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06 - Story of Napoleon by Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall · Story of Napoleon

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  Speaker 1: Chapter six of the Story of Napoleon the Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall.
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  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by
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  Speaker 1: Patrick Seville. Chapter six Napoleon and Prussia. All this time Prussia,
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  Speaker 1: the greatest of the German states, had held aloof The
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  Speaker 1: king was very unwilling to plunge his people into war,
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  Speaker 1: so he tried to be neutral and keep the peace.
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  Speaker 1: Prussia had a large, and it was thought a well
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  Speaker 1: drilled army, and as long as Napoleon had the Russians
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  Speaker 1: and the Austrians to fight, he was not sorry, perhaps
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  Speaker 1: that Prussia should keep peace. He even tried to bribe
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  Speaker 1: the king not to fight by offering to give him
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  Speaker 1: the electorate of Hanover. The electorate of Hanover was, of
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  Speaker 1: course not his to give. It belonged to the King
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  Speaker 1: of Britain. But now having got rid of the Russians
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  Speaker 1: and the Austriansullian was very insulting to the King of Prussia.
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  Speaker 1: Whether he really meant to insult him and so drive
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  Speaker 1: him to war, or whether he was only bent on
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  Speaker 1: having his own way without caring how he hurt others,
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  Speaker 1: does not matter. A new war, this time between France
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  Speaker 1: and Prussia soon began. Britain, Russia, and Austria would all
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  Speaker 1: have helped Prussia. But King Frederic William, after having held
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  Speaker 1: back for so long, now rushed into war before his
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  Speaker 1: own plans or those of his allies were ready. Although
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  Speaker 1: Prussia had a great army, many of the officers were old,
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  Speaker 1: and the country had been so long at peace that
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  Speaker 1: they had forgotten the best ways of fighting. Napoleon, on
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  Speaker 1: the other hand, was always fighting, always watchful, always ready.
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  Speaker 1: So just as he had quickly marched against the Austrians
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  Speaker 1: before the Russians had time to come help them, now
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  Speaker 1: he marched against the Prussians. It was near Yenna that
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  Speaker 1: the great battle of the campaign was fought. Like the
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  Speaker 1: dawn of Austerlitz, the dawn of Jenna was shrouded and missed.
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  Speaker 1: Not until ten o'clock did the thick clouds roll away
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  Speaker 1: and the warm October sun shine out. Then, And not
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  Speaker 1: till then did the Prussian leader see that he had
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  Speaker 1: to fight not a small part of the French army,
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  Speaker 1: as he had thought, but more than eighty three thousand
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  Speaker 1: men under the Great Emperor himself. He himself had scarcely
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  Speaker 1: more than half that number. Once more the battle raged,
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  Speaker 1: and once more it ended in a great victory for Napoleon,
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  Speaker 1: and the Prussians were scattered in fearful route. On the
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  Speaker 1: same day, and at the same time, another battle was fought.
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  Speaker 1: This was at Auerstett, about fifteen miles away. It was
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  Speaker 1: fought by the other half of the Prussian army against
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  Speaker 1: the French under General d'avoust. King Frederick William was with
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  Speaker 1: his army, and at Auerschet the Prussiaians far outnumbered the French,
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  Speaker 1: but still the result was the same, and the French won.
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  Speaker 1: The day, the fleeing remnants of both armies met and
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  Speaker 1: mingled and fled to the nearest fortress for safety. Thus,
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  Speaker 1: in one day the great army of Prussia was crushed.
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  Speaker 1: Masses of French soldiers now poured into Prussia, and the
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  Speaker 1: Prussian fortresses fell one after the other into their hands.
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  Speaker 1: Whether the garrisons were overcome with fear at Napoleon's great name,
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  Speaker 1: or whether some of them betrayed their country for one
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  Speaker 1: reason or another, the fortresses made little resistance, but gave
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  Speaker 1: in quickly, and the conqueror marched in great triumph to Berlin.
