Vienna, 1814: How the Conquerors of Napoleon Made Love, War, and Peace at the Congress of Vienna (79 page)

Grouchy and Gérard’s conversation comes from Henry Houssaye,
1815: Waterloo
(1904), 293–296, and background on the commanders is told succinctly by Jacques Champagne in Chalfont, ed. (1980), 41 and 44–45, and Owen Connelly’s
Blundering to Glory: Napoleon’s Military Campaigns
(1987), 215. Napoleon at Rossomme and the sight of the Prussians as a cloud, Sutherland (1966), 198, and Longford (1969), I, 460. “Even now, we have” and “a more careful man” are in Schom (1992), 281 and discussed also in Chandler (1966), 1076. The guns are in Brett-James, ed. (1964), 113. The problems of Count d’Erlon formation are in Roberts (2001), 175, Roberts (2005), 63–65, and Howarth (1968), 88–89. Bijlandt’s brigades are in Barbero (2005), 126–127, 130 and 134, and the low clouds are in Gregor Dallas’s
The Final Act: The Roads to Waterloo
(1997), 373. Bullets on the breastplates and “a violent hailstorm” are from R. H. Gronow’s
The Reminiscences and Recollections of Captain Gronow, Being Anecdotes of the Camp, Court, Clubs, and Society 1810–1860
(1900), I, 190–191. The animal-rights campaign was noted by Paul Johnson,
The Birth of the Modern: World Society 1815–1830
(1991), 85.

Uxbridge and the charge are from Roberts (2005), 68–71, and Barbero (2005), 139–168. Corporal John Dickson’s account of the Union Brigade charge reveals the enthusiasm of such a charge, “a strange thrill run through me, and I am sure my noble beast felt the same,” Brett-James, ed. (1964), 116–119. “Not a man present” and “walls bristling with steel” are in Gronow (1900), I, 69–71. The actual shape of the squares, and the actions of the horses as they charged a square, Roberts (2005), 78 and 85, and John Keegan,
The Face of Battle
(1976), 157–159. “Damn that fellow!” comes from Longford (1969), I, 468. Wellington called Waterloo a “pounding match,” Wellington to Beresford, July 2, 1815,
WD,
VIII, 185–186. “Heavy surf” is in Captain C. Mercer’s
Journal of the Waterloo Campaign
(1870), 110, and often cited in accounts, Keegan (1976), 158. Ney’s first cavalry charge too early, John Holland Rose’s
The Life of Napoleon I Including New Materials from the British Official Records
(1916), II, 461 and 463. Wellington’s crisis, with center about to collapse, Longford (1969), I, 473, and Commandant Henry Lachouque’s
Waterloo
(1975), 177. Napoleon’s opportunities to win are in Chandler (1966), 1085–1087. Basil Jackson on deserters,
Notes and Reminiscences of a Staff Officer
(1903), 447. “Where do you want,” John Holland Rose,
The Life of Napoleon I
(1916), II, 465, and Wellington’s alleged “Let us pray,” Barbero (2005), 242. The Prussians advanced despite many obstacles, in many sources, for instance, Colonel E. Kaulbach in Chalfont, ed. (1980), 92–93. Napoleon sending Guard into battle, Barbero (2005), 261–269, and Lachouque (1975), 182, and Wellington rallying his men, Longford (1969), I, 476–478.

The French fleeing “in utmost confusion,” and the capture of approximately 150 cannon along with ammunition, Wellington to Earl Balhurst, June 19, 1815,
WD,
VIII, 149. Napoleon’s words on the panic are in Gaëtan de Raxis de Flassan’s
Histoire du Congrès de Vienne
(1829), II, 353. “Panic-stricken rabble” is in David Hamilton-Williams,
The Fall of Napoleon: The Final Betrayal
(1994), 239. “Everything failed me,” David Chandler,
Waterloo: The Hundred Days
(1980), 10. Marshals on the sidelines are in Chandler (1966), 1022–1023, and Roberts (2005), 38. Roberts’s words on the absurdity of the debate whether Wellington could have won without the Prussians (2005), 104.

