a pretended one. The sorry fiction was thus alluded to by Bonaparte, in a letter to Carnot of the 6th of July ;"General Berthier is furious at the imaginary victory which the German gazetteers have made Beaulieu gain over us. For my part, I think these gentlemen have a right to comfort themselves in the only manner they can. Dreams have always been the consolation of the unfortunate."

CHAPTER XIV.

From the 21st of July to the 21st of August 1796.

The French armies on the Rhine-Influence of Bonaparte on their operations — Efforts of Austria, to form a new army in Italy—Strength of Wurmser's army-Comparative weakness of that of Bonaparte- Wurmser opens the campaign—His plan-Forces Joubert-Falls upon MassenaProgress of Quasdonowich-Plan of Bonaparte-He raises the siege of Mantua - Withdraws Massena and Augereau from the Adige - Moves against Quasdonowich-Combat of Lonato-Brescia retaken-Salo retaken-Battle of Lonato-Of Castiglione-Defeat and retreat of Wurmser -Activity and exposure of Bonaparte-Combat of Peschiera-Verona retaken-The Austrians driven back into the Tyrol-Reflections.

As early as the month of July the vigour and skill of Bonaparte, not only held in quiet or subjection the whole of Italy (the single fortress of Mantua excepted), but extended their influence to the distant theatre of the Rhine; where the interests of France, confided to older generals and numerous armies, were upheld and promoted by his exploits alone.

Upon leaving Paris to take command of his army, he was given to understand by the directory, that Jourdan and Moreau, at the head of one hundred and fifty thousand men, would open the campaign in the course of the month of April; and that consequently the enemy against whom he was to contend in Italy, if not weakened by draughts to repair the ravages of war on the Rhine, would at least receive no reenforcements from that quarter. But so different was the actual progress from the preconcerted course of the campaign, that Jourdan and Moreau

remained inactive in cantonments until the first of June; and commenced operations then, not with a view of seconding the movements of Bonaparte, or relieving him from the pressure of superior force, but because the Austrian cabinet, upon learning the submission of the court of Turin, had denounced the armistice on the Rhine, in the hope of effecting by a timely diversion, the rescue of Beaulieu from destruction, and Lombardy from conquest, and of compensating, by successes on that frontier, their unexpected and uninterrupted reverses in Italy. As for the promise of the directory, the unceremonious language in which they confess its violation, deserves to be cited as a rare example of official candour. In their despatch of the 18th of May, before they even apprehended that the Austrians would be the first to denounce the armistice on the Rhine, they declared to Bonaparte: "The moment in which the enemy shall detach a force from their armies on the Rhine, to oppose to our army in Italy, is the one we should choose for breaking the armistice."

But this was far from being the full extent to which Bonaparte's operations in Italy had affected the state of the war in Germany. The armistice was denounced on the 21st of May, and as by its terms a previous notice of ten days was required, hostilities were not to commence before the last day of May. At that precise epoch, notwithstanding the strength of the armies under Jourdan and Moreau, the Archduke Charles and Wurmser were opposed to them with a superiority in numbers of twenty-two thousand men, including an advantage in cavalry of more than two to one; and the Austrian generals consequently meditated offensive operations. But in a very few days after the rupture of the armistice had been directed by the cabinet of Vienna, intelligence of the battle of Lodi, and of the capture of Milan, produced a complete revolution in their plans. It was no longer possible to save Lombardy by movements however active or bold on the Rhine; and therefore an order was instantly despatched to marshal Wurmser, directing him to march with a corps of thirty thousand select troops to the relief of Mantua. At the same time, the archduke was instructed to confine himself to the defensive, and to allow the armistice to continue. But for this last object, the instructions were too late in reaching their destination.

