BONAPARTE. 



601 



complain of this injustice, and lived there in retire- 

 ment, until Aubry, who, from jealousy or some other 

 cause, was ill disposed towards him, was succeeded 

 by M. Pontecoulant. The latter employed the young 

 general to assist the committee in drawing up the 

 plan of the campaign. When first consul, Bonaparte 

 gratefully called M. Pontecoulant into the senate, as 

 soon as he was of lawful age. Bonaparte always 

 retained his rank of general of brigade in the line, 

 Aubry having taken from him only the artillery. 

 After remaining some time in Paris, he again joined 

 the artillery. 



The cast which the political notions of Bonaparte 

 received from the stormy character of the period 

 in which he was educated, and at which he com- 

 menced his career, is apparent in much of his future 

 conduct : he never had the good fortune to see the 

 calm operation of peaceful liberty the happy 

 development of the elements of a free government. 

 At this period, he became acquainted with Madame 

 de Beauharuais, for whom he conceived an ardent 

 passion. (See Josephine.) The 13th Vendemiaire 

 changed his situation. On this day, the sections of 

 Paris rose against the convention. Barras command- 

 ed the troops of the latter, and, remembering the 

 services of Bonaparte at the siege of Toulon, he 

 appointed him general of division. This appointment, 

 secured the victory to the convention ; the constitu- 

 tion of the year 3 established the directory, and 

 Bonaparte was made chief of the army of the 

 interior, in the room of Barras, who had been 

 elected a director. At the house of Barras, he 

 often saw the citoyenne Beauharnais, whom he mar- 

 ried March 9, 1796. Five months after the day of 

 the sections, he was appointed by Carnot (q. v.) 

 general-in-chief of the army destined for Italy. At 

 the time when the way was thus opened for his 

 brilliant career, he was but twenty-seven years old. 

 March 30, 1796 , he succeeded Scherer in the com- 

 mand at Nice. This appointment to a command so 

 vitally important to the interests of France, conferred 

 by Carnot, the tried republican, who had no object 

 but the welfare of his country, was, perhaps, the 

 greatest tribute ever paid to the genius of Bonaparte. 

 The coalition at that time existing against France was 

 formidable ; it was composed of Britain, Austria, 

 Piedmont, Naples, Bavaria, and all the minor states of 

 Germany and Italy ; and France commenced the war 

 against Austria, which it was determined to attack 

 chiefly in Italy. The conduct of this war was intrust- 

 ed to general Bonaparte, who left Paris a few days 

 after his marriage with Mad. de Beauharnais, to 

 whom he ever continued tenderly attached. He now 

 followed that plan which, a year previously, had been 

 rejected by the commissioners. Arrived at Nice, his 

 head-quarters, the young general had first to obtain 

 an influence with veteran officers, already distinguish- 

 ed by a series of successes Augereau, Massena, La- 

 harpe, &c. The army was young, enthusiastic, and 

 victorious ; but without money, provisions, clothes, 

 and almost without arms, destitute of artillery, and 

 poorly disciplined. 



With such an army, under such circumstances, he 

 had to encounter numerous, well provisioned, well 

 disciplined forces, who commanded all the resources 

 which were wanting to the French. The position of 

 the French army in the rocks of Liguria was danger- 

 ous ; Bonaparte saw that nothing could save them 

 but victories. His proclamations to his soldiers, ad- 

 mirably calculated to excite their enthusiasm, pride, 

 and feeling of honour, had a striking effect; and, 

 like Frederic the Great, he astonished his enemies 

 by a new system of tactics. Within six days, in 

 which victory followed victory, obtained by ma- 

 noeuvres not less scientific than bold, he separated the 





Piedmontese and Austrian armies, reduced 12,000 

 Austrians to inaction, took forty cannons, became 

 master of the fortresses of Coni, Ceva, Tortona, and 

 Alexandria, and obliged the king of Sardinia to sue 

 for peace. The eyes of all Europe were now turned 

 upon the youthful general, and the officers of the 

 hostile armies themselves, acknowledged the superi- 

 ority of his system of concentration. Massena, Au- 

 gereau, and Joubert distinguished themselves in this 

 campaign ; but the superiority of Bonaparte was so 

 decided, that jealousy was silent, and his soldiers be- 

 gan to adore him ; in fact, no commander ever took 

 more care of his soldiers. He had next to conquer 

 Upper Italy, of which Mantua is the key. That 

 place was considered impregnable, and Salicetti, 

 commissioner of the directory, and Berthier, chief of 

 the staff, opposed his project of besieging it ; but he 

 determined to take it before the Austrians should be 

 able to throw a strong garrison into the place. 

 Bonaparte finally relinquished his plan ; but he after- 

 wards found that his calculation had been correct, 

 and he resolved thenceforth to trust to his genius 

 alone. By the treaty of Turin, Valenza hatf been 

 ceded to him ; but his object in obtaining this cession 

 was merely to attract the attention of the enemy to 

 that point, whilst he marched rapidly upon Piacenza, 

 passed the Po, and advanced upon Lodi, where along 

 and narrow bridge crosses the Adda. 



The celebrated battle of Lodi was fought on the 

 10th of May, in which the personal courage of Bona- 

 parte was conspicuous. (See Lodi.) Massena and 

 Berthier particularly distinguished themselves. The 

 capture of Lodi made Bonaparte master of Lombar- 

 dy ; but he could not, as he desired, carry the war into 

 Germany, by the way of the Tyrol, without the pos- 

 session of Mantua. His correspondence with Carnot 

 and the directory at this time, shows not only the ar- 

 dent general, but the sagacious politician. He was 

 desirous to co-operate with the army of the Rhine, 

 and to sign a peace in the heart of Bavaria ; but the 

 directory threw obstacles in his way ; they were even 

 jealous of the armistices which he concluded, and 

 formed the project of dividing the army in Italy 

 between him and Kellermann, which deeply wounded 

 his feelings. In his letters to Carnot and the direc- 

 tory, these feelings are expressed with spirit, and he 

 obtained his object. He was left to conduct the war 

 in Italy alone, and Kellermann received the command 

 of the country and the places ceded to France by the 

 treaty of Turin, signed on May 18, by the directory. 



Bonaparte's attention was now directed to the con- 

 quest of Mantua, and the arrangement of political af- 

 fairs in Italy ; but insurrectionary movements breaking 

 out in many places of Lombardy, lie was obliged to re- 

 sort to military executions. Towards Venice and Ge- 

 noa he conducted himself with the sagacity of an expe- 

 rienced statesman. On the 14th of May, he entered 

 Milan, where he found 150 cannons. Heavy contribu- 

 tions were levied, part of which, with many of the finest 

 works of art, were sent to France, and part were ap- 

 propriated for the support of the armies of the Rhine. 

 In the mean time, Bonaparte had passed the Mincio, 

 and driven Beaulieu out of Italy ; Massena occu- 

 pied the attention of the Austrians in Tyrol ; Serru- 

 rier blockaded Mantua; Augereau passed the Po, 

 and obliged the pope to sign an armistice with Vau- 

 bois, who advanced to Leghorn, and took that impor- 

 tant place from the British. Thus the little army of 

 Bonaparte commanded Italy from the Alps to the 

 papal dominions. Naples, Modena, and Purma had 

 hastened to conclude peace, but Mantua was not 

 yet taken. Wurmser, the Austrian general, was on 

 the march, with a large army, to relieve Mantua ; 

 but, fortunately for Bonaparte, the Austrian forces 

 were divided, and he immediately resolved to beat 



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