THE GENERALS (5 page)
Authors: Simon Scarrow
Beside him Junot looked out over the square. ‘We’ll still have to cross the open ground.’
‘Of course, but the range is long. They’ll never hit us, even if they do shoot.’
‘Really? That’s a comfort.’
‘Come on, Junot!’ Napoleon punched his shoulder. ‘Where’s that spirit you showed at Toulon? We’ll be safe enough, provided we can find a way through.’
They retreated down the street and picked a narrow alley running closer to the palace. It was still very early and only the rebels had taken to the streets. Most of the Parisians remained in their homes, and prayed that the trouble would not come close to their door. At length the two officers found a narrow passage cutting between two tenements. At the far end the Carrousel lay clearly visible, with the gates of the palace a hundred paces beyond. Napoleon crept to the end of the passage, with Junot close behind. Then they crouched down and Napoleon took a deep breath. ‘Ready?’
Junot nodded.
They burst from cover and sprinted across the cobblestones towards the gates. For a few seconds no one seemed to have noticed them. Then there was a shout from one of the men sheltering behind the nearest wagon.
‘You there! Stop!’
As they kept running Napoleon saw some of the soldiers on the gates raise their heads to look in their direction.Then one of them snatched up his musket, snapped the cock back and took aim. There was a flash and a puff of smoke, followed by a loud crack and the high-pitched whirr as the ball passed close overhead.
‘Don’t fire!’ Napoleon cried out. ‘We’re army officers!’
But his shouts were lost in the confusion of other voices as the royalists rose up and hurled insults at them. Another shot was fired, low, ricocheting off the stones between Napoleon and Junot. At once, Napoleon tore at the buttons of his coat as he ran and then shivered free of the coat to expose his uniform jacket. ‘Don’t fire!’
To his relief the soldiers lowered their weapons. Then the sound of further shots filled the air and he turned and saw that some of the royalists were attempting to shoot the officers down before they reached the safety of the palace gates.
The soldiers began to provide some covering fire, and Napoleon and Junot sprinted for the army barricades as musket balls cracked off the ground and cut through the air like angry hornets. Then they were at the gates and desperately scrambling over the line of barrels and meal bags that formed the barricade. They rolled over the top and dropped down on the far side, breathless. A sergeant scurried along the line of the barricade towards them. ‘Who the hell are you?’
‘Brigadier Bonaparte and Lieutenant Junot. We’re here to help.’
‘Help?’ The sergeant frowned. ‘Then you could have brought some men with you, sir. A battalion or two of line infantry wouldn’t go amiss.’
‘Sorry.’ Napoleon smiled grimly. ‘We’re all there is.’
‘Pity.’
‘Where is Paul Barras?’
‘Barras?’The sergeant turned and pointed towards the old royal quarters in the centre of the Tuileries. ‘In there, with the other officers, sir.’
‘Fine. Come on, Junot.’
Keeping low, they hurried across the courtyard and up the steps to the main entrance. Behind them the exchange of musket fire kept going a moment longer and then eased off into the odd desultory shot. Inside the palace a young orderly escorted them up the grand staircase to the first floor suite that Barras had chosen for his headquarters. The door was open and the two officers strode in. It was a large chamber, decorated with gilt and fine wallpaper. Little of the original furnishings had survived the mob’s assault on the royal palace a few years earlier and Barras sat at a plain desk. Around him stood or sat several officers, only one of whom Napoleon recognised, and his heart sank.
‘That’s General Carteaux,’ Junot whispered.
Napoleon nodded. The last time they had met, Carteaux had been commanding the army laying siege to Toulon - until the Committee of Public Safety had relieved him of the post for his complete incompetence. Napoleon turned his gaze towards Barras as the latter stood to greet the new arrivals.
‘And who may you two be?’
Once Napoleon had introduced himself and Junot Barras nodded. ‘Any combat experience?’
‘Yes, sir. We served with the army that took Toulon. I commanded the artillery.’
Barras raised his eyebrows. ‘Ah! I remember. So you are
that
artillery officer. Robespierre could not have praised you more highly. Still, given the way things turned out I’m not so sure how much stock I should place in his judgement.’
that
artillery officer. Robespierre could not have praised you more highly. Still, given the way things turned out I’m not so sure how much stock I should place in his judgement.’
The other officers laughed.There was a harsh nervous edge to the sound that made Napoleon’s spirits sink. If this was a sign of how far morale had fallen then the odds against their beating the royalists had lengthened. Barras sat back down.
‘Well then, Brigadier, I expect you want me to tell you about our little predicament?’
Napoleon nodded.
‘From the latest reports it seems that General Danican has gone over to the royalists. My agents tell me that at first light tomorrow over twenty thousand militia men and royalist sympathisers are going to march on the Tuileries. They intend to massacre every soldier and member of the government that they find here.’
Chapter 5
‘How many men do you have under your command?’ Napoleon asked.
‘Five thousand,’ Barras replied. ‘Although a thousand of those are volunteers and have no weapons and another five hundred are reservists. They don’t have weapons either.’
‘So, three and a half thousand muskets against twenty thousand.’ Napoleon shook his head. ‘Not good odds. Not unless we can restore the balance some other way.What about cannon? How many pieces do you have?’
‘None.’ Barras shrugged. ‘This is the seat of government, not a bloody arsenal.’
