Domaine Extraordinaire had been used up by the disastrous 1812 and 1813
campaigns, Napoleon had to dig deeply into his private fu nds - the so
called Tresor des Tuileries; in January there were still 75 million francs left,
but by April this had shrunk to 10 million. The other unfavourable
development was the treachery of the marshals, with a fe w honourable
exceptions. Victor began the new year by abandoning Strasbourg and
Nancy, giving the Allies free passage over the Moselle and forcing the
entire French line back.
Even worse was the perfidy of the Murats in Italy. With the support of
his wife, in January 1814 Murat signed a treaty with Metternich which
guaranteed that he would continue to be King of Naples, in return for his
help in waging war on Eugene de Beauharnais. 'Caroline! Mine is a
family of tramps!' Napoleon allegedly said, when told of his sister's
treachery. But even in the sober columns of his official correspondence
his deep anger is palpable: 'The conduct of the King of Naples and that
of the Q!.Ieen is quite unspeakable. I hope to live long enough to avenge
for myself and for France such an outrage and such horrible ingratitude.'
Once again the true man of honour was manifestly Eugene de
Beauharnais, who fe ll back to Lyons with his forces in obedience to the
orders of his ex-stepfa ther. Though offered the crown of Italy by the
Allies if he would desert his master, Eugene refused. As he wrote to his
mother: 'The Emperor's star fades, but that is simply a fu rther reason to
remain fa ithful to him.'
Napoleon's one hope was that the Allies might delay their offensive
until the spring. But in January came news that the enemy was on the
move. He therefore ordered Paris to be held and defended as a fo rtress.
In one of his very worst errors, he appointed Joseph Lieutenant-General
to the Empress's Council of Regency and de facto Governor of Paris.
Since the other members of the Council were Cambaceres, who had no
reason to love the Emperor, and Talleyrand, who was already actively
intriguing against him, his only true supporter in the highest circles in
Paris was his wife Marie-Louise, whom he respected as he had never
respected Josephine - 'never a lie, never a debt' was how he characterized
her, in pointed contrast to his first wife. Napoleon's 'b rother complex'
was alive and well in 1814, not just in the inexplicable decision to make
the man who had failed so signally in Spain his Lieutenant-General, but
in his ludicrous sexual jealousy of his elder sibling. Napoleon actually
worried that while he was campaigning Joseph would try to seduce
Marie-Louise.
The Allied plan for 1814 once again envisaged the operation of four
armies. The Prussian Biilow would take half Bernadotte's Army of the
marcin
(Marcin)
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