Opening the text

History of the war in the Peninsula and in the south of France from the year 1807 to the year 1814, vol. 5Napier, William Francis Patrick

History

History of the war in the Peninsula and in the south of France from the year 1807 to the year 1814, vol. 5

Name: History of the war in the Peninsula and in the south of France from the year 1807 to the year 1814, vol. 5
Author: Napier, William Francis Patrick

Napier, William Francis Patrick

Peninsular War, 1807-1814

To these questions the king’s agent could only reply by excuses which
must have made the energetic emperor smile; but when, following his
instructions, Desprez harped upon Soult’s demeanour, his designs in
Andalusia, and still more upon the letter so personally offensive
to the king, and which shall be noticed hereafter, Napoleon replied
sharply, that he could not enter into such pitiful disputes while
he was at the head of five hundred thousand men and occupied with
such immense operations. With respect to Soult’s letter, he said he
knew his brother’s real feelings, but those who judged Joseph by his
language could only think with Soult, whose suspicions were natural
and partaken by the other generals; wherefore he would not, by
recalling him, deprive the armies in Spain of the only military head
they possessed. And then in ridicule of Soult’s supposed treachery,
he observed, that the king’s fears on that head must have subsided,
as the English newspapers said the duke of Dalmatia was evacuating
Andalusia, and he would of course unite with Suchet and with the army
of the centre to retake the offensive.

The emperor, however, admitted all the evils arising from these
disputes between the generals and the king, but said that at such a
distance he could not give precise orders for their conduct. He had
foreseen the mischief he observed, and regretted more than ever that
Joseph had disregarded his counsel not to return to Spain in 1811,
and thus saying he closed the conversation, but this expression about
Joseph not returning to Spain is very remarkable. Napoleon spoke of
it as of a well known fact, yet Joseph’s letters shew that he not
only desired but repeatedly offered to resign the crown of Spain and
live a private man in France! Did the emperor mean that he wished
his brother to remain a crowned guest at Paris? or had some subtle
intriguers misrepresented the brothers to each other? The noblest
buildings are often defiled in secret by vile and creeping things.


OBSERVATIONS.

1º. _Menace your enemy’s flanks, protect your own, and be ready to
concentrate on the important points_:

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

History of the war in the Peninsula and in the south of France from the year 1807 to the year 1814, vol. 5Napier, William Francis Patrick

History

History of the war in the Peninsula and in the south of France from the year 1807 to the year 1814, vol. 5

Napier, William Francis Patrick

Peninsular War, 1807-1814

To these questions the king’s agent could only reply by excuses which
must have made the energetic emperor smile; but when, following his
instructions, Desprez harped upon Soult’s demeanour, his designs in
Andalusia, and still more upon the letter so personally offensive
to the king, and which shall be noticed hereafter, Napoleon replied
sharply, that he could not enter into such pitiful disputes while
he was at the head of five hundred thousand men and occupied with
such immense operations. With respect to Soult’s letter, he said he
knew his brother’s real feelings, but those who judged Joseph by his
language could only think with Soult, whose suspicions were natural
and partaken by the other generals; wherefore he would not, by
recalling him, deprive the armies in Spain of the only military head
they possessed. And then in ridicule of Soult’s supposed treachery,
he observed, that the king’s fears on that head must have subsided,
as the English newspapers said the duke of Dalmatia was evacuating
Andalusia, and he would of course unite with Suchet and with the army
of the centre to retake the offensive.

The emperor, however, admitted all the evils arising from these
disputes between the generals and the king, but said that at such a
distance he could not give precise orders for their conduct. He had
foreseen the mischief he observed, and regretted more than ever that
Joseph had disregarded his counsel not to return to Spain in 1811,
and thus saying he closed the conversation, but this expression about
Joseph not returning to Spain is very remarkable. Napoleon spoke of
it as of a well known fact, yet Joseph’s letters shew that he not
only desired but repeatedly offered to resign the crown of Spain and
live a private man in France! Did the emperor mean that he wished
his brother to remain a crowned guest at Paris? or had some subtle
intriguers misrepresented the brothers to each other? The noblest
buildings are often defiled in secret by vile and creeping things.


OBSERVATIONS.

1º. _Menace your enemy’s flanks, protect your own, and be ready to
concentrate on the important points_:

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

History of the war in the Peninsula and in the south of France from the year 1807 to the year 1814, vol. 5

History of the war in the Peninsula and in the south of France from the year 1807 to the year 1814, vol. 5

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