A Treasury of Heroes and Heroines Part 20

After defeating the Austrians in several engagements Napoleon met the combined Russian and Austrian forces at Austerlitz on the anniversary of the day on which he had been crowned as Emperor. And Fortune, which had crowned him then in Paris, now crowned his genius on the battlefield by the greatest of all his victories. After prodigious slaughter the Russians and Austrians were completely routed, losing thousands of prisoners. The treaty of Pressburg followed, in which the Austrian Emperor, Francis the First, was compelled to give up large slices of territory to France, and the Russians as quickly as possible withdrew into their own country.

But this was only the beginning of the wars that Napoleon thence-forward was engaged in. The kingdom of Prussia declared war against France, and Napoleon marched against the Prussians and defeated them at the battle of Jena.

Russia, however, was ready to make peace with France, for after Jena Napoleon turned his attention to the Russians and defeated them at Friedland. Then the Czar of Russia and Napoleon met on a raft which was anch.o.r.ed in the middle of the river Niemen and swore eternal friends.h.i.+p.

This was called the Treaty of Tilsit. As England was now the only great nation that continued to be the enemy of France, Napoleon had made arrangements in this treaty that were designed to cripple England's trade and do as much damage to her as was possible. Moreover, the conqueror had decided that henceforth there were to be no neutral nations. Either the other countries must aid him in his trade war against England and in other ways should he desire, or take the consequences of braving his anger. With this policy in his mind Portugal was invaded and the royal family was driven from the country to South America where they sought refuge in the country of Brazil.

Spain had sided with France against Portugal, but Napoleon then humiliated and dominated Spain. He used a far greater number of men than was necessary for his Portuguese invasion, and turned them against the Spaniards, many of whose most important forts had been taken by the French soldiers through treachery as well as by stratagem. When the conquest of Spain was ended Napoleon placed his brother, Joseph, on the Spanish throne.

Austria, however, was preparing for another struggle against Napoleon.

Though continually defeated by the French, the Austrians lost no chance of turning on them or taking any opportunity that might bring success against the victorious soldiers of Napoleon. But this only brought upon the Austrians the further defeat of Wagram and the loss of additional territory to Napoleon.

But now fortune began to go against the brilliant soldier who had seldom lost a battle and practically never had been defeated. The Russians did not like the alliance with France that had been imposed upon them at Tilsit and in spite of the Czar's vows of friends.h.i.+p were ready to turn against Napoleon on the first opportunity. In fact the Czar had become directly angered at Napoleon for the following reason.

Although Napoleon had made himself Emperor there was no heir to the French throne. As it seemed that Josephine would remain childless, Napoleon conceived the plan of divorcing her and marrying some high born lady whose alliance with him would strengthen the bonds between her country and that of the French. He had negotiated with the Russian Czar for the hand of a Russian princess, but before the arrangements had been completed he married an Austrian d.u.c.h.ess named Marie Louise.

This turned Russia into the scale against Napoleon, who had already dealt with the Russians in a high handed manner. So the Czar entered into a close alliance with England against the conqueror.

Then Napoleon made the greatest mistake of all his brilliant career.

With all Europe in unrest against him, he nevertheless conceived the plan of invading Russia and raised a great army for this purpose.

Russia was and is one of the most difficult countries in all Europe in which to carry on a military invasion. The country is so cold and barren and the distances are so great that any invading army has great difficulty in transporting its supplies and marching the required distances. Napoleon had almost always relied for his supplies on the countries he had conquered and believed that it was always possible for large armies to subsist on forage and the supplies of the conquered inhabitants. To a large extent he used this policy in his invasion of Russia and it brought about his downfall. With an army of four hundred thousand men he entered Russia and advanced into the interior. The Russians constantly retreated before him and laid waste everything in his path. Towns were burned, crops were destroyed and cattle were driven away, as Napoleon led his forces toward the ancient and historic city of Moscow.

When the French had advanced a long distance into Russia, the Russian general named Kutusoff offered them battle in a place called Borodino.

It was a stubborn and b.l.o.o.d.y conflict, and more lives were lost both by the Russians and by the French than in any previous battle Napoleon had engaged in. The Russians then continued to retreat and Napoleon entered Moscow on the Fourteenth of September, 1812.

