Worlds Best Histories - France, vol 7 | Page 6

of Prussia, sensible
and prudent, had refused to transform his neutrality into alliance; but he
had used his influence over the smaller states of the empire, to induce
them to maintain the same attitude. The Emperor Paul I., tossed to and
fro by the impetuous movements of his ardent and unhealthy spirit, was
piqued by the defeats of Suwarrow, and offended by the insufficiency
of the help of Austria; he was discontented with the English
government, and ill-humoredly kept himself apart from the coalition.
The resumption of hostilities was imminent, and the grand projects of
the First Consul began to unroll themselves. Active preparations had
been till then confined to the army of the Rhine under Moreau. The
army of Liguria, placed under the command of Masséna, with Genoa as
a centre of operations, had received neither reinforcements nor
munitions; its duty was to protect the passage of the Appenines against
Mélas, whilst Moreau attacked upon the Rhine the army of Suabia,
commanded by Marshal Kray. The occupation of Switzerland by the
French army impeded the movements of the allies, by compelling them
to withdraw their two armies from each other; the First Consul
meditated a movement which should give him all the advantages of this

separation. Moreau in Germany, Masséna in Italy, were ordered at any
cost to keep the enemy in check. Bonaparte silently formed a third
army, the corps of which he cleverly dispersed, distracting the attention
of Europe by the camp of the army of reserve at Dijon. Already he was
preparing the grand campaign which should raise his glory to its
pinnacle, and establish his power upon victory. In his idea everything
was to be sacrificed to the personal glory of his successes. He
conceived a project of attack by crossing the Rhine. Moreau, modest
and disinterested, accepted the general plan of the war, and
subordinated his operations to those of the First Consul; in his military
capacity independent and resolute, he persisted in passing the Rhine at
his pleasure. Bonaparte was enraged. "Moreau would not seek to
understand me," cried he. He yielded, however, to the observations of
General Dessoles, and always clever in subjugating those of whom he
had need, he wrote to Moreau to restore him liberty of action.
"Dessoles will tell you that no one is more interested than myself in
your personal glory and your good fortune. The English embark in
force; what do they want? I am to-day a sort of manikin, who has lost
his liberty and his good fortune. Greatness is fine but in prospective
and in imagination. I envy you your luck; you go with the heroes to do
fine deeds. I would willingly barter my consular purple against one of
your brigadier's epaulettes" (16th March, 1800).
The army of Italy had been suffering for a long time with heroic
courage; the well-known chief who took the command was more than
any other suited to obtain from it the last efforts of devotion; it was the
first to undergo the attack of the allied forces. The troops of Masséna
were still scattered when he was assailed by Mélas. The fear of
prematurely exhausting the insufficient resources of Genoa had
prevented him from following the wise councils of Bonaparte, by
massing his troops round that town. After a series of furious combats
upon the upper Bormida, the French line found itself cut in two by the
Austrians; General Suchet was obliged to fall back upon Nice, Masséna
re-entered Genoa. A new effort forced back General Mélas beyond the
Appenines. The attempt to rejoin the corps of General Suchet having
failed, Masséna saw himself constrained to shut himself up in Genoa,
in the midst of a population divided in opinion, but whose confidence

he had already known how to win. Resolved to occupy by resistance
and by sorties all the forces of the allies, the general made preparations
for sustaining the siege to the last extremity. All the provisions of the
place were brought into the military magazines; the most severe order
reigned in the distribution, but already scarcity was felt. The forces of
Masséna, exhausted by frequent fights, diminished every day; bread
failed; and the heroic obstinacy of the general alone compelled the
Austrians to keep a considerable corps d'armée before a famished town
(5th May, 1800). Mélas had in vain attempted to force the lines of Var,
behind which General Suchet, too feeble to defend Nice, had cleverly
entrenched himself.
Moreau delayed to commence the campaign; his material was
insufficient; Alsace and Switzerland, exhausted of resources, could not
furnish the means of transport required by his movement. The First
Consul urged him. "Obtain a success as soon as possible, that you may
be able by a diversion in some degree to expedite the operations in
Italy," he wrote