A History of the Coldstream Guards, Robert Ross-of-Bladensburg.

By the Treaty, the eastern frontier, from the North Sea to the Mediterranean, was restricted generally, to the line that existed in 1790; and thus the French lost a strip of territory which, in 1814, had been ceded to them, including the fortresses of Landau, Sarre-Louis, Philippeville, and Marienburg. France had moreover to pay a war indemnity of 700,000,000 francs, for the expenses of the war. Further, an army of not more than 150,000 men, formed of British, Russian, Austrian, Prussian, and German troops, in about equal proportions, and under a Commander-in-chief appointed by the Allied Sovereigns, was to occupy seventeen fortresses along the northern frontier, from Condé, Valenciennes, Bouchain, and Cambrai, to the tête de pont of Fort Louis on the Rhine. The occupation was to continue for three years certain, and might last for another two years. This mixed army was placed under the supreme command of the Duke of Wellington, and all the expenses incurred by it were to be defrayed by the French. It was understood that the primary object of these latter stipulations was to preserve Louis on the throne, and to give time for the consolidation of his government. Lastly, a sum of 835,000,000 francs was exacted by way of compensation to the Powers, for the spoliations and losses which they suffered during the Revolution, and to indemnify the minor States for their recent expenses. Thus, the French had to submit to the payment of more than sixty-one million sterling, as the result of their defeat; and this sum did not include the vast amounts which were otherwise taken from them, under the head of contributions for the armies that invaded their country, or that were to be maintained there, for the purpose of inducing them to conform to the new order which had just been established.^[74]

34. The vengeance against Napoleon’s adherents was thus announced in the Royal proclamation of the 28th of June, which was countersigned by Prince Talleyrand, at one time a revolutionist, and afterwards Foreign Minister of the Emperor: “I wish to exclude from my presence none but those whose celebrity is a matter of grief to France and of horror to Europe. In the plot which they hatched, I perceive many of my subjects misled and some guilty. I promise—I who never promised in vain (all Europe knows)—to pardon to misled Frenchmen, all that has passed since the day when I quitted Lille, amidst so many tears, up to the day when I re-entered Cambrai, amidst so many acclamations. But the blood of my people has flowed, in consequence of a treason of which the annals of the world present no example. That treason has summoned foreigners into the heart of France. Every day reveals to me a fresh disaster. I owe it then to the dignity of my Crown, to the interest of my people, to the repose of Europe, to except from pardon the instigators and authors of this horrible plot. They shall be designated to the vengeance of the laws by the two Chambers, which I propose forthwith to assemble” (Annual Register , 1815; State Papers , p. 393).

35. Edward Baines, History of the Wars of the French Revolution, from the Breaking-out of the War in 1792, to the Restoration of a General Peace in 1815 , ii. 488 (London, 1818).

36. Supplementary Despatches, etc. , xi. 2.

37. Baines, Wars of the French Revolution , ii. 490.

38. Archibald Alison, History of Europe from the Commencement of the French Revolution in 1789 to the Restoration of the Bourbons in 1815 , x. 964 (2nd edit., 1844). “No one who has not witnessed it, or who has not been convinced of it by the accounts of others, could form an idea of the rapidity with which the public cry can be changed in France. At nine in the morning of the day on which the King last returned to Paris, a man was torn to pieces in the Place Vendôme for wearing the white cockade; at one, a Marshal of France (Moncey or Mortier), riding into Paris with the white cockade, was pursued by the populace, and with difficulty saved himself; and, at three, the King entered the capital, accompanied by shouts of acclamation far greater than those which greeted him the year before. All those who in an adverse sense were clamorous in the morning, had changed or disappeared” (Mr. Arbuthnot to Lord Liverpool, October 30, 1815: Supplementary Despatches, etc. , xi. 220).

39. Baines, Wars of the French Revolution , ii. 491.

40. Supplementary Despatches, etc. , xi. 3.

41. It appears that a Battalion of the Grenadier Guards were employed upon this duty (The Reminiscences and Recollections of Captain Gronow , i. 129, and ii. 39; London, 1892).

42. His Majesty, Alexander I. of Russia, expressly requested that he should be escorted and guarded by British troops (Supplementary Despatches, etc. , xi. 25).

43. So critical was the situation in France considered to be, that the British Government sent large reinforcements to Wellington during the summer of 1815, with the intention of making him stronger at Paris than he had been at Waterloo. After that battle more than 20,000 English troops were sent to the Continent (Lord Liverpool to Lord Castlereagh, Aug. 11, 1815; see Correspondence, etc., of Viscount Castlereagh , third series, ii. 477: London, 1853).]

44. Supplementary Despatches, etc., xi. 51.

45. Alison, History of Europe, from 1789 to 1815 , x. 973. Captain Gronow mentions a curious incident that occurred at one of the reviews held by the Russian Emperor of his own troops. The British Foot Guards found a Guard for Alexander I., at which a dinner was provided, similar to that at St. James’s. On one occasion the Captain of the Emperor’s Guard was informed that there were four Russian General Officers in his custody. The latter were asked to dinner, and as their health was drunk, they were invited to reveal the nature of their offence, which called for such a punishment to men of their military rank. In reply, they said that the Emperor had not been satisfied with the manner in which they had marched past that day; whereupon one of the British Officers present, filling his glass, drank “Confusion to all tyrants—Vive Napoleon!” “The poor Russians appeared thunderstruck, and observed that if they drank the toast proposed, it would cost them their heads.” It seems, this story came to the ears of Alexander, and the Duke had to explain it, for he sent for the Officers of the Guard, and begged them to repress their jokes for the future (Gronow, Reminiscences, etc. , ii. 19).

