1806.

naparte

to reduce Silesia.

CHAP. William resolved to abide the desperate chance of LXXVI. war rather than submit to them. Meantime the French, with unremitting activity, were preparing to extend their operations beyond the Oder. The corps under the command of Davoust entered Jerome Bo- Posen on the 10th of November; and Jerome undertakes Bonaparte, at the head of an army of Wirtembergers and Bavarians, undertook the conquest of Silesia, where success promised to be easy, since there was no army to contend with, and the fortified places were ill provided with the means of defence. He however encountered greater resistance than he expected: Great Glogau, with a garrison of only 2500 men, held out till the 29th; and Breslau, though bombarded for more than three weeks, did not capitulate until the 7th of January, 1807.

Advance of the Russians.

GENERAL BENIGSEN, at the head of the advanced Russian army, had already entered Warsaw; but on receiving accurate information of the force opposed to him, he deemed it prudent to evacuate that city, and retreated beyond the Narew, where he effected a junction with the division under Buxhoevden. On the arrival of further reinforcements under Kamenskoi, who had been appointed commander-in-chief, the Russians again began to advance, and fixed their head-quarters at Pultusk. Movements Meantime the French having established a chain of posts from Poland to the heart of Germany, and made other judicious dispositions, moved forward to bring their adversaries to a general engagement. Their right, consisting of the divisions of Lannes and Davoust, commanded by Bonaparte in person, crossed the Narew and gained a most favourable position for attacking the left flank of the Russians. The corps of Augereau traversed the Vistula at Zakroczym, and that of Soult at Polock. The left, under Ney, Bessieres, and Bernadotte, advanced from Thorn to Sierpsk, and by a rapid

of the French.

movement

1806.

movement cut off the communication of the Prus- CHAP. sians with their allies, who experienced a series of LXXVI. reverses, which occasioned the commander, Kamenskoi, to quit the army and retire to Ostrolenka. The command of the Russian army devolved on Benigsen and Buxhoevden, the former being stationed at Pultusk, and the latter at Golomyn. They were both attacked on the 26th, and driven Repulse of from their positions, after a loss, according to the the Rus. French accounts, of eighty pieces of cannon, all their ammunition, and 12,000 men in killed, wounded, and prisoners. The French troops then went into cantonments, and Bonaparte returned to Warsaw.

sians.

LXXVII.

1806.

Austria.

Neutrality of Austria. - War between Russia and Turkey. -King of Sweden declares war against France. - Policy of Denmark. Louis Bonaparte proclaimed king of Holland. Conduct of the Spanish government.- The French threaten to invade Portugal. Earl St. Vincent's mission to the Tagus. Issue of the negociations at Lisbon. — Discussions between Great Britain and the United States. Conferences between British and American commissioners in London. · Treaty concluded, which the American president refuses to ratify. — Operations of the British navy. Capture of Linois. Cape of Good Hope taken by the British. Expedition of sir Home Popham to the river Plate.-Buenos Ayres taken - recovered by the Spaniards. Failure of Miranda's expedition to the Caracas. - Insurrection in Hayti; Christophe raised to the head of the government. - Affairs of India-death of the marquis Cornwallis-insurrection of the sepoys - lord Minto appointed governor-general. - Illness and death of Mr. Fox -consequent changes in the cabinet.

CHAP DURING this campaign the course pursued by Austria had been that of a prudent and cautious neutrality. When the war between Prussia and Conduct of France became inevitable, she assembled a powerful army on the frontiers of Bohemia; but at the same time declared to the belligerent powers, that her sole intention was to maintain inviolate the integrity of her territories. When the Prussians were driven beyond the Oder, Bonaparte caused his minister at Vienna to demand the recall of this army to its former quarters; and such were the relations between Austria and Russia, that the demand was complied with. Disputes having arisen

between

CHA P.

LXXVII.

1806.

tween Rus

between the court of St. Petersburg and the Ottoman Porte respecting Wallachia and Moldavia, a Russian army under general Michelson had en-. tered the latter province, and had taken possession War beof Bender, Chotzim, and Jassy. The grand seignor, sia and reluctantly yielding to the popular voice, issued a Turkey. formal declaration of war against Russia, and hos-. tile preparations were vigorously made both by sea and land. Paswan Oglou, formerly pursued as a rebel, was invested with legitimate authority in the pachalik of Widin; and Mustapha Bairactar, the ayan of Rushuk, was commissioned to oppose the farther progress of the invaders. He was unable to prevent their irruption into Wallachia, and their occupation of Bucharest, its capital, from whence they sent detachments in all directions, threatening to join the revolted Servians under Czerni George, who, after repeated successes against the Turks, were besieging Belgrade. This Dangerous was a crisis of danger to the Ottoman empire; the affairs Egypt being in a state of anarchy; Mecca and of the Medina in the hands of the Wehabites; Bagdad independent; the Servians nearly masters of their fruitful province; the janizaries discontented with the new European tactics, and the divan itself distracted by the opposite factions of France and England. To add to the alarms which prevailed An English at Constantinople, an English squadron of three squadron at sail of the line and four frigates, commanded by nople. admiral Louis, passed the Dardanelles, and anchored before Constantinople. Italinski, the Russian minister at the Porte, embarked on board one of these ships, and Mr. Arbuthnot, the English ambassador, took the same opportunity of quitting a capital where the French interests, under the management of Sebastiani, began to acquire the ascendancy.

crisis in

Porte.

Constanti

of Sweden

In the other states of Europe the events which The king took place, though not wholly uninteresting, were declares but of secondary importance to the great conflict war against

in France.

1806.

CHAP. in Poland. The chivalric king of Sweden, who LXXVII. had hitherto displayed his hostility to France in angry manifestoes, had at length an opportunity of actual combat with his powerful adversary. Through his envoy at Hamburgh, proposals had been made to him by Bonaparte for a separate negociation; but the overture, though coupled with expressions of personal esteem and consideration, was rejected with disdain. In consequence, toward the end of December, a small army under Mortier marched to the frontier of Pomerania to lay siege to Stralsund and expel the Swedes from the isle of Rugen.

Policy of
Denmark.

Louis Bonaparte proclaimed king of Holland.

DENMARK, persevering in that system of neutrality which was best adapted to her limited. resources, and to the welfare of her people, derived some advantages from the recent changes in the north of Germany, and appropriated a great part of the trade which had hitherto been carried on under Prussian colours and through Prussian ports. On the dissolution of the Germanic constitution, the king of Denmark formally annexed Holstein to his dominions as an integral part of the Danish monarchy, and declared it to be for ever separated from the empire of Germany.

In the course of this year Bonaparte abolished the republican constitution of the United Provinces, and placed over them his brother Louis as lieutenant-governor, with the title of king. He also strengthened his connection with Bavaria by procuring the union of a princess of that house with his stepson Eugene Beauharnois, whom he adopted as his successor in the kingdom of Italy. Principali That his imperial state might be duly upheld by subordinate dignities, he created a number of created by duchies in the countries conquered by France, Napoleon and chiefly in Italy, which he conferred on the civil and military officers who had distinguished themselves in his service. Berthier was created

ties and

duchies