Here the French believed that they would find respite from the hards.h.i.+ps that they had encountered, and sufficient food and grain to feed their army. But their hopes were short lived, and in Moscow a great disaster befell them. Flames broke out in the city on the first night of their occupation, and were extinguished with difficulty. On the next night fires were kindled by hidden Russians in a hundred different places, and at last the city was a sea of flames in which no man could live. Napoleon had gained nothing by his invasion except to conquer a devastated country, and now, with winter coming on, he was compelled to retreat again toward the Russian frontier.

The plight of the French army had become fearful. Without food and with insufficient clothing they were compelled to face the rigors of a Russian winter. As they retreated the Russians followed them and bands of wild Cossacks hara.s.sed their rear and their flanks, cutting off and killing any stragglers. Even the Russian peasants took part in the pursuit, and slew the exhausted French with their flails and cudgels.

Thousands of soldiers froze to death. In crossing the Beresina River thousands more drowned. When they approached the frontier Napoleon left the pitiful remnant of his shattered army to Marshal Ney, one of the bravest of his generals, while he himself in a swift sleigh hastened to Paris to raise another army before all Europe knew of what had happened--for as soon as they did know they would take up arms against him, thinking that in his weakened condition they could overthrow his power. Of the four hundred thousand that entered Russia only twenty thousand returned. More than a third of a million brave men had left their bones on the chill snows and iron earth of the land they sought to humble.

Uprisings, alliances and campaigns by the hitherto beaten nations followed. Napoleon won the battle of Lutzen, but the English Duke of Wellington defeated the French at Vittoria. At last in the great battle of Leipzig in October, 1813, the French were routed.

In the following year the Allies made ready to crush Napoleon. He was now on the defensive with enemies hemming him in on every side, and although he fought a brilliant campaign it was hopeless. On April 11, 1814, Napoleon was compelled to resign the crown, and obliged to go into exile; and the island of Elba in the Mediterranean Sea was chosen as the place for him to end his days.

For the last time before his exile, Napoleon addressed his soldiers in farewell, and the tears ran down the rough cheeks of the veterans as they bade good-by to the man who had so often led them to victory. And then Napoleon pa.s.sed through southern France on his way to Elba amid the hisses and execrations of his people, who had already forgotten the victories he had won for France and thought now only of their misery and the dear ones they had lost on the barren snow fields of Russia.

Instead of Napoleon the brother of the former king, Louis the Sixteenth, was placed on the throne of France--an old, fat, wheezy man of no particular ability. It seemed as if the great conqueror were downed at last.

But Napoleon intended differently. As he stayed at Elba surrounded by a little court and with the t.i.tle of Emperor which the Allies had allowed him to keep, he kept looking toward the coast of France and plotting how to return. It is more than probable that his life was in danger at Elba. At all events he found the life intolerable, and desired once again to play the leading part in European affairs.

In the meantime the French people grew weary of fat old Louis the Eighteenth, whose name of "Louis Dix Huit" was changed by the French as a joke into "Louis Des Huitres," or Louis of the Oysters, so fond was the old gourmand of his sh.e.l.lfish. They began to sigh for Napoleon and look forward to the spring when they hoped he might be able to escape from his island of confinement and rejoin his soldiers in Paris. And this very thing soon happened.

Napoleon made a successful plan to escape from Elba and was concealed on a s.h.i.+p bound for France. And on the short trip back to the French coast he gave a striking example of his remarkable coolness and the certainty in which he held his future fortune. A pa.s.sing vessel hailed his s.h.i.+p, asking, among other things, what was the latest news of the Emperor. Napoleon, who was too far off to be recognized, laughingly took the speaking trumpet from the captain's hand and shouted back: "The Emperor is very well." And both vessels pa.s.sed on their way.

Landing with a few followers near Cannes in southern France, Napoleon hastened northward with the small army that he had been allowed to keep at Elba. An army had been sent against him by the French, but Napoleon had no intention of fighting it. Instead he advanced alone upon his former soldiers, many of whom recognized him and rejoiced at a sight of their former leader. When he drew near Napoleon threw back his coat and shouted that if any man desired to kill his Emperor now was his opportunity. Instead of killing him the soldiers crowded around him with cries of joy. The whole army went over to his cause, and Marshal Ney, who had been sent against him and who had sworn that he would bring Napoleon back in an iron cage, could not withstand the sight of his old general and threw his lot once more with the Imperial eagles.

With a force that increased at every mile Napoleon marched toward Paris, while Louis the Eighteenth hastily gathered up his luggage and fled into Belgium.

