[Ryde, 11 or 12 September 1857] 

[..-.] Berthier was a mere clerk without an idea in his head, but 
frightfully zealous in the service and punctilious; when Napoleon 
sent him to Bavaria in 1809 to organise the troops before his own 
arrival, his ordres et contreordres split the army into three. Half of it 
was with Davout at Regensburg, the remainder with Masséna at 
Augsburg, and the Bavarians in between at Abensberg, so that a 
rapid advance by Archduke Charles would have enabled him to 
defeat the various corps one by one. It was only Napoleon’s arrival 
and the slowness of the Austrians that saved the French. 

In 1813 Bernadotte was not a general at all but a diplomat. He 
prevented the generals under him from attacking and when, in 
contravention of this order, Bülow won his two victories at 
Grossbeeren and Dennewitz,'” Bernadotte stopped the pursuit. 
He was in constant touch with the French. When Blicher marched 
to the Elbe to join up with him and to force him at last to act, he 
continued to prevaricate until Sir Ch. Stewart (the English 
commissary in his camp) told him that if he didn’t march 
immediately, he wouldn’t pay out another penny. This helped— 

2 common sense - > An allusion to Napoleon’s words ‘ordre, contreordre, désordre’. 

nevertheless it was purely honoris causa that the Swedes appeared 
in the firing-line at Leipzig,’** and during the whole campaign 
they lost less than 200 men in battle—In. 1798 Bernadotte was 
French ambassador in Vienna; to celebrate the anniversary of a 
victory over the Austrians he hoisted the tricolor, whereupon the 

populace stormed his residence and burned the flag. He left, but 

Napoleon decided against him and persuaded the Directory '” to 

LET THE MATTER DROP.” [...| 
[...] Jomini, Vie politique et militaire de Napoléon, t. II, p. 60 qq. 
(Napoleon says)? 

‘Bernadotte ... un homme fin, d’un extérieur brillant; les plans d’opération qu’it 
avait faits comme ministre de la guerre, prouvaient qu’i) était meilleur lieutenant, 
que général en chef’< [p. 60]. 

‘Marmont, jadis mon aide de camp et officier d’artillerie’ [pp. 60-61]. 

‘Davout, qui avait reçu une bonne éducation, avait la téte fortement organisée et 
des idées de guerre trés justes. Ses maniéres rudes et un caractére a la fois 
soupçonneux et dur lui ont fait beaucoup d’ennemis, et dans les graves 
circonstances ou i] s’est trouvé, l’esprit de parti s’est déchaîné contre lui avec une 
grande injustice. Sévère, mais juste envers ses subordonnés, mieux qu’aucun autre 
il sut maintenir la discipline parmi ses soldats; aucun de mes maréchaux n’exigeait 
plus de ses subordonnés, et aucun ne les fit servir avec tant d’exactitude’ [p. 61). 

‘Soult, d’un physique male, d’un esprit étendu, laborieux, actif, infatigable, avait 
fait preuve de talents supérieurs’ [p. 61). 

‘Lannes; couvert de gloire et de blessures, ce brave manquait de principes faits 
sur la guerre; mais il y suppléait par un jugement admirable et sur le champ de 
bataille il ne le cédait 4 aucun de ses collegues’ [p. 61]. 

‘Ney. Lannes fut peut étre aussi brillant que lui dans maintes attaques; mais la 
force d’Ame que Ney déploya dans le grand désastre de 1812 ou il commanda 
successivement tous les corps de l’armée, lui assigne le premier rang parmi les 
braves de tous les jours. De méme que plusieurs de ses collègues il n’entendatt point la 
guerre en grand sur la carted; mais sur le terrain, rien n’égalait son assurance, son 
coup d’oeil et son aplomb’ [p. 62]. 

‘Murat, qui avait di a sa bonne mine, a son courage et a son activité Phonneur 
d’étre mon aide de camp et mon beau-frére, n’a jamais été a la hauteur de la réputation 
colossale que je lui avais faite. Du reste, il avait de l’esprit naturel, un courage brillant 
et une grande activité’ [p. 63]. 

