• : THE HISTORY NAPOLEON BONAPARTE EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH, ^/J KING OF ITALY. WITH TWO ENGRAVINGS. '<lllenoni.iodoeorumhominmn, quinunc sunt, gloriam, sedetiam antiqnitatls niemoriam virtute superavit; plura bellagessitquamcjeterilegerunt; pliires pro- vincias confecit, quam aliiconcupiverunt;etejus adolescentia adscientiamreimi- litarisnon alienisprseceptis, sedsuis imperils; nonnfllii iniiiliintinllii) nrirlnirfrri IS;nonstipendiis,sedtriumphiseruditaest." /^^^ ''"''''""'V' "?.'x Pi^St^ BALTIMORE J^tinteo at t^e IBMz mn ^tztt 2D^e, BY WARNER & HANNA, 1806. CONTENTS. Page. Preface . • . • 3 Birth, education and employment of Bonaparte, until his appointmentto the commandof the army of Ita- ly, in the year 1795 . . . S Campaign of 1796 and 1797 in Italy . . 28 ExpeditiontoEgypt . . , . 136 Bonaparte'sappointmenttothefirstconsulship . 197 Bonaparteduringhisconsulate . . . 225 Bonaparte exalted totheimperial dignity . 302 Addenda ^7S . . . . . A comprehensive view of the French revolution 401 PREFACE. AS no apology for the manner in wliich this volume is executed would be admitted by its readers, none is of- fered and as little merit is claimed, ; no praise is expected: hence the for- mality of a preface would have been altogether omitted, had it not been considered necessary to state whence this history of Bonaparte has beea compiled. The publications which have been consulted, are a variety of English and French works, such as the Annual Registers, Stephen's Wars, Campaign in Italy in both languages, La vie de Bonaparte, Les Cinques ; IV PREFACE. Hommes, Precis des Evenemcns MI- litaires, Denon's Egypt, Berthier's Narrative, Wilson's Expedition, Bo- naparte and the French People, Le Dix-huit Brumaire, Burdon's Life and Character of Bonaparte, the Re- volutionary Plutarch, &c. &c. This work contains every thing interest- ing in the life of Napoleon I. which bears the character of authenticity. With regard to a very late volume, ^' The Secret History of St. Cloud^' nothing has been extracted from it for that book, besides its general fea- tures, possesses very strong internal evidence that it is a spurious produc- tion, and although it will unfortu- nately for society have an unbounded circulation, still it cannot be denied that little if any dependence can be placed upon its details; and the per- son who reads it through is spee- dily nauseated and disgusted with the incessant repetition ofthe intrigues of debauchees, the excesses and infi- delities of women in high life, and PREFACE. the coarse indecent manner in which they are narrated. As no certainty at present exists with respect to those vo- lumes to which this history is indebt- ed; and as the extracts which have been made are not marked, it is high- ly probable that in some instances the language of others has been unintenti- onally adopted,whilst it was frequently introduced by design*...therefore this general remark will serve as a shield against the charge of plagiarism...,and originality in a work of this kind be- ing impossible, all that can be desir- ed is accuracy of detail, assiduity of research, and correctness of style. /He who writes the life of Bonaparte at present, even if he were so inclined, dares not to investigate freely and fully the cause and effect of all those im- portant events in which he has been principally concerned and that pati- ; ence of investigation which such a work would demand, will not suit the avidity with which the present gene- ration wish to be informed of the won- VI PREFACE. derfal changes which the French era peror 's daily producing on the Eurc pean continent. In this volume wi be found no profundity of disquisit on, no excursions of the imaginatioi no embellishments of fancy, whic never should be admitted into hist< rical composition .no learned investi- ., gations, no wild anticipations, and no colouring: to the narration....it is an unadorned, and as far as the documents which could be procured authorize, a faithful relation of the uncommon scenes through which has passed pro- bably the m.ost extraordinary charac- m ter Vvhose name lives history. That which Cicero said of Pompey being much more just when asserted of Bo- naparte: " He has surpassed not the ^' generals of the y)resent age only, but '^ even those of antiquity in military " fame conducted more wars than ; 'V those of which others have read; ' " reduced more provinces than others '^ have desired; and his youth was '^ trained to the profession of armsj PREFACE. VU ^^ not by the precepts of other men, ^' but by his commands; not by mis- ^^ takes in war, but by victories ; not ^' by a series of campaigns, but by a ^' succession of triumphs.'