As soon as the Allies learned of Napoleon's escape they hastened to make war against him. But Napoleon did not wait for them. With a splendid army at his heels he marched to the north to meet his foes.

Fate was too strong for him, however. On June 16th, 1815, he fought the battle of Ligny in which he defeated the Prussians, but two days later he engaged in one of the most famous struggles of all history--the battle of Waterloo.

Here Napoleon was pitted against the English under Lord Wellington and the Prussians under Blucher. All day the struggle went on with success in the balance and time after time it seemed as if nothing could save the English army from the furious charges of Napoleon's cuira.s.siers and heavy dragoons. Blucher had been separated from Wellington before the battle opened, and due to muddy roads he was late in arriving with the reenforcements that were necessary for an English victory. When he did appear, however, the battle was won for the Allies. The French broke and scattered in headlong rout and were followed throughout the night by the ruthless Prussians, who cut them down without mercy. The splendid army that Napoleon had gathered was no more.

Napoleon fled to Paris and from there to Rochefort in southern France, where he was ordered to leave the country without delay. Now that he was defeated the French were unwilling to harbor him, for they knew that his presence meant continued war with the victorious Allies. At last Napoleon surrendered himself to the commander of the British wars.h.i.+p _Bellerophon_, and was taken to England as a prisoner. The English did not even allow him to land. He was transferred to another vessel and carried to a lonely and rocky island in the south Atlantic called St. Helena. Here, with a few of his followers who remained faithful to him in his misfortune, the great Emperor fretted away the remainder of his life. On May 5, 1821, just as the sunset gun was fired, he breathed his last.

He was buried in St. Helena, but his body was later claimed by the French Government and now rests in state in Paris in a wonderful sarcophagus of red marble beneath the dome of the Hotel Des Invalides.

In recesses of this building are also the tombs of Marshal Ney and the other great generals who had best served their Emperor in his lifetime.

CHAPTER XXII

GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI

If George Was.h.i.+ngton was the father of his country, certainly Giuseppe Garibaldi could be called the father of Italian liberty, for this one patriot, almost single handed, fomented and carried on the revolution that resulted in the birth of the Italian nation as it stands to-day.

Giuseppe Garibaldi was born in the year 1807, in the town of Nice, and was the son of a sailor and sea captain named Domenico Garibaldi. It is probable that almost before he could walk Giuseppe was familiar with the deck of his father's vessel, and it is certain that when a very young boy he showed an apt.i.tude and desire for a seafaring life.

His father, however, did not wish his son to be a sea captain like himself, but desired him to lead some life ash.o.r.e, where, he thought, the boy's chances of advancement would be better. This plan, however, did not appeal to Giuseppe. The call of the sea was in him and he determined to be a sailor like his father. When still a young boy, with one or two companions, he stole a fis.h.i.+ng boat and put to sea in the Mediterranean, sailing to the Eastward. His father soon gave chase, however, with a faster boat, and caught the would be mariner off the coast of Monaco, returning with him to Nice. The boy's cruise itself was ended, but this incident convinced the father that his son was intended for the sea, and in a few months Giuseppe s.h.i.+pped as a cabin boy and before long was making long voyages.

He quickly showed that seafaring was his natural calling, for before he was twenty-four years old he had become the master of a vessel, showing at an early age a capacity for responsibility and an ability to command other men that marked him head and shoulders above his companions.

But while engaged upon his voyages Garibaldi was thinking a great deal about the unfortunate condition of Italy and the unhappiness of his countrymen, for at that time the Italians did not form one nation as they do to-day, but were grouped in a number of petty states that frequently warred against each other and were themselves surrounded by more powerful enemies. The idea of making Italy one nation had not then occurred to the bulk of the people, but there was a band of secret revolutionists who were working for "Young Italy" and Garibaldi, who was known to be in favor of a united Italy, soon met some of the members of this organization.

The young skipper promptly became fired with the desire to aid the work of the revolutionists and went to Ma.r.s.eilles where he talked with the famous patriot, Mazzini, also a young man, who had been active in revolutionary circles and was the chief organizer of the league called Young Italy. Mazzini's aim was to put an end to all the existing Italian governments and form an Italian republic that should extend from Sicily to the Alps. For his revolutionary activities he had been banished from his native country, and was carrying on his work to the best of his ability in Ma.r.s.eilles.

