XX. 1796. June 4, 1796. viii. 288, 289. iii. 364. 66 1 CHAP. Napoleon received the Commissioners of Venice, who vainly came to deprecate the victor's wrath, and induce him to retire from the territories of the Republic. With such terror did his menaces inspire them, that the Venetian government concluded a treaty, by which they agreed to furnish supplies of every sort for the army, and secretly pay for them; and the Commissioners, overawed by the commanding air and stern menaces of Napoleon, wrote to the Senate This young man will one day have an Thiers, important influence on the destinies of his country." Napoleon was now firmly established on the line Hardenberg, of the Adige, the possession of which he always Napoleon, deemed of so much importance, and to the neglect iii. 205. of which he ascribed all the disasters of the succeeding Description and blockade campaigns of the French in Italy. Nothing remainof Mantua. ed but to make himself master of Mantua; and the immense efforts made by both parties for that place, prove the vast importance of fortresses in modern war. Placed in the middle of unhealthy marshes, which are traversed only by five chaussées, strong in its situation as well as the fortifications which surround it, this town is truly the bulwark of Austria and Italy, without the possession of which the conquest of Lombardy must be deemed insecure, and that of the Hereditary States cannot be attempted. The entrance of two only of the chaussées which approached it, were defended by fortifications at that time, so that by placing troops at these points, and 14th June. drawing a cordon round the others, it was an easy matter to blockade the place, even with an inferior force. Serrurier sat down before it, in the middle of June, with ten thousand men; and, with this inconsiderable force, skilfully disposed at the entrance of the chaussées which crossed the lake, and round its XX. shores, he contrived to keep in check a garrison of CHAP. 14,000 men, of whom more than a third encumbered the hospitals of the place.' 1796. 1 Thiers, Napoleon, As the siege of this important fortress required a viii. 290. considerable time, Napoleon had leisure to deliberate iii. 158, concerning the ulterior measures which he should 205, 209. pursue. An army of 45,000 men, which had so rapidly overrun the north of Italy, could not venture to penetrate into the Tyrol, and Germany, the mountains of which were occupied by Beaulieu's forces, aided by a warlike peasantry, and at the same time carry on the blockade of Mantua, for which at least 15,000 men would be required. Moreover, the southern powers of Italy were not yet subdued, and though little formidable in a military point of view, they might prove highly dangerous to the blockading force, if the bulk of the Republican troops were engaged in the defiles of the Tyrol, while the French armies on the Rhine were not yet in a condition to give them any assistance. Influenced by these considerations, Napoleon resolved to take advantage of the pause in military operations, which the blockade of Mantua and retreat of Beaulieu afforded, to clear the enemies in his rear, and establish the French influence to the south of the Apennines.2 • Napoleon, iii. 209. Jomini, The King of Naples, alarmed at the retreat of the German troops, and fearful of having the whole forces viii. 146. of the Republic upon his own hands, upon the first appearance of their advance to the south, solicited an armistice, which the French Commander readily 5th June. granted, and which was followed by the secession of the Neapolitan cavalry, 2400 strong, from the Imperial army. Encouraged by this defection, Napoleon resolved instantly to proceed against the Ecclesiastical and Tuscan States, in order to extinguish the XX. 1796. Napoleon resolves to proceed rence and the Aus trian suc CHAP. hostility which was daily becoming more inveterate, to the south of the Apennines. In truth, the ferment was extreme in all the cities of Lombardy; and every hour rendered more marked the separation against Flo- between the aristocratical and democratical parties. Rome before The ardent spirits in Milan, Bologna, Brescia, Parma, and all the great towns of that fertile district, were cours arrive. in full revolutionary action, and a large proportion of their citizens seemed resolved to throw off the aristocratic influence under which they had so long existed, and establish republics on the model of the great Transalpine state. Wakened by these appearances to a sense of the danger which threatened them, the Aristocratic party were everywhere strengthening themselves: The nobles in the Genoese fiefs were collecting forces; the English had made themselves masters of Leghorn; and the Roman Pontiff was threatening to exert his feeble strength. Napoleon knew that Wurmser, who had been detached from the army of the Upper Rhine with 30,000 men, to restore affairs in Italy, could not be at Verona before the middle of July, and before that time there appeared time to subdue the Napoleon, states of Central Italy, and secure the rear of his army.' Having left 15,000 men before Mantua, and Thiers, viii. 20,000 on the Adige, to cover its blockade, the French General set out himself, with the division of Augereau, to cross the Apennines. He returned, in the first instance, to Milan, opened the trenches before its castle, and pressed the siege, so as to compei its surrender, which took place shortly after. From thence he proceeded against the Genoese fiefs. Lannes, with 1200 men, stormed Arquata, the chief seat of hostilities; burned the village; shot the principal inhabitants; and, by these severe measures, so intimi 1 iii. 213. Botta, i. 414, 420. 