Ney’s actions at opening are discussed, for example, in Chandler (1980), 87–89, 92, and generally, 127, 187–190, and also in Chandler (1966), 1047–1057, 1061, 1092. Wellington’s letter to Earl Balhurst, written at Waterloo, June 19, 1815,
WD,
146–151, and a later one of the same date, from Brussels, 152. Wellington’s words “death blow” come from a letter to Earl of Uxbridge, June 23, 1815,
WD,
VIII, 162. Varnhagen, like many, had difficulty at first believing the extent of the victory, Varnhagen to Cotta, June 30, 1815,
Varnhagen von Ense und Cotta: Briefwechsel 1810–1818
, eds. Konrad Feilchenfeldt, Bernhard Fischer and Dietmar Pravida (2006), I, 51. Some Prussians were already referring to La Belle Alliance, Hardenberg, June 18–24, 1815,
Tagebücher und autobiographische Aufzeichnungen
(2000), 822. Casualty estimates appear in David Chandler (1966), 1093–1094. Brussels as “vast hospital” comes from Eynard, June 30, 1815,
Au Congrès de Vienne: Journal de Jean-Gabriel Eynard
(1914–1924), II, 202. One of the overworked surgeons is in Brett-James (1964), 202–203. This surgeon, Charles Bell, made many sketches of the wounds, some of which were published in his pioneering study of neurology
The Nervous System of the Human Body
(1830). Napoleon’s captured spurs comes from Wellington to Prince Regent, July 8, 1815,
WD,
VIII, 202–203. “A Trojan horse” is in Hamilton-Williams (1994), 221. The secrecy surrounding Napoleon’s return to Paris is in Pozzo di Borgo to Nesselrode, June 15/27, 1815 (1890), 175. Napoleon considering a dictatorship, and his abdication, August Fournier,
Napoleon the First: A Biography
(1903), 722–724, and F. M. Kircheisen,
Napoleon
, trans. Henry St. Lawrence (1932), 703, and more on his troubles 706–707. The legislative debate after Waterloo and Napoleon’s early responses, Steven Englund,
Napoleon: A Political Life
(2004), 443–445. Lafayette’s version is in his
Mémoires, correspondance et manuscripts
(1837–38), V, 86. Napoleon’s last orders as emperor were making some final appointments and awarding pensions,
Ordres et apostilles de Napoléon
(1911–1912), IV, nos. 6869–6876.

C
HAPTER
33. S
HIFTING
S
AND

“Finita” comes from Gentz,
Tagebücher
(1873), 433. Pigeons often used in relaying messages, and even in World War II, as Reuters’s Charlie Lynch did at Normandy in 1944, Walter Cronkite,
A Reporter’s Life
(1996), 104. Sir Walter Scott’s words on Waterloo come from
Private Correspondence,
II, 381, and also Carolly Erickson,
Our Tempestuous Day: A History of Regency England
(1986), 182. Lady Shelley toured the site three months later, staying with the Duke and Duchess of Richmond, and also noted the peasants selling items,
The Diary of Frances Lady Shelley, 1787–1817,
ed. Richard Edgcumbe (1914), 168. Croker to his wife, July 27, 1815,
The Croker Papers: The Correspondence and Diaries of the late Right Honourable John Wilson Croker
(1884), I, 72. Hats, caps, and other items were still on the battlefield that autumn,
Reminiscences and Recollections of Captain Gronow, Being Anecdotes of the Camp, Court, Clubs, and Society, 1810–1860
(1900), Robert Southey,
Journal of a Tour in the Netherlands in the Autumn of 1815
, the manuscript purchased at a Southey sale in the 1860s and published in 1902, 93.

Peace negotiations for 133 days, Palmer,
Metternich
(1972), 151, and gambling in Paris in 1815, with the games, Gronow (1900), 87–88, and more on the setting, 299–305. The military atmosphere is clear, the soldiers, for example, tying horses to trees on the Champs-Élysées, G.O., August 12, 1815,
WD,
VIIII, 240. Wellington’s support of another Bourbon restoration, Wellington to Bathurst, July 2, 1815,
WD,
VIII, 188–193, and reference to the return of the Bourbons and the “foreign bayonets,” in Count Molé,
The Life and Memoirs of Count Molé (1781–1855),
ed. Marquis de Noailles (1924), I, 240. Clashes between Bonapartists and royalists, Eynard noted (1914–1924), July 27, 1815, II, 251, Croker to his wife, July 17, 1815, (1884), 65, and, of course, between the former and Allied soldiers, for example, Gentz to Pilat, September 12, 1815,
Briefe von Friedrich von Gentz an Pilat,
by Karl Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1868), I, 182–183. King Louis XVIII’s unpopularity, however, soon growing again, the view of the advisers, and fear of returning the country to the seventeenth century, Gentz to Karadja, October 23, 1815,
Dépêches inédites,
(1876), I, 187.

Blücher wanted Napoleon killed, Duke of Wellington reported to Sir Charles Stuart, June 28, 1815, the comments enclosed in a letter from Sir Charles Stuart to Castlereagh, June 30, 1815,
CC,
X, 386–387. Castlereagh had written in support of sending Napoleon to Fort St. George in Scotland, letter to Lord Liverpool, July 17, 1815,
BD
, 350. Wellington agreed, Lady Shelley noted,
The Diary of Frances Lady Shelley 1787–1817
, ed. Richard Edgcumbe (1914), 105. Two frigates to take Napoleon to America, French delegation informed Allied leaders, Pozzo di Borgo to Nesselrode, June 20/July 2, 1815,
Correspondance Diplomatique du comte Pozzo di Borgo
(1890), 183.