Mazzini gave Garibaldi a cordial greeting, and enlisted his aid in the work of the revolutionists. They were planning a war against the King of Sardinia whose name was Charles Albert, and while the patriots invaded Savoy Garibaldi's mission was to go to Genoa and hatch a revolution in the fleet, where, it was thought, there were many sailors who would gladly fall in with the aims of Young Italy and lend their aid in overthrowing the existing governments.

The plot failed and Garibaldi was left stranded at Genoa, hunted by the soldiers and certain to meet death in case he was captured. He disguised himself in the dress of a peasant and escaped to France, where a newspaper informed him that he had been named as an outcast from his native country, and had been sentenced to death. There was nothing further for him to do at that time except to carry on his calling of sea captain under an a.s.sumed name, and it was not long before he had s.h.i.+pped as a common seaman on a vessel sailing for South America, where for two years, nothing further was heard of him. But his ardent nature found play in the new country to which he had come, and when the Province of Rio Grande rose in revolution against the rule of the Brazilians, Garibaldi joined the rebels and made preparations to fight in the revolutionary cause.

He secured a little fis.h.i.+ng vessel, and with a few companions began to cruise as a privateer in the insurgent cause, going through many sea fights and many hards.h.i.+ps and adventures in the behalf of the revolutionists. Finally he was s.h.i.+pwrecked and only saved his life by his great skill at swimming, most of his companions drowning in the surf where he was powerless to help them. The revolutionists gave him another s.h.i.+p and he soon sailed away for further encounters with the enemy.

While in the port of Laguna a new adventure befell him, for there he beheld the woman who was to become his wife. Her name was Anita Riberas, and according to the South American custom her father had arranged a marriage for her with a man she did not love. When she met Garibaldi she was struck with his fine and commanding appearance, and he on his part instantly fell in love with her, for she was a woman of great beauty and a keen and spirited mind. The result of this meeting was that Anita eloped with Garibaldi, sailing away with him on his vessel and marrying him a few days later when another port was reached.

Anita not only was on board Garibaldi's vessel in a number of sea fights but actually took part in them. On one occasion, we are told, she was knocked down by a gust of wind made by a cannon ball as it whizzed across the deck, but picking herself up continued to fight by the side of the men.

Garibaldi then organized a band of guerilla cavalry and his bride, dressed in man's clothes, rode by his side. It was while her husband was a captain of guerillas that she bore him a son, and on many weary journeys the baby was carried in a sort of net cradle slung from her saddle. Garibaldi was now fighting for the freedom of Uruguay.

It was at this time that Garibaldi formed the band of revolutionaries called the Italian Legion. They chose for their colors a flag on which a volcano was painted with fire spouting from the crater against a background of black. And Garibaldi at the head of his Italians was a skilful and famous soldier, known everywhere in Uruguay and even in foreign countries.

In the year 1848 the whole of Northern Italy rose in arms against the Austrians, and the King of Sardinia, Charles Albert, was now fighting in a cause that seemed just to Garibaldi, who desired of all things to see the foreign control of great nations taken away from his country.

At once he decided to enter the war and sailed for Italy with the members of his legion. He chose for an emblem this time the colors that have since become the flag of Italy, a flag of red, white and green arranged like the French tricolor.

He received a cold welcome from the King of Sardinia, for Charles Albert could not forgive his former revolutionary activities. But the King soon had reason to hate him even more than hitherto, for when, with the Pope, he made peace with Austria after his forces had been defeated, Garibaldi refused to recognize the compact and with a small band of insurgents continued the fight, until he fell ill with fever and was compelled to give up the struggle and allow his soldiers to return to their homes.

He was determined, however, that Italy should never again recognize Austrian rule, and as soon as he had recovered from the fever, he began what was called the "People's War." Numbers of Italians flocked to his standard, and his cause was soon strengthened by an uprising in Rome, in which the Pope himself was driven from office, and a minister named Rossi was murdered.

Garibaldi had hastened to Rome to be present at the declaration of the Roman Republic, of which Mazzini was to be President. As the Austrian and French forces were pursuing him he organized a stubborn resistance, and furious fighting took place in the outskirts of the city and in the streets themselves. Soon it was evident that the revolutionists must give in and the city be taken. The only hope for the Republicans lay in their escaping to the mountains. The city surrendered finally without Garibaldi's consent, and with his band of red s.h.i.+rted followers he fled into the country just as the French soldiers were pouring through the gates. His wife, dressed as a man, accompanied him.