Napoleon at Work by Colonel Jean-Baptiste-Modeste-Eugène Vachée

Author:Colonel Jean-Baptiste-Modeste-Eugène Vachée [Vachée, Colonel Jean-Baptiste-Modeste-Eugène]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, Napoleonic Wars, Europe, France, Spain & Portugal, Great Britain, General
ISBN: 9781908902672
Google: xlpvCwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
Published: 2012-05-01T04:56:53+00:00

CHAPTER VII — REWARDS AND PENALTIES — NAPOLEON AND HIS GENERALS

Napoleon's egoism in command—His contempt of man—His attitude towards his generals—Hostility of certain generals towards Bonaparte at the opening of his career, and how he established his authority—Penalties: his premeditated anger, imperial upbraidings—Material rewards: promotions, dotations, titles of nobility, gratuities—Moral rewards: the Legion of Honour, mentions, praise, orders of the day, marks of satisfaction of various kinds—The Emperor's systematic partiality—The bulletins Jealousy and servility of his generals—Weakness of the system Napoleon's judgment on his marshals—Qualities of a general in chief Lannes, Suchet, Masséna, Soult, Davout, Gouvion Saint Cyr.

The art of handling men constitutes, without doubt, one of the most important and most delicate parts of the function of supreme command. The ideal is to possess an army in which every one, from the general in chief to the common soldier, is ready to make the greatest effort, and sacrifice his life out of a sense of duty and patriotism; it is this noble ideal which should be set before all the citizens of a free nation, these elevated feelings which the educators of a nation ought to endeavour to inculcate into the hearts of the youth of the country. These were the feelings which animated the armies of the French Revolution.

The incentives which Napoleon employed to give an impetus to his army were, we must recognize, of a different order.

“Napoleon's being was certainly formed,” as Nietzsche has said,{186} “by faith in himself and in his star, and by the contempt of Man which proceeded from it.” In Napoleon's opinion there were two levers by which men could be moved: fear and interest.{187} His great general principle, which he applied in all manner of ways in big as in little things, was that no one showed zeal unless he was anxious.{188} Consequently he did not place all his confidence in anybody, he excited rivalry, and kept those who were serving him on the alert. Beneath every good action or good feeling he sought to discover personal interest.” At the time of the Egyptian expedition, Talleyrand had spontaneously lent him a sum of ten thousand francs which he needed to remove the obstacles placed in his way by secret enemies. Returning later, in a conversation with Talleyrand, to the subject of this service rendered, he said to him: 'What personal interest could you then have had in lending me this money? I have cudgelled my brains a hundred times and never have I been able to see your object clearly.' And when the Prince de Bénévent diplomat that he was replied that he had had none, that he had done him this service without ulterior design, Bonaparte added: 'In that case, if you really acted without prevision, your action was that of a gull.'”{189} Talleyrand could not confess that he had staked ten thousand francs on the future of the young conqueror of Italy, but, despite his apparent ignorance, Napoleon was not deceived. However, what did the ulterior motives and calculations of

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