A History of the Coldstream Guards, from 1815 to 1895 — John Shaqi
A History of the Coldstream Guards, from 1815 to 1895Ross, J. (John)
History
A History of the Coldstream Guards, from 1815 to 1895
Ross, J. (John)
Great Britain -- History -- Victoria, 1837-1901; Great Britain. Army. Coldstream Guards
9. SKETCH MAPS TO ILLUSTRATE EGYPTIAN AND SUDAN
EXPEDITIONS, 1882-1885 ” 379
CORRIGENDA.
Page 86, line 31, _for_ “May 25th” _read_ “May 27th.”
” 90, ” 13, _for_ “May 15, 1829” _read_ “May 16, 1829.”
” 118, ” 12, _for_ “November 13th” _read_ “November 9th.”
INTRODUCTION.
The central figure in Europe, during the first fifteen years of this
century, was the Emperor Napoleon, the great military leader, who,
having restored order in France—violently disturbed by the terror,
anarchy, and confusion of the Revolution that broke out in
1789,—succeeded in ruling that country, and in imposing his arbitrary
will upon its people. A master of the science of war, and gifted with
the genius that makes a man supreme in the field of battle, he organized
the military qualities of his subjects, who, under his guidance, invaded
their neighbours, destroyed their institutions, and overran Europe from
one end to the other. One opponent only remained unsubdued, and that was
England; and so strong was her resistance to this modern Attila, that
she succeeded not only in breaking his power, but in adding also to her
own importance and influence in the world.
Napoleon, though a General of the first order,—whose campaigns will
always commend themselves to the student of the art of war,—was less
remarkable for his knowledge of that other science which makes a man a
statesman. He lived by the sword, and he perished by the sword. He
destroyed the prosperity of the people he subdued, but he could not
cement a friendship with them. His object was war and only war, and he
reaped its reward—military fame; but he did not use the absolute power
he wielded, for the advantage of France, nor was he able to establish
his name among the greatest and most enlightened rulers of mankind.
After a period of victory, he exhausted the resources of his country,
and then there was formed against him a coalition of European Princes,
who gradually closed their forces around him with ever tightening grasp,
and pursued him to the heart of his Empire. At last, he was defeated and
undone, and acknowledged his impotence to carry on any longer the mighty
struggle in which he had been engaged (1814). Europe then restored the
Bourbons as Kings of France, and determined that Napoleon should be
expelled therefrom, and interned in the island of Elba,—an Emperor of a
very narrow dominion, and a Monarch only in name. But scarcely had he
been there a year, when he broke loose. Landing in France, he made the
King (Louis XVIII.) fly from Paris; and, amid the acclamations of the
people, he once more re-established himself upon the throne (March,
1815).
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