46. Supplementary Despatches, etc. , xi. 53.]

47. John Scott, Paris revisited in 1815 , pp. 264, etc. (2nd edit.: London, 1816).

48. It is said that the Prussians cost the French not less than three francs per day for each man (Paris revisited in 1815 , p. 361).

49. Gronow, Reminiscences , i. 206.

50. “The Prussians, who were in bivouac near us” (in the Bois de Boulogne, early in July), “amused themselves by doing as much damage as they could, without any aim or object; they cut down the finest trees and set the wood on fire at several points. There were about 3000 of the Guards there, encamped in the wood, and I should think about 10,000 Prussians. Our camp was not remarkable for its courtesy towards them; in fact, our intercourse was confined to the most ordinary demands of duty, as allies, in an enemy’s country” (Gronow, Reminiscences , i. 81).

51. Paris revisited in 1815 , p. 253.

52. Gronow, Reminiscences , i. 92.

53. Supplementary Despatches, etc. , xi. 85, 101.

55. Letter of Lieut.-Colonel Sir W. Gomm, who was present upon that occasion, to his Aunt, July 16, 1815, Letters and Journals of Field-Marshal Sir W. Gomm, G.C.B. , p. 376 (London, 1881). See also Alison’s History of Europe , 1789-1815, x. 968. The Duc de Richelieu (Foreign Minister) wrote on this subject to the Duke of Wellington, January 19, 1816, “Sa Majesté m’a spécialement recommandé de saisir cette occasion pour faire connaître à Votre Excellence combien elle a été satisfaite de la conduite des troupes Anglaises dans la capitale, et du soin qui a été mis par les chefs à alléger les charges indispensablement attachées à la présence de ces troupes. Sa Majesté sait à cet égard tout ce qu’elle vous doit, My Lord; et elle a voulu que je vous donasse de nouveau l’assurance qu’elle ne perdrait jamais le souvenir des témoignages de déférence et d’affection qu’elle a reçus de vous” (Supplementary Despatches, etc., xi. 282).

56. Supplementary Despatches, etc. , xi. 73.

57. Orders for the Piquet : “In the event of any disturbance in the neighbourhood, the Piquet will fall in in front of the barrack gate, and detach a sergeant’s party to the right and left, if necessary, to observe what is going on. The Lieutenant on this duty will send an immediate Report to the Officer Commanding the Battalion. The Lieutenant inspecting the messes, at one o’clock, and the Ensign will inspect the barrack rooms at half-past twelve, and will take care to enforce the barrack regulations. The same to be mentioned in the report of the senior Officer at dismounting. The Battalion will assemble in the barrack yard, in case of any riots of a serious nature, and will wait the orders of a Field-Officer, who will cause it to move to the Place Louis XV., if it appears expedient. Officers on detached duties will, in case of serious disturbance, likewise move to the Place Louis XV.” (Battalion Order , Paris, Nov. 3, 1815). The public duties in Paris, found by the two Guards Brigades and by the King’s German Legion on the 5th of November, amounted to 1 Captain, 12 Subalterns, 38 sergeants, 55 corporals, 13 drummers, and 587 privates.

58. Appendix No. II.

59. Baines, Wars of the French Revolution , ii. 519.

60. Paris revisited in 1815 , p. 265.

61. Popular song of the day.

62. Gronow, Reminiscences , i. 90.

64. Gronow, Reminiscences , i. 106.

65. Paris revisited in 1815 , p. 312, etc.; Alison, History of Europe, from 1789-1815, x. 969.

66. Thiers, Histoire du Consulat et l'Empire, xx. 516 (Paris, 1862).

67. Baines, Wars of the French Revolution , ii. 517. It appears that these ordinances did not evoke dissatisfaction from the British Government, for Lord Liverpool, writing to Mr. Canning on the 4th of August, says, “One can never feel that the King is secure upon his throne till he has dared to spill traitor’s blood: it is not that many examples would be necessary; but the daring to make a few will alone manifest any strength in the Government” (Supplementary Despatches, etc. , xi. 95). On the other hand, they raised much indignation on the part of the friends of the incriminated persons, and several letters were written to the Duke of Wellington, to implore his powerful intercession in their distress. Apparently he could do nothing for them, except in the case of General Lobau (ibid., xi. 59, 101, 273). Marshal Davoût was not included in the list of proscribed persons, but he wrote to the War-Minister, Marshal Gouvion St. Cyr (July 27th), to protest energetically against the injustice, which he alleged had been done to such men as Gilly, Grouchy, Clausel, Laborde, and others, whose only fault was that they had carried out orders, which he had given them as Minister of War. He maintained that his own name ought to be substituted for theirs, and he drew attention to the assurances given by the King, that if the army made its simple and unconditional submission, His Majesty would show clemency and do more than was desired (ibid., xi. 70). Davoût was then near a somewhat exasperated and only partially converted force of Imperialists, south of the Loire, and, had his arrest been contemplated, the attempt to carry it out might have been accompanied by unpleasant consequences to the ultra-Royalists. Among the proscribed, there appeared the name of Carnot, colleague of Fouché in the Provisional Government, and like him a regicide and a man of the Revolution. Upon what principle Carnot should have been banished, and Fouché should have been made a Minister under Louis XVIII. is difficult to determine; but such was the policy of the reactionary party. Carnot, naturally indignant that he should have been marked out for vengeance by his colleague, wrote to him, “Où veux tu que je me retire, traître?” while the latter replied with equal brevity, “Où tu voudras, imbécile.” Fouché did not long survive the fate of those he had betrayed; driven from power in September, he was appointed minister at Dresden, but shortly afterwards he was exiled by a decree which was fulminated against all who had voted for the death of the unfortunate Louis XVI., and thus fittingly terminated his career of intrigue and treachery.