[238] "The night before the battle of Jena, the Emperor said, he had run the greatest risk. He might then have disappeared without his fate being clearly known. He had approached the bivouacs of the enemy, in the dark, to reconnoitre them; he had only a few officers with him. The opinion which was then entertained of the Prussian army kept every one on the alert: it was thought that the Prussians were particularly given to nocturnal attacks. As the Emperor returned, he was fired at by the first sentinel of his camp; this was a signal for the whole line; he had no resource but to throw himself flat on his face, until the mistake was discovered. But his principal apprehension was, that the Prussian line, which was near him, would act in the same manner."--LAS CASES, tom. i., p. 143. [239] "The Emperor, at the point where he stood, saw the flight of the Prussians, and our cavalry taking them by thousands. Night was approaching; and here, as at Austerlitz, he rode round the field of battle. He often alighted from his horse to give a little brandy to the wounded; and several times I observed him putting his hand into the breast of a soldier to ascertain whether his heart beat, because, in consequence of having seen some slight appearance of colour in his cheeks, he supposed he might not be dead. In this manner I saw him two or three times discover men who were still alive. On these occasions he gave way to a joy which it is impossible to describe."--SAVARY, tom. ii., p. 184. [240] Fifth Bulletin of the Grand Army; Jomini, tom. ii., p. 281; Savary, tom. ii., p. 181. [241] "So jealous was Blucher of any tarnish being attached to his character, in consequence of this surrender, that the capitulation was at one time on the point of being broken off, because Bernadotte would not consent that the reasons which compelled him to surrender, viz. a want of powder and other necessaries, should be stated, as Blucher insisted, among the articles drawn up between them."--See GENTZ, _Journal des Quatorze Jours de la Monarchie Prussienne_. [242] "The war with Prussia--a war which had been hatching since the battle of Austerlitz--was less caused by the counsels of the cabinet, than by the compilers of secret memoirs. They began by representing the Prussian monarchy as ready to fall at the least puff, like a house built with cards. I can affirm, that, for the last three months, this war was prepared like a _coup de théâtre_; all the chances and vicissitudes had been calculated, and weighed, with the greatest exactness. I considered it ill becoming the dignity of crowned heads, to see a cabinet so ill regulated. The Prussian monarchy, whose safeguard it should have been, depended upon the cunning of some intriguers, and the energy of a few subsidized persons, who were the very puppets of our will. Jena! history will one day develope thy secret causes."--FOUCHÉ, tom. i., p. 304. [243] Documens sur la Hollande, tom. i., p. 282. [244]