He opted for the Prussian capital but was unable to progress towards his
objective because of constant Allied probes towards Dresden. First
Blucher again threatened it, then he withdrew when he heard Bonaparte
was still in charge. Next Schwarzenberg moved forward, only to retreat
likewise when Napoleon appeared. While all this went on, there came
news of Ney's defeat by Bulow and Bernadotte at Dennewitz (6
September). Napoleon had foolishly put Ney in over Oudinot and
Oudinot, piqued and far the superior general, at once realized Ney's
tactics were misguided. He therefore followed them to the letter, allowing
Ney to discredit himself.
Ney, who rushed into the thick of the battle, when he should have
been commanding fr om a hilltop, was not the only buffoon at Dennewitz
that day. The absurd Bernadotte managed to arrive on the field of battle
when the fighting was almost over. He then ordered Bulow to pull back
and let him take over. The Prussians were infuriated at this arrogance:
the people who had fought all day were to be forgotten while a Gascon
popinjay with an army that had not fought at all coolly claimed the
victory. Napoleon could have told the Allies what to expect from
Bernadotte, had he space to consider the multitudinous nonsense
emanating fr om the new King of Sweden. But he had more serious
matters on his mind. When news of the defeat came in, the Emperor's
public sangfroid was notable. He listened to the bulletin 'with all the
coolness he could have brought to a discussion of events in China', as he
himself boasted. But secretly he fumed against the fool he had made
Prince of the Moskova.
The game of 'avoid Bonaparte' continued, with Bernadotte, Schwar
zenberg and Blucher keeping up the pressure. As soon as Napoleon
moved east from Dresden to deal with Blucher, the other two would close
in and force him back. The Emperor was permanently off balance,
forever rushing from one front to another to make good the errors of his
generals. The Allied policy of avoiding him and picking off the marshals
was proving a spectacular success. Already angry about this, Napoleon
threw one of his pyrotechnical displays of rage when he learned by chance
that Bernadotte had been corresponding with Murat, Berthier, Oudinot
and MacDonald, trying to suborn them. He denounced Murat as a traitor
and fe elings ran so high that Murat was seen to grasp the hilt of his sabre.
When Berthier tried to pour oil on troubled waters by speaking of his
duty as a 'French prince' to explore all possible avenues for peace,
Napoleon rounded savagely on him: 'You, too, old imbecile, what are you
meddling in? Be quiet!'
The stress was showing. Since mid-August the Emperor had lost
marcin
(Marcin)
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