* This narrative nevertheless contains a great variety of incidents which are com- prised in no other vohime, and which cannot be known except by resorting to the same sources, which would not compensate for the trouble, and proba- bly be unsuccessful. Many of the anecdotes of Bonaparte which are in- serted, remain unaltered and continue in the language of the authors from •whom they were extracted and the : continual accession of new documents even until the work was nearly com- pleted, actuated the addition of those few pages which are filled with occur- rences received too late to be inserted in their proper order in the body of the history. The general distinctive marks of Bonaparte's miatary charac- ter, occur twice or thrice in the volume^ but the repetition was consi- Vlll PREFACE. dered necessary to render the connec- tion and sense complete. The Uteral errata which may be discovered, and which have no effect upon the meaning of the word are not noticed....but tlie reader is requested to correct an important error in page 12th, in the sixteenth and seventeenth lines from the head, for " Marshal Prince of Saoccyny^'' read '^ Marshal Comte de Saxe ;'' P^g^ 305, the sip"naturc should be in conformity to " etiquette, Napoleon^'' instead of '' Bonapai^te;' page SOZj eleventh " line, read of the Italian consulta^^ " &c. page 310, twelfth line, for re- tilled'' read " retreated'^'' page 339.^ fifth line from the bottom, for '^ op- pressed'' insert '' opposed.'] These it is beHeved are the most obvious mis- takes in the volume. GEORGE BOURNE, THE HISTORY OF MAPOJLJEOM BOWAFAIRTE. EMPEROR OF THE FREJVCH, AND ' KIJVG OF ITALY, Birth.*.>Edu€ation...,and Employment ofBona- parte^ until his appointment to the command of the army of Italy in the year 1796- ^ vjREAT events always produce extraordi- nary characters they excite the passions, and : invigorate the talents of men they animate : exertion, raise merit from obscurity, and un- fold the energy of genius. The truth 'of this observation, has been strikingly evinced, since the commencement of the French revo- lution proving the love of freedom to be an ; active and irresistibly powerful principle; B 10 THE HISTORY OF —^^^' ' ' ' ' ' . % which, when once roused, operates with an electrick power, wakens the lethargick, in- flames the whole mass of society, and in the contests which it originates, exhibits all the virtues and vices of human nature. >^ When contending for liberty, against the oppression ofdomestic tyrants, or the attempts of foreign powers to enslave them; Greece and Rome displayed a host of heroes. Si- '3nilar causes have, inmodern times, been ac- companied by sim.ilar effects and the late war ; in Europe discovered some of the most illus- trious characters whom the historian has hi- therto commemorated. The French armies, previous to the Revo- lution, were disorganized, without discipline, dissatisfied, numerous without skill, and ge- nerally unsuccessful in battle. That, which forced the veterans of the continent of Europe, to turn pale before raw recruits, and which discomfited Brunswick, Clairfait, Wurmser, &c. can have been no common principle. Hence, we feel interested in eve- ry particular which relates to such person- ages as Jourdan, Pichegru, Hoche, Moreau and Bonaparte and the high station to which ; the latter has attained, renders the perusal of a review of his life an interesting employ- ment, which must be attended with consider- able advantage. Napoleon Bonaparte, the son of Charles Bonaparte, and Lsetitia Raniolini, was born at Ajaccio, in Corsica, August 15th, 1769.