CHAPTER XVII. France-Decree concerning Valencia xx French occupation of Swedish Pomerania-Report by Murat-March of the Army towards Po land--Treaty with Prussia-Decree in favour of America-Napoleon arrives at Dantzic-Negociations-Treaty with Austria-Papers relative to the Differences with Russia-Advance of the French to Wilna-Polish Diet and Confederation - Riga-Alliance between England, Russia, and Sweden-Russians quit their Camp on the Duna, and French cross that River-Various Actions-Dunaberg taken-Smolensko carried by the French-Action of Valentina— Advance towards Moscow-Great Battle of Borodino-French enter Moscow-Conflagration of that Capital-Enterprise of the Garrison of Riga Alarms at Petersburgh- Advanced Guard of the French defeated Moscow evacuated-Success of Witgenstein at PolotzkConspiracy at Paris-Negociations attempted with the RussiansFrench retreat-Various Actions-Darvoust and Ney defeated-Dreadful sufferings of the French-Napoleon quits the army, and arrives as Paris-Addresses of the Senate and Council, and Replies-Conclusion. TH HE French Emperor, on his return from his tour in the Low Countries at the latter part of 1811, was evidently meditating a grand stroke for the purpose of terminating his differences with the court of Petersburgh in a manner conformable to that continental system which he had made the base of his policy; and the fate of the Peninsula was to be a secondary consideration in his counsels till the other object was obtained. In the mean time, he was not unmindful of that plan of attaching his generals and soldiers by rewards, at the cost of the vanquished, which has been discernible in all his wars. By a decree issued from the Tuilleries on January 21, he declares the annexation to his extra ordinary domain of effects in the province of Valencia to the amount of a principal of 200,000,000 liv.. ordering at the same time that the Prince of Neufchatel shall transmit to the intendant-general of that domain a statement of the generals, oicers, and soldiers of his armies in Spain, particularly in that of Arragon, who have distinguished themselves, in order that they may receive proofs of his imperial munificence. The first military operation of Napoleon which can be considered as connected with his northern projects, was the occupation of Swedish Pomerania. In January, a body of 20,000 French troops, as it is said, under General Friant, entered that province. The capi tal, tal, Stralsund, being very weakly fortified, with a small garrison, made no resistance to a colonel who was sent to take possession of it on the 26th, and who required quarters and provisions, saying, in answer to a demand of payment for the latter, "It is our custom and orders, that the country in which we are should furnish us with every thing needful." Friant entered on the following day; and when the Swedish general Peyron informed him that he should resist the occupation of the Isle of Rugen, the French general told bim that he was his prisoner, and put seals on the custom-house. A body of 2000 men was drawn out with the intention of marching to Rugen over the ice; but the lieutenant who commanded a small fortress there, resolutely declaring that he would repel force by force, they were for the present remanded. The purpose of this unwarrantable seizure of Pomerania was evidently that the French Emperor might have a pledge in his hands to influence the conduct of Sweden in the approaching contest. Rugen was afterwards occupied by the French, the vessels and packets on the coast were detained for their service, and the French colours were hoisted in place of the Swedish. In February, a fleet arriv. ing off Stralsund with General Engelbrecht on board, to ascertain the state of the French troops in Pomerania, and bring back those of Sweden, no communication with the shore was permitted, and all correspondence with the general was declined by the French com mander, so that the fleet was obliged to sail back without effect.. ing any thing. The French conservative senate held a sitting on March 10, atwhich the Duke of Bassano (Maret) minister for foreign affairs, delivered in a report, the substance: of which was an invective against the maritime policy of England, and an exposition and eulogy of all the measures taken by the Emperor for asserting the liberty of the seas, and retaliating her arbitrary measures. In this piece) it is explicitly declared, that " till the British orders of council are rescinded, and the principles of the treaty of Utrecht towards neu trals are again in full vigour, the Berlin and Milan decrees will remain against those powers who allow their flags to be denationalised." A report of the minister, of war follows, which begins with telling the Emperor that the greatest part of his Majesty's troops have been called out of the territory for the defence of the grand interests which are to ensure the preponderance of the empire, and maintain the Milan and