293-4. June 29. Castle of CHAP. XX. 1796. dena and dated the Senate of Genoa, that they implicitly submitted to the conqueror, sent off the Austrian minister, and agreed to the occupation of all the military posts in their territory by the French troops. From Enters Mothence Napoleon moved towards the Apennines, en- Bologna. tered Modena, where he was received with every demonstration of joy; and, on the road to Bologna, made himself master of the fort of Urbino, with sixty pieces of heavy artillery, which proved a most seasonable supply for the siege of Mantua. His appearance at Bologna was the signal for universal intoxication. The people at once revolted against the Papal authority; while Napoleon encouraged June 19. the propagation of every principle which was calculated to dismember the Ecclesiastical territories. The Italian troops were pursued to Ferrara, which the Republicans entered without opposition, and made themselves masters of its arsenal, containing 114 pieces of artillery; while General Vaubois crossed the Apennines, and, avoiding Florence, directed his steps towards Rome.1 1 Jomini, 152. 416. Napoleon, 24th June. At the intelligence of his approach, the Council viii. 151, of the Vatican was thrown into the utmost alarm. Botta, i. Azara, Minister of Spain; was despatched immedi- Thiers, viii. ately with offers of submission, and arrived at Bo- 298, 299. logna, to lay the tiara at the feet of the Republican iii. 214. General. The terms of an armistice were soon agreed Submission on: It was stipulated that Bologna and Ferrara of the Pope. should remain in the possession of the French troops; that the Pope should pay twenty millions of francs, furnish great contributions of stores and provisions, and give up a hundred of the finest works of art to the French Commissioners. In virtue of that humiliating treaty, all the great monuments of genius, 1 XX. CHAP. which adorned the eternal city, were soon after transported to the Museum at Paris.' * 1796. 1 Napoleon, iii. 219. 26th June. the neutral Tuscany, and seizure Having arranged this important treaty, Napoleon, without delay, crossed the Apennines, and found the division of Vaubois at Pistoia. From that point he detached Murat, who suddenly descended upon LegViolation of horn, and seized the effects of a large portion of the territory of English merchants, which were sold in open violation of all the usages of war, which hitherto had reof Leghorn. spected private property at land, and from their sale he realized twelve millions of francs for the use of the army. What rendered this outrage more flagrant was, that it was committed in the territories of a neutral power, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and from whom he himself at the time was receiving the Thiers, viii. most splendid reception at Florence. Thus early did Napoleon evince that unconquerable hatred at English commerce, and that determination to violate the usages of war for its destruction, by which he was afterwards so strongly actuated, and 301. Botta, i. 436. Napoleon, iii. 222. 6th July. * Genoa at the same period occupied the rapacious eyes of the French General. "You may dictate laws to Genoa as soon as you please," were his expressions, in his instructions to Faypoult, the French envoy there. And to the Directory, he wrote: "All our affairs in Italy are now closed, excepting Venice and Genoa. As to Venice, the moment for action has not yet arrived; we must first beat Wurmser and take Mantua. But the moment has arrived for Genoa; I am about to break ground for the ten millions. I think, besides, with the Minister Faypoult, that we must expel a dozen of families from the government of that city, and oblige the Senate to repeal a decree which banished two families favourable to France." And to Faypoult, Napoleon prescribed his course of perfidious dissimulation in these words: "I have not yet seen M. Catanio, the Genoese deputy; but I shall omit nothing which may throw them off Confident. their guard. The Directory has ordered me to exact the ten millions, Despatch, but interdicted all political operations. Omit nothing which may set the 14th July, Senate asleep; and amuse them with hopes till the moment of waken. 1796. Cor- ing has arrived."" The moment of wakening thus contemplated by i. 330. 334. Napoleon, was an internal revolution, which was not yet fully prepared. 14th July. resp. Conf. |