Napoleon’s readiness to fight, and strength of French forces still after Waterloo, are in David G. Chandler (1966), 1093–1094. Napoleon at Malmaison is in Henry Lachouque,
The Last Days of Napoleon’s Empire: From Waterloo to St. Helena,
trans. Lovett F. Edwards (1966), 119–138, and
The Memoirs of Queen Hortense,
trans. Arthur K. Griggs (1927), II, 237–250. Napoleon weighing his options also in Gilbert Martineau,
Napoleon Surrenders,
trans. Frances Partridge (1971), 79–83, and more too, along with his time on the
Bellerophon,
in David Cordingly’s fascinating
The Billy Ruffian: The Bellerophon and the Downfall of Napoleon: The Biography of a Ship of the Line, 1782–1836
(2003), 228–278. Liverpool’s words on Napoleon becoming “an object of curiosity” are from his letter to Castlereagh, July 21, 1815,
CC,
X, 434. Napoleon boarding the Northumberland is from John R. Glover, Secretary to Rear Admiral George Cockburn on the Northumberland, August 7, 1815,
Taking Napoleon to St. Helena
(1895), 93.

While Prussia pressed for a dismemberment, England supported the “integrity of French territory,” particularly as it existed in 1790, Gentz to Karadja, September 5, 1815,
Dépêches inédites,
176–177. Russia supported moderation. Gneisenau had a hardness that approached vengeance (especially for France’s role in keeping Saxony from Prussian hands), Pozzo di Borgo to Nesselrode, July 2, 1815 (1890), 187 (the June 20 date is in the Russian calendar). “Considerable difficulty with the Prussians,” Castlereagh to Liverpool, July 12, 1815,
BD,
342. The destruction of the manor comes from Gronow (1900), 201, and more violence, 201–203, and their occupation in passing, for example, 98–99, 130–131, 206–207. Complaints of Prussian excess and its many negative consequences, in many letters, Castlereagh to Liverpool, July 24, 1815,
BD,
CCVII, 351, and
WSD,
XI, 122. Hardenberg feeling “in the midst of Praetorian bands,” Castlereagh to Liverpool, August 24, 1815,
BD,
370; as well as
WSD,
XI, 137. Hardenberg exasperated with Blücher, noting in diary that he had “thousand bickerings,” August 31 1815,
Tagebücher und autobiographische Aufzeichnungen
(2000), 825. Prussians worrying about influence of army on their cabinet, Pozzo di Borgo to Nesselrode, October 17, 1815 (1890), 220–221. On mad dogs in France, Gregor Dallas,
The Final Act: The Roads to Waterloo
(1997), 402. Blücher was also the name of the Duke of Richmond’s Newfoundland, Johnson (1991), 717. Fears of the Prussians, including their demand for payments of enormous sums, and the mining of the bridge, Castlereagh to Liverpool, July 8, 1815,
CC,
X, 419–420, Croker to his wife, July 13, 1815, Croker (1884), 62. Pozzo di Borgo to Nesselrode, July 9, 1815,
Correspondance Diplomatique
(1890), 203. Prussians and blowing up Pont d’Iena, Count Molé 317, who was in charge of bridges and repairing them, noted damage to some 12,000 francs. Wellington’s intervention on behalf of the bridge, Wellington to Blücher, July 8, 1815,
WD,
VIII, 201, and the next day, 203–204, including his arguments against the 100-million-franc levy. Wellington’s protection, too, is in Lady Shelley’s
Diary
(1914), 107, and Pozzo di Borgo (1890), 203. Croker claimed he saw the “marks of explosion,” letter to his wife, July 13, 1815 (1884), 62, Gronow (1900), 129.

Prussia “animated by hatred and spirit of vengeance” was noted in context of how some in England were won over by this Prussian attitude, Gentz to Karadja, September 5, 1815,
Dépêches inédites
(1876), 173, and more demands, Gentz to Karadja, September 5, 1815, 174–175, Castlereagh to Liverpool, September 21, 1815,
BD,
CCXXVI, 378–379, and
WSD,
XI, 165. “Revolutions for the rest of our life,” Talleyrand to the Duchess of Courland, June 1, 1815,
TLI,
199. Vivant Denon’s
Précis de ce qui s’est passé au musée royal depuis l’entrée des alliés à Paris,
and several letters describing the scenes, such as to le duc de Richelieu, July 10, 1815, are in Marie-Ann Dupuy, Isabelle le Masne de Chermont, Elaine Williamson, eds.,
Vivant Denon: directeur des musées sous le consulat et l’empire correspondance (1802–1815)
(1999). Denon’s efforts to protect art in the Louvre are in Judith Nowinski’s
Baron Dominique Vivant Denon (1747–1825): Hedonist and Scholar in a Period of Transition
(1977), 102–104. More on the Prussians storming the museum that July is in Dorothy Mackay Quynn’s “The Art Confiscations of the Napoleonic Wars,”
AHR,
vol. 50, no. 3 (April, 1945), 450, and Charles Saunier’s
Les Conquêtes Artistiques de la révolution et de l’empire: reprises et abandons des alliés en 1815
(1902), 101–111.