Berlin decrees so fatal to England." Itgoes on to state the inconvenience which have arisen from committing the guard of the maritime places and establishments, during the absence, of the troops of the line, to the fifth battalions, depots, and marine troops; and it proposes a division of the national guards into three bands, of which the first is to be composed of all the conscripts from 1806 to 1812 who have not been called to the army, and have not since married, out of which cohorts are to be formed, constantly under arms, to do the coast duty. This plan was, of course, unanimously adopted in a senatus-consultum It might be regarded as an indication that the whole strength of the French empire was about to be put forth in some mighty effort. Early in the spring, the French army, united to that of the Confederation of the Rhine, was in march to the frontiers of Poland. At the end of March, the field equipage of Napoleon had reached Dresden, and Marshal Ney had his head-quarters at Weimar. A portion of the troops of Prussia had been placed at his disposal, the monarch of that country having been induced in this month to ratify a treaty of alliance with the French emperor, which was declared defensive against all the powers in Europe with which either of the contracting parties has entered or shall enter into war, and reciprocally guaranteeing to cach other the integrity of their present territory. That the Prussian king hesitated for some time to which of the great powers he should ally himself, since neither of them was likely to suffer him to remain neuter, is very probable, but the rapid advance of the French would soon put an end to his indecisions About this time great changes were making in the French troops quartered in Spain. Some regiments of the imperial guard, and some Polish regiments, which were become veterans by their service in that country, were marched to France, while others, doubtless comparatively raw troops, were in notion to replace them. In the month of April, troops of all the notions under French command were incessantly proceeding to wards the Russian border. They crossed the Vistula to the number of 80,000, about the 20th, and af terwards took possession of Elbing/ and Konigsberg. Napoleon left Paris on the 9th of May, accompanied by the Empress and the Prince of Neufchatel (Berthier), and proceeded to Metz. Some time before his departure her had issued a decree tending to con➡ ciliate the American government to France; the tenor of which was, that in consequence of an act of 2d of March 1811, by which the Congress of the United States! enacted exemptions from the pro-<! visions of the non-intercourse act, which prohibit the entrance into the American ports to the ships and goods of Great Britain, of its co lonies and dependencies; considering the said law as an act of rest sistance to the arbitrary pretensions consecrated by the British Orders in Council, and a formal réfusal to adhere to a system derogatory to the independence of neutral pow ers; it is decreed, that the decrees! of Berlin and Milan are definitive-t ly, and from the 1st of November last, considered as never having taken place with regard to American vessels. The French emperor and em press reached Dresden on the 16th, where they were to meet the em peror and empress of Germany. Before this time the emperor Alexander, who had left Petersburgh on April 21st, was at Wilna, where was General Barclay de Tolly, general-in chief of the first army of the west. In the beginning of May, the head quarters of the duke of Abrantes (Junot) were at Glogau in Silesia, and the French and allied troops of which I A commerce. his army consisted, were cantoned hibitive system against English on both banks of the Oder. numerous corps of Prussians was assembling at Breslau under Fieldmarshal Count Kalreuth. Quit ting the festivities at Dresden, Napoleon suddenly appeared at Dantzic on June 7th, where he took a view of the different points of the coast. At this period, negotiations seem to have been carrying on between the two emperors; and a suspicion generally prevailed that the Russian would be so much overawed by the terrible storm impending over him, that his firmness would give way; whilst it was very certain that Napoleon, in the confidence of power and former success, would not yield a single point in a contest which had seemed to him important enough to justify such vast preparations. It was, however, an advantage to Alexander, that the destructive war between Russia and Turkey was at length terminated by a peace, which set free the veteran troops upon the banks of the Danube. On the other hand, a treaty was now made public, which had been signed in March, between the emperors of France and Austria, and which included a reciprocal guarantee of each others territories, with the stipulation, if either of them should be attacked or menaced by another power, of sending a succour of 24,000 in fantry and 