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  Speaker 1: Crushed and dispirited, the king of Prussia tried to make peace,
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  Speaker 1: but Napoleon asked too much, His terms were too hard.
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  Speaker 1: He demanded the whole of Prussia as far as the Vistula. Crushed.
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  Speaker 1: Though he was, the king was not ready to yield
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  Speaker 1: as much as that. The Russians, too, were now marching
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  Speaker 1: to help him. So the war went on, and it
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  Speaker 1: was now carried into Poland. The march through Poland was terrible.
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  Speaker 1: As a general rule, it had been the custom to
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  Speaker 1: stop fighting during winter and begin again in the spring,
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  Speaker 1: but Napoleon bound himself by no such rules. So through rain,
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  Speaker 1: sleet and snow, over roads knee deep in mud, the
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  Speaker 1: army moved on. The sufferings of the soldiers were great.
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  Speaker 1: Their boots and clothes were worn out and not nearly
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  Speaker 1: warm enough for the winter. So far north, as much
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  Speaker 1: colder than in France, food was hard to get. No
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  Speaker 1: bread was to be had. The water was muddy and bad.
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  Speaker 1: The houses were mere hovels, where men, cows and pigs
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  Speaker 1: all lived together. And this is what the Poles had
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  Speaker 1: the impotence to call a country, said the French soldiers
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  Speaker 1: in disgust. In Poland, we have found a fifth element,
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  Speaker 1: said Napoleon, it is mud. Thus, fighting and marching and cold,
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  Speaker 1: wet and hunger, the army passed the Vistula. Now at last,
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  Speaker 1: seeing that his men were utterly worn out, Napoleon consented
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  Speaker 1: to rest. He took up his headquarters at Warshaw, the
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  Speaker 1: capital of the province, while the army founded quarters in
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  Speaker 1: the little villages along the banks of the Vistula. Napoleon's
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  Speaker 1: weary soldiers were, however, only allowed about a month's rest.
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  Speaker 1: For the Russians, more used to the bitter cold than
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  Speaker 1: the French, began to make ready for battle as soon
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  Speaker 1: as the swamps and marshes hardened by the frost made
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  Speaker 1: it once more possible for horses and cannon to pass.
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  Speaker 1: At a little place called prius Ilo, not far from Konigsburg,
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  Speaker 1: a terrible battle took place. The day was dark and
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  Speaker 1: lowering heavy clouds covered the gray sky. A bitter wind
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  Speaker 1: drove the frozen snow, stinging the faces of the hungry,
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  Speaker 1: ill fed men, who had night before had supped on
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  Speaker 1: nothing but potatoes. Yet, in the midst of all this misery,
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  Speaker 1: in discomfort, both sides fought with a terrible brutal courage.
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  Speaker 1: The Russians fought like bulls, said the French, their famous
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  Speaker 1: Cossack horsemen charged and wheeled and charged again. Cannon roared,
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  Speaker 1: muskets cracked and rattled, and amid the screams of horward
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  Speaker 1: clangor of battle, the silent white snow whirled and fell
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  Speaker 1: to be trampled and reddened with the blood of fifty
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  Speaker 1: thousand men. At last, the short winter's day was over,
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  Speaker 1: and darkness covered the dreadful field, which in the morning
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  Speaker 1: had laid so white and unstained. Both sides claimed the victory,
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  Speaker 1: but indeed it was only a useless slaughter. What a massacre,
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  Speaker 1: cried a French officer, as next day he rode across
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  Speaker 1: the field. What a massacre and without result. After the
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  Speaker 1: Battle of prius Ilo, both armies were so shattered that
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  Speaker 1: until the winter passed there was little more fighting. Napoleon
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  Speaker 1: even tried to make peace with King Frederick William, offering
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  Speaker 1: him this time much better terms than before, but the
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  Speaker 1: king answered that he could only make peace which would
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  Speaker 1: include the Tsar of Russia, so no peace was made.
