Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, Volume III.Scott, Walter
History
Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, Volume III.
Scott, Walter
France -- History -- 1789-1815; Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821
Meanwhile, Mack found himself, with the remains of his army, cooped up
in Ulm, as Wurmser had been in Mantua. He published an order of the day,
which intimated an intention to imitate the persevering defence of that
heroic veteran. He forbade the word surrender to be used by any one--he
announced the arrival of two powerful armies, one of Austrians, one of
Russians, whose appearance would presently raise the blockade--he
declared his determination to eat horse-flesh rather than listen to any
terms of capitulation. This bravado appeared on the 16th October, and
the conditions of surrender were subscribed by Mack on the next day,
having been probably in the course of adjustment when he was making
these notable professions of resistance.[134]
The course of military misconduct which we have traced, singular as it
is, might be perhaps referred to folly or incapacity on the part of
Mack, though it must be owned it was of that gross kind which civilians
consider as equal to fraud. But another circumstance remains to be told,
which goes far to prove that this once celebrated and trusted general
had ingrafted the traitor upon the fool. The terms of capitulation, as
subscribed on the 17th October, bore, that there should be an armistice
until 26th October at midnight; and that if, during this space, an
Austrian or Russian army should appear to raise the blockade, the army
at Ulm should have liberty to join them, with their arms and baggage.
This stipulation allowed the Austrian soldiers some hope of relief, and
in any event it was sure to interrupt the progress of Buonaparte's
successes, by detaining the principal part of his army in the
neighbourhood of Ulm, until the term of nine days was expired. But Mack
consented to a revision of these terms, a thing which would scarcely
have been proposed to a man of honour, and signed on the 19th a second
capitulation, by which he consented to evacuate Ulm on the day
following;[135] thus abridging considerably, at a crisis when every
minute was precious, any advantage, direct or contingent, which the
Austrians could have derived from the delay originally stipulated. No
reason has ever been alleged for this concession. Buonaparte, indeed,
had given Mack an audience[136] previous to the signing of this
additional article of capitulation, and what arguments he then employed
must be left to conjecture.[137]
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