6,000 cavalry, with 60 pieces of cannon, to march at the first requisition. The treaty also guaranteed the integrity of the dominions of the Ottoman Porte in Europe, and recognized the principle of neutral navigation; and the Austrian emperor renewed his engagement to adhere to the pro, The immediate commencement of hostilities was preceded by the publication at Paris of certain pas pers, the first of which was a note addressed on April 25th, by the Duke of Bassano, minister of foreign relations, to Count Roman. zow, Chancellor of Russia. In this paper, after a statement of the stipulations of the treaty of Tilsit, and the public wrongs imputed to the English cabinet, the writer proceeds to complain of the abandonment by Russia of the principles of that treaty, and of her engagement to make common cause with France. The first cause of complaint is the ukase which opened the ports of Russia to all ships laden with English colonial produce, English property, provided they were under a foreign flag. The next is, the opposition made by Russia to the French annexation of the duchy of Oldenburg, rendered necessary by the uniting of the Hanseatic towns to France. Instead of amicably treating for an indemnity for the duchy, the Russian cabinet made an affair of state of it, and issued a manifesto against her ally. Russia is then charged with having disclosed the plan of a rupture ready formed: for, while dictating terms of peace to Turkey, she suddenly recalled five divisions of the army of Moldavia, in consequence of which, the army of the duchy of Warsaw was obliged to repass the Vistula, and to fall back upon the confederation, through the menacing posture of the Russian armies. The paper then states four points on which the emperor of France was desirous that a negociation gociation should be opened with Prince Kurakin, and sketches the terms on which a conciliation Imight have been effected; and concludes with mentioning the overtures lately made to England, and with saying that whatever may be the situation of things when this note shall arrive, peace will still depend upon the determinations of the Russian cabinet. A note is then given from Prince Kurakin, the Russian minister at Paris, to the minister of foreign affairs. The prince states, that he is ordered to declare, that the preservation of Prussia, and her independence from every political engagement directed against Russia, is indispensable to the interests of his Imperial Majesty. In order to arrive at a real state of peace with France, it is necessary that there should be between her and Russia, a neutral country, not occupied by the troops of either power. The first basis of a negociation must therefore be, a complete evacuation of the Prussian states, and of all the strong places of Prussia; a diminution of the garrison of Dantzic; the evacuation of Swedish Pomerania, and a satisfactory arrangement between the crowns of Sweden and France. On these conditions, the Emperor of Russia, without deviating from the principle laid down for the commerce of his states, and the admission of neutrals into his ports, will bind himself not to make any change in the prohibitive measures established in Russia against direct trade with England, and will also agree to a system of licences similar to that in France, provided it be not calculated to augment the deterioration already experienced in the trade of Russia. He will likewise treat on certain modifications in the Russian customs for the advantage of the French trade. Further, he will conclude a treatyof exchange for the duchy of Oldenburg for a suitable equivalent, and will withdraw, his protest in support of the rights of his family to that duchy. Other papers published on this occasion were the correspondence between the Duke of Bassano and Lord Castlereagh, respecting over tures for peace, which have been already mentioned as a topic of parliamentary discussion; with var rious letters that passed between the Russian and French ministers. The publication of these pieces by the French government, indicated that it was confident in the goodness of its cause, at least as it would appear in the eyes of its own subjects, to justify the final appeal to arms; accordingly, a bulletin was issued from the grand army on June 22d, shortly stating that no means were left to effect an understanding between the two courts, and that the emperor had issued orders to march for the purpose of passing the Niemen. Then followed a brief proclamation to his soldiers, conceived in his usual confident, and laconic style; and: this was his declaration of war, The disposition of the different French armies is thus mentioned in the bulletin: "In the com mencement of May, the first corps arrived on the Vistula at Elbing and Marienburg, the second corps at Marienwerder, the third at: Thorn, the fourth and sixth at Ploczk, the fifth at Warsaw, the eighth on the right of Warsaw, and the ninth at Pulawy." What was |