Charles being transferred from Switzerland to Holland and Suvorov
moving from Italy to Switzerland. This caused a delay in campaigning
which the French exploited. In September Massena won the second
battle of Zurich (in the first, in May, he had been defeated by Archduke
Charles), routing the Russians while Suvorov was being transferred. Even
more significant than the military check to the Allies was the suspicion
and mutual recrimination the setback engendered. Austria and Russia
blamed each other bitterly, and the final upshot was that Russia left the
coalition in dudgeon in January 1800.
Taking advantage of the confusion and bickering, General Ney
defeated the Austrians on the Rhine. In Holland General Guillaume
Brune brought the Anglo-Russian adventure to an inglorious end and
earned the Duke of York eternal obloquy by a stunning victory in
October which had the English scurrying for their embarkation vessels.
The consequence was that when Napoleon arrived in Paris on 16 October
the immediate military crisis was over, removing the justification for a
coup d'etat. In particular, the victories by Brune and Massena made it
very difficult for the Bonapartist propaganda machine to present its man
as the 'sword' badly needed by the Republic. Since Ney, Brune and
Massena were the new military heroes and fickle public opinion was likely
to turn away from him, Napoleon needed to act fast. On the other hand,
because there was no obvious necessity now for a coup, he had also to
move with extreme caution.
While he pondered his next move, he had one immediate decision to
take: what to do about Josephine? When they were reunited with their
brother, Joseph and Lucien confirmed the stories about Josephine's
habitual adultery with Hippolyte Charles. The affair had recommenced in
earnest at the end of 1798; Charles would often stay weeks at a time at
Malmaison, decamping when visitors arrived. Charles and Josephine
were also a byword for corruption. In addition to the retainers from
Louis Bodin for putting army contracts his way, Josephine was also on a
huge sweetener of soo,ooo francs from another military contractor,
Compagnie Flachat. Almost predictably, when Napoleon arrived at his
house on the rue de la Victoire at 6 a.m. on 16 October, Josephine was
not there. He flew into a rage and decided to divorce her without more
ado. Barras urged Napoleon to be stoical, but made no impression. Only
when the banker Jean-Pierre Collot put the affair in the context of raison
d'etat did Bonaparte cool down. Collot argued that Napoleon would lose
prestige if it became widely known that he had been cuckolded; the best
course was to wait until he had supreme power and then settle accounts
with his errant wife.
marcin
(Marcin)
#1