‘Masséna recut de la nature tout ce qui fait un excellent homme de guerre, doué 
dun grand caractére, d’un courage éprouvé et d’un coup d’oeil qui inspirait les 
résolutions les plus promptes et Jes plus heureuses, on ne peut lui refuser une 
place distinguée parmi les capitaines modernes. Cependant il faut avouer qu’il 
brillait plus dans les combats que dans le conseil’ [p. 63]. 

‘Brune ne manquait pas de certain mérite, c’était pourtant pour tout prendre un 
général de tribune bien plus qu’un militaire redoutable’¢ [p. 64]. 

4 The relevant passages were used by Marx in his articles ‘Berthier’ and ‘Bernadotte’. 
The facts connected with Bernadotte’s diplomatic mission in Vienna are here 
distorted (see also this volume, pp. 169-70). - > Engels condenses some of the 
quotations from Jomini’s book. - ¢ Used by Marx in his article ‘Bernadotte’. - ¢ Here 
and below Engels’ italics. - ¢€ Used by Marx in his article ‘Brune’. 

‘Mortier, moins brillant, était pourtant plus solide, son calme et son sang-froid, 
passés en proverbe parmi les soldats, lui avaient valu plus d’un succés et il était du 
nombre de ceux qui pouvaient conduire un corps sous ma direction’ [p. 64]. 

‘ Bessiéres avait fait ses preuves prés de moi 4 \'armée d’Italie ov il commandait 
mes guides a cheval. I] n’avait pour lui qu’un grand esprit d’ordre et une valeur 
reconnue. I] était méthodique et d’une timidité excessive dans le conseil’ [p. 64]. 

‘Lefebure, duc de Dantzic, était un vrai grenadier. Enfant de la nature, il ne 
devait rien qu’a son esprit naturel, 4 une grande bravoure, et 4 un caractére simple 
et naif. 1 savait se faire aimer du soldat et le mener droit 4 une position; c'était 
tout son mérite’ [p. 64]. 

‘Jourdan avait di a la fortune une grande partie de sa réputation. Bon 
administrateur, laborieux, homme d’ordre et intègre. Et ayant de /’instruction, il 
eut été fort bon chef d’état major d’une grande armée sous un chef qui l’eut bien 
dirigé’ [p. 64). 

‘Macdonald ... avait fort mal manoeuvré 4 la Trebbia’ [...]4 [p. 65]. 

Berthier is not mentioned in this collection. 

Apropos: what about your material on Bem? Of him it must be 
said that he excelled in command of smaller corps of 5-10,000 
men and could inspire younger troops with self-assurance by good 

a ‘Bernadotte ... a man of refinement, of brilliant appearance; the plans of operations 
which he drew up in his capacity as War Minister proved him to be better as a 
subaltern than as a general-in-chief’ (p. 60). 

‘Marmont, formerly my ADC and artillery officer’ (pp. 60-61). 

‘Davout, who had a good education, possessed a well-organised brain and very 
correct ideas about war. His rough ways and a disposition at once suspicious and harsh 
earned him many enemies, and in the grave circumstances in which he found himself 
the spirit of prejudice broke loose against him with great injustice. Severe but fair 
towards his subordinates, he knew better than anyone else how to maintain discipline 
among his men; not one of my marshals demanded so much of his subordinates, and 
not one of them induced them to serve with such punctiliousness’ (p. 61). 

‘Soult, with his manly build, his broad, hard-working, active and untiring mind, had 
demonstrated superior talents’ (p. 61). 

‘Lannes; covered with glory and with wounds, this brave man lacked set principles 
concerning war; but he made up for this with his admirable judgment, and on the 
battlefield he was second to none of his colleagues’ (p. 61). 

‘Ney. Lannes was perhaps as brilliant as he in many an attack; but the fortitude 
which Ney displayed in the great disaster of 1812, when he commanded all the corps 
of the army in succession, ranks him first among the brave men of all times. Like many 
of his colleagues, he understood nothing about war on a large scale on the map; but on the 
ground his assurance, his sharpsightedness and his poise were unequaled’ (p. 62). 