‘Then we’ll have to find some guns and bring them here.’ Napoleon turned to Junot and snapped an order. ‘There are cannon at the artillery park at Neuilly. Find some men - two companies should do - and bring back ten light pieces. We only need them to fire grapeshot.’
‘It’s too late for that,’ Barras cut in. ‘A royalist column is already on its way there.’
‘Then we must beat them to it!’ Napoleon’s eyes flashed angrily. ‘Unless you want to surrender the palace to them right now, citizen.’
‘Of course not!’ Barras drew himself up and placed a hand on his chest. ‘I have dedicated my life to defending the republic.’
Napoleon drew a deep breath before he continued. ‘We are not in the debating chamber now, citizen. We need actions not words. Better still, we need those guns.’
Carteaux jabbed a finger at him and sneered. ‘And just how do you think we can get them? We’re not at Toulon now, boy.You can’t just pull the guns out of thin air. We’ve already done all we can.’
‘So we sit on our arses and wait for them to come for us, eh?’ Napoleon mocked him.
Carteaux jumped up from his chair and strode towards Napoleon, towering over him. He spoke through clenched teeth. ‘Your Jacobin masters are not here to protect you now. I put up with your insolence far too long before. Now it’s time we settled this.’
‘Gentlemen!’ Barras shouted.‘That’s enough.We have enough enemies out there without making more in here. Sit down, Carteaux.’
The old general glared at Napoleon for a moment before he returned to his chair. There was a tense silence while tempers cooled a little and Napoleon realised that not one of the other officers had spoken since he had entered the office. Clearly the fight had already been knocked out of them. Someone needed to take charge of the palace’s defences. They needed a plan if they were to stand any chance of beating General Danican and his rebels.
His thoughts were interrupted by the harsh clatter of heavy boots and he turned towards the sound as a cavalry officer swaggered into the office. He was a tall man with broad shoulders, long curly hair and bearded cheeks. Approaching the table he glanced round.
‘Who is in command here?’
‘I am,’ Barras replied.
‘No, I mean who is really in command?’
Napoleon took a step forward and cleared his voice. ‘Citizen Barras has been charged by the assembly to defend the palace. But I have assumed command.’ He turned to the other officers. ‘Unless there are any objections?’
There was no reply, not even from Carteaux who stared fixedly at his long boots. Napleon nodded. ‘Very well then. And who might you be?’
‘Major Joachim Murat, of the hussars. I came as soon as I got word that the royalist scum were up to no good. I have brought two squadrons of my men with me.’
Napoleon’s eyes lit up. ‘Cavalry! Your men are ready to ride?’
‘Well, yes.’ Major Murat was taken aback. ‘But we’ve only just got here.’
‘There’s no time to discuss this, Major.You must do exactly as I say. Do you know the artillery park at Neuilly?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Good. Take your men and ride there immediately.You must stop for nothing. Cut down anyone who gets in your way. Citizen Barras will write an order while you are gone to cover that. When you get there find me some guns - four-pounders - and plenty of powder and ammunition, particularly case shot. Then bring it straight back here. Have you got that?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Then go at once, Murat. The fate of France rests on your shoulders today. Remember that.’
‘Yes, sir.’ With a scrape of his boots Murat stood to attention and saluted Napoleon. Then he turned and strode from the room.
‘Murat!’
‘Sir?’
‘Run, don’t walk.’
Napoleon turned back to Barras. ‘Citizen, if you would permit me, I would like to walk round the defences and see to the best disposition of our men.’
‘Of course.’ Barras nodded. ‘Whatever you think best.’
‘Once that’s done, these officers will be assigned to the key points we are defending.They will need to hold them at all costs.’ Napoleon turned to address them all. ‘It is as I said to Major Murat.The fate of France is in our hands. Our hands, gentlemen. We must not fail. And we must not let our men think there is any doubt in our minds that we will beat the royalists. Do you understand me? Our men will look to us in the coming hours. Do not fail them. Show no fear and accept no dissent. Is that clear?’
The other officers nodded their agreement and Napoleon clapped his hands. ‘Good. That’s settled. Come, Junot. We have work to do.’
As they strode out of the room, Junot leaned towards his friend and muttered, ‘Did you see their faces? You made them look like scared rabbits. Now they’re eating out of your hand.’
Napoleon shrugged.‘They just needed someone to give them an order. Now I just hope they’ll do their duty.’
The two of them made a thorough inspection of the defences of the Tuileries and Napoleon gave orders for the boarding up of the lowest windows and doors and the barricading of all but a few of the smaller entrances. Nearly all of the men looked nervous and he could understand their fear at the overwhelming odds they faced. But he did his best to inspire them, telling them again and again of the significance of the next few days, and that when it was over they would have stories to tell their grandchildren and make them proud to be the bearers of an honoured family name. He also saw to it that the stores of powder and musket balls in the magazine were distributed to each strong-point, together with food and water to last each several days. Every time he glanced out into the streets surrounding the palace, Napoleon could see more and more of the royalists around the Tuileries as they prepared for the coming attack. But, other than the cautious figures moving behind cover, the streets were empty and silent.
Napoleon returned to Barras’ office at noon and quickly assigned the officers to their positions. Even those senior to him in rank readily nodded their assent and hurried off to their posts. As the last of them left, Napoleon turned to Barras and saw that behind the earlier bluster of a politician the man was anxious, fearful even, and seemed resigned to defeat.
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