"All our superior officers," he wrote, "are _hors de combat_; the Army of Italy, reduced to a mere handful, is exhausted; the heroes of Millesimo, of Lodi, of Castiglione and of Bassano have died for their country or are in the hospital; there is nothing left the corps but their pride and their reputation; Joubert, Lannes, Lamart, Victor, Murat, Charlet, Dupuis, Rampon, Pigeon, Menard, Chabadon are wounded; we are abandoned in the heart of Italy; the brave men who remain to us have to face inevitable death in the very midst of continual hazards and with inferior numbers. Perhaps the fatal hour for the brave Augereau and the dauntless Masséna is on the point of striking; then, then what is to become of these brave men? This thought keeps me back. I dare no longer court death to the discouragement of those I value so highly; had I only received the 83rd and been strengthened by 3500 tried men, I would have dared anything; perhaps in a few days 40,000 men will not suffice to save us. "To-day our troops are resting; to-morrow, subject to the movements of the enemy, we will take action." Here we have the complaints, or rather the gloomy predictions, of a tired-out, discouraged, and depressed man: the strongest of constitutions succumb to such moments of doubt, and experience these hours of despair: after great fatigue the body overrides the mind, the sheath tarnishes the blade. Two hours after having penned this letter Bonaparte had devised a new plan. The battle of Roneo took place on the following day, being the beginning of the famous battle of Arcole, which lasted three days. By the third day the Austrians had lost 5000 men as prisoners, 8000 or 10,000 killed or wounded, and, although still 40,000 strong, they withdrew to the mountains, pursued by 15,000 French. They retreated into the capital of the Tyrol: 15,000 French had accomplished the gigantic undertaking of fighting against and conquering 50,000 men. But they had only repulsed the army of Alvintzy, they had not destroyed it, as they had destroyed the three others. Bonaparte advised Serrurier to continue the blockade of Mantua, to harass Wurmser as he had harassed Beaulieu (Cauto d'Irles), and took up his winter quarters at Milan, a centre for negotiations with all the little princedoms of Italy, which through fear alone became our allies. About three weeks after, an event occurred during the blockade which was to have a great influence on the course of events of this terrible campaign. One night--either the 23rd or 24th December, which corresponded to that of the 2nd or 3rd Nivôse--my father was awakened by the visit of three or four soldiers, who brought a man before him who had been captured by one of our advanced sentinels just as he was going to leap over the first barricade at Mantua. My father was at Marmirolo.