‘Murat, who was indebted to his good looks, his courage and his activity for the 
honour of being my ADC and my brother-in-law, never lived up to the colossal reputation 
which I had made for him. For the rest, he had a natural wit, brilliant courage and great 
energy’ (p. 63). 

‘Masséna received from nature all that goes to make an excellent soldier, endowed 
with a splendid character, a courage which stood the test and a sharpsightedness 
which inspired the most prompt and most felicitous decisions; he cannot be denied a 
distinguished place among the captains of our time. But it must be admitted that he 
shone more in battle than at the council table’ (p. 63). 

use of natural cover and [artillery] support; that he particularly 
distinguished himself in the small [mountain] warfare into which 
the whole of the first Transylvanian campaign?” developed, but 
that he had a considerable DASH OF THE PARTISAN, Which made him 
incapable of commanding bigger armies. In the second Transylva- 
nian campaign, when masses of Russians invaded, he operated 
again with rash raids after the manner of partisans without any 
consideration for the relative strength of the opposing forces and 
thus lost not only Transylvania but the whole of his army too. His 
march into the Banat (before the second Transylvanian cam- 
paign) achieved nothing””’; he seems to have been unable to cope 
with the greater masses he was in command of. Praise is due to his 
great fortitude and his art of arousing the men’s confidence in his 
otherwise unmartial-looking person. He could quickly achieve 
superficial organisation and discipline, but was satisfied at that. He 
neglected to build up a body of picked troops, for which the first 
Transylvanian campaign provided time enough and which was the 
greatest necessity, and hence all the outward organisation—and 
relative discipline—disappeared at the first setback. His bigger 
campaign plans all bear a heavy empreinte* of partisan warfare; the 
basic features are mostly correct but presuppose far different 
means from those available, and even supposing that they were 
available they could be put to better use. E.g. his plan to abandon 
Hungary and break through to Italy via Trieste. Had the means 
for this been at his disposal and capable of being concentrated, the 
forces would thus have been provided with which to defeat Haynau, 

‘Brune was not without a certain merit, but all considered, he was a tribune general 
rather than a formidable soldier’ (p. 64). 

‘Mortier, less brilliant, was however more reliable; his calm and sangfroid, which 
became proverbial among his soldiers, won him success more than once, and he was 
one of those who could lead a corps under my direction’ (p. 64). 

‘Bessiéres had proved his worth with me in the army of Italy, in which he 
commanded my mounted guides. All he had to distinguish him was a great spirit of 
order and a recognised valour. He was methodical and excessively timid at the council 
table’ (p. 64). 

‘Lefebvre, Duke of Danzig, was a true grenadier. A child of nature, he owed 
everything to his natural wit, to his great bravery and his straightforward, naive 
character. He knew how to win the soldiers’ love and lead them straight into action; 
that was where his merit lay’ (p. 64). 

‘Jourdan owed much of his reputation to fortune. A good administrator, 
hard-working, a man of order and integrity. And had he had training, he would have 
made a very good chief of staff of a great army under a commander who directed him 
well’ (p. 64). 

‘Macdonald ... manoeuvred very badly at La Trebbia’ (p. 65). 

4 stamp 

whereupon the Russians, instead of concentrating, would have been 
obliged to split up in order to hold what they had captured, and 
hence could have been defeated piecemeal. It must not be 
forgotten, however, that in an insurrectionary war these partisan 
methods are partially justified precisely because of the uncertainty 
concerning the means really available; the bigger the scale of the 
war, however, the less appropriate they become.* 

[...] Can you find out what Bockbrücken (ponts a chevalets) are in 
English? I should also like to have a description of the Austrian 
Birago pontoons and a brief excerpt—merely an outline—on the 
design of pontoons in the various armies (see Sir Howard Douglas, 
Military Bridges), also whether the Russians and Prussians still have 
canvas pontoons. I have no material here, and such as I have in 
Manchester is very old. I have something on English pontoons [...].