As Jourdan was in possession of the bridges over the Rhine at Dusseldorff, Cologne, and Neuwied, while Moreau had no such

advantage, the first movement of the French was to be made by the former general, in order to divert the attention of the enemy from his colleague. Accordingly on the 1st of June general Kleber, with the left division of the army of the Sambre and Meuse, broke up from Dusseldorff, and passing the small rivers, the Wipper, the Agger, and the Sieg, attacked and defeated on the 4th at Altenkirchen the right wing of the archduke under the duke of Wirtemburg; and following up his success drove it across the Lahn. In order to support this operation, Jourdan with his centre crossed the Rhine at Cologne and Neuwied, and advanced upon Kleber's right to the Lahn; while general Marceau, with the remaining division, leaving his camp at Bingenfield, took post in front of Mayence to observe and keep in respect the corps of Austrians under general Mercantin. These operations had the effect which was desired; for the archduke, in order to strengthen his means of counteracting them, drew an entire division from the army on the upper Rhine. But, on the 15th of June, he defeated at Westlar, the extreme left of the French under general Lefebvre; and Jourdan, discouraged by this check and dissatisfied with his position, having his troops on a line perpendicular to a broad river and the enemy in superior force on his exposed flank, declined risking a general action, and commenced his retreat. With the greater part of his army, he effected this on the 18th at Cologne and Neuwied, his rear protected by a brigade under general Soult, and a series of brilliant charges executed by adjudant general Ney. With the left division, Kleber, upon whom Lefebvre had rallied, also retraced his steps, and after sustaining himself gallantly against a violent attack at Kirpen, on the 18th, returned to Dusseldorff without serious loss or disorder.

While these abortive operations of Jourdan were in progress, Moreau, who, in consequence of teh immense detachments to the right and left that had been drawn from the army opposed to him, had acquired a decided superiority of force, with the divisions of Desaix and St. Cyr gained an advantage over a corps of twenty thousand men, which had been posted by Wurmser at Franckenthal, on the left bank of the Rhine. On the 5th of June, this corps was dislodged and forced to take refuge in their intrenched camp, at the head of the bridge of Manheim. This inconsiderable success was not sufficient to counterbalance the failure or redeem the discredit of the republican arms on the lower Rhine,

and therefore the directory, determining to reverse their plan of operations on this frontier, ordered Moreau to assume the offensive by effecting the passage of the Rhine at Strasbourg. The execution of this order he commenced on the 24th of June, and, after a variety of skilful movements, established his entire force on the right bank of the river in the first week of July.

As soon as Moreau got in motion, the archduke Charles hastening to oppose him with the greater part of the force before which Jourdan had retreated, gave the signal for this officer to resume offensive movements in his turn. On the 29th of June, his divisions again passed the Rhine at Dusseldorff, Cologne, and Nieuwid; so that in the beginning of July, both the French armies on the German frontier, having gained in succession a superiority of force in consequence of Bonaparte's battles on the Po, had succeeded in passing the Rhine, and opening the campaign effectively. But it was now too late to reflect, by this operation, any advantage upon the army of Italy, for the Austrian force for the relief of Mantua, was already assembling in the Tyrol, and could not be recalled or weakened by a distant diversion at Strasburg or Cologne (1).

From the moment that Beaulieu was driven into the Alps, with the remains of his army, amounting to twenty-five thousand men, strenuous exertions had been made by the Imperial government, to collect an overwhelming force on the Italian frontier, not only by the detachment of thirty thousand regular troops from the upper Rhine, which has been mentioned, but by volunteers and recruits. The martial population of the Tyrolian provinces, attached by hereditary allegiance and the enjoyment of peculiar privileges, to the house of Austria, being appealed to by the archduchess Elisabeth, who held a court at Inspruck, furnished the first species of force in considerable numbers (2). To supply the last, the immense monarchy laboured through all its regions, and the men as fast as they were raised, were forwarded rapidly from every quarter to Trent. In consequence of these exertions, Wurmser, by the middle of July, found himself at the head of an army eighty thousand strong, furnished with all the means of war, and invigorated by the health of a mountain climate; so that, confident in his strength, he felt prepared to retrieve the emperor's possessions in Italy as rapidly as his predecessor had lost them. His headquarters were established at Trent as early as the 15th of