FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   305   306   307   308   309   310   311   312   313   314   315   316   317   318   319   320   321   322   323   >>  
d-marshals, and as such he relieved Jourdan of the command in the kingdom of Italy. He has purchased with a part of his spoil, for fifteen millions of livres--property in France and Italy; and is considered worth double that sum in jewels, money, and other valuables. Massena is called, in France, the spoiled child of fortune; and as Bonaparte, like our former Cardinal Mazarin, has more confidence in fortune than in merit, he is, perhaps, more indebted to the former than to the latter for his present situation; his familiarity has made him disliked at our Imperial Court, where he never addresses Napoleon and Madame Bonaparte as an Emperor or an Empress without smiling. General St. Cyr, our second in command of the army of Italy, is also an officer of great talents and distinctions. He was, in 1791, only a cornet, but in 1795, he headed, as a general, a division of the army of the Rhine. In his report to the Directory, during the famous retreat of 1796, Moreau speaks highly of this general, and admits that his. achievements, in part, saved the republican army. During 1799 he served in Italy, and in 1800 he commanded the centre of the army of the Rhine, and assisted in gaining the victory of Hohenlinden. After the Peace of Lundville, he was appointed a Counsellor of State of the military section, a place he still occupies, notwithstanding his present employment. Though under forty years of age, he is rather infirm, from the fatigues he has undergone and the wounds he has received. Although he has never combated as a general-in-chief, there is no doubt but that he would fill such a place with honour to himself and advantage to his country. Of the general officers who command under Archduke Charles, Comte de Bellegarde is already known by his exploits during the last war. He had distinguished himself already in 1793, particularly when Valenciennes and Maubeuge were besieged by the united Austrian and English forces; and, in 1794, he commanded the column at the head of which the Emperor marched, when Landrecy was invested. In 1796, he was one of the members of the Council of the Archduke Charles, when this Prince commanded for the first time as a general-in-chief, on which occasion he was promoted to a Field-marshal lieutenant. He displayed again great talents during the campaign of 1799, when he headed a small corps, placed between General Suwarow in Italy, and Archduke Charles in Switzerland; and in this de
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   305   306   307   308   309   310   311   312   313   314   315   316   317   318   319   320   321   322   323   >>  



Top keywords:

general

 

Archduke

 

Charles

 
command
 

commanded

 
Emperor
 

General

 

present

 

headed

 
talents

Bonaparte

 

fortune

 

France

 

displayed

 

campaign

 

combated

 

honour

 
advantage
 
country
 
wounds

Switzerland

 

Though

 
employment
 

occupies

 

notwithstanding

 

undergone

 

lieutenant

 
received
 

fatigues

 

Suwarow


infirm

 

Although

 

Landrecy

 

Valenciennes

 

Maubeuge

 

distinguished

 

invested

 
besieged
 

forces

 
column

English

 

marched

 

united

 

Austrian

 

occasion

 

promoted

 

officers

 

marshal

 

Bellegarde

 

exploits