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  Speaker 1: With the coming of summer, the struggle began once more.
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  Speaker 1: After some fierce fighting, the war came to an end
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  Speaker 1: with a battle fought near the little town of Friedland.
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  Speaker 1: From dawn to dark the battle lasted. The Russians fought
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  Speaker 1: fiercely and well, but Napoleon, as he rode about among
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  Speaker 1: his cheering, saluting men, cried again and again. To day
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  Speaker 1: is a lucky day. It is the anniversary of Marengo.
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  Speaker 1: So roused by the memory of that great fight, the
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  Speaker 1: French fought with double courage. At last, the Russian army,
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  Speaker 1: broken and dismayed, fled across the Prigal, followed closely by
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  Speaker 1: the pursuing French, then drivens still at the sword's point.
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  Speaker 1: Day by day they fled an utter rout until they
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  Speaker 1: had passed the Niemen. Behind this broad valley they found
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  Speaker 1: shelter from their foes. Upon the one bank lay the
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  Speaker 1: remnants of the Russian army, upon the other the French.
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  Speaker 1: And now that his army was shattered, the Tsar sought
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  Speaker 1: for peace, and Napoleon, for many reasons, was ready to listen.
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  Speaker 1: In the middle of the Niemen, opposite the town of Tilsit,
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  Speaker 1: a gaily decorated and curtain's raft was moored over it
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  Speaker 1: floated the Eagle of France and the Eagle of Russia.
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  Speaker 1: Here the two emperors met and embraced like brothers rather
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  Speaker 1: than enemies. They then went within the curtains and talked
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  Speaker 1: for a long time, no one being near to hear
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  Speaker 1: what was said. But when they came out again they
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  Speaker 1: seemed more friendly than before. After this meeting, the town
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  Speaker 1: of Tilsit, which is in Prussia but only a few
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  Speaker 1: miles from the Russian frontier, was declared neutral, and emperors
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  Speaker 1: went to live there and held their courts, each in
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  Speaker 1: a different part of the town. Now, instead of the
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  Speaker 1: horror of war, the town was full of gaiety. There
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  Speaker 1: were writing parties, dinners, and balls, and the emperors, who
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  Speaker 1: a few days before had been bitter enemies, seemed to
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  Speaker 1: have become the best of friends. The Emperor of Russia
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  Speaker 1: was young and handsome. He was full of splendid dreams
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  Speaker 1: and eager to be great. Napoleon, too was young. He
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  Speaker 1: was only thirty seven, and already he was the greatest conqueror, soldier,
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  Speaker 1: and statesman in the world. Napoleon was often fierce, hard
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  Speaker 1: and cruel, but when he chose he could seem friendly
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  Speaker 1: and lovable. He conquered men and women as he conquered peoples.
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  Speaker 1: Now he won the heart of the young Czar. I
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  Speaker 1: had never had more prejudices against any one than against him,
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  Speaker 1: he said. But after three quarters of an hour of talk,
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  Speaker 1: they all vanished, as a dream would that I had
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  Speaker 1: seen him sooner. The poor beaten King of Prussia was
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  Speaker 1: asked also to come to Tilsit, but Napoleon, who treated
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  Speaker 1: Thessar so kindly, treated the king very coldly. He and
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  Speaker 1: his queen, who came with him were not allowed to
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  Speaker 1: live in Tilsit. They had to put up with a
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  Speaker 1: small mill house outside the town. Napoleon tried in many
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  Speaker 1: ways to make the Prussian king and queen feel that
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  Speaker 1: they were crushed and beaten enemies. It was only out
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  Speaker 1: of friendship to the Tsar. He said that the king
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  Speaker 1: had been asked to Tilsit at all, and in the
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  Speaker 1: drawing up of the treaty no pity for him was
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  Speaker 1: shown by it. Frederic William lost half estates. End of
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  Speaker 1: Chapter six