Napoleon, as we have said above,[58] “proposed to assemble his own forces with all possible secrecy in the neighborhood of Charleroi,” and this step was, of course, the essential preliminary to the opening of the campaign. The five corps of which the army was to be chiefly composed, were widely separated from each other, and each was at a considerable distance from Charleroi. The 1st and 2d Corps lay to the westward of Charleroi, in the neighborhood of Lille and Valenciennes respectively, the 3d and 4th Corps to the southeastward of Charleroi, near Mezières and Metz; the 6th Corps was at Laon, about half way from Charleroi to Paris, and the Guard partly at Paris, and partly, not far off, at Compiègne. The four cavalry corps were stationed to the north of Laon, between that place and Avesnes. The larger part of these commands were placed on or near the frontier, and any movements on their part were likely to be observed by the enemy. Nevertheless the concentration of the army was safely and secretly effected. The 4th Corps, which was near Metz, broke camp as early as the 6th of June, the 1st Corps, which was near Lille, as early as the 9th, the Guard left Paris on the 8th, the other corps left their encampments at somewhat later dates. The Emperor left Paris at half-past three o’clock on the morning of the 12th, and so well were his calculations made that, on the evening of the 14th, his headquarters were at Beaumont, not more than sixteen miles south of Charleroi, with the entire army within easy reach. And, by the expedient which he adopted, of causing demonstrations to be made at various points on the frontier, from the English Channel on the west almost to Metz on the east, he diverted the attention of the enemy’s pickets and created false alarms, so that his formidable army was concentrated without arousing the serious concern of the chiefs of the allied armies. On the evening of the 14th, at Avesnes, the Emperor issued to his soldiers one of his stirring orders;[59] he reminded them that this was the anniversary of Marengo and Friedland; he called upon them to conquer or die. As confirming what has been said above as to his plans and expectations, he wrote to his brother Joseph the same morning, as follows:[60] “To-morrow I go to Charleroi, where the Prussian army is; that will occasion either a battle or the retreat of the enemy.” To the same effect he wrote at the same time to Davout:[61] “I shall pass the Sambre to-morrow, the 15th. If the Prussians do not retire, we shall have a battle.” These letters show how perfectly clear his plan lay in his own mind,—not as a project of separating the allied armies from one another by occupying any points on the line by which they communicated with each other, but as an intention of attacking and defeating the army of Blücher before it could be supported by that of Wellington, unless, indeed, it should fall back before him.