of the Czar, and the efforts to avert the jealousy of Prussia—­with the serene indifference of Napoleon as to the whole affair.  He knew full well that the war would not be decided by diversions at the heel of Italy or on the banks of the Ems, but by the shock of great masses of men on the Danube.  He denuded Hanover of French troops, except at its southern fortress of Hameln, so that he could overwhelm the levies of Austria before the Russians came up.  In brief, while the Coalition sought, like a Briareus, to envelop him on all sides, he prepared to deal a blow at its heart.

As the first part of the campaign depended almost entirely on problems of time and space, it will be well to follow the chief movements of the hostile forces somewhat closely.  The Austrian plan aimed at forestalling the French in the occupation of Swabia; and its apparent success puffed up Mack with boundless confidence.  At Ulm he threw up extensive outworks to strengthen that obsolete fortress, extended his lines to Memmingen far on the south, and trusted that the Muscovites would come up long before the French eagles hovered above the sources of the Danube.  But at that time the Russian vanguard had not reached Linz in Upper Austria, and not before October 10th did it appear on the banks of the River Inn.[25]

Far from being the last to move, the French Emperor outstripped his enemies in the speed of his preparations.  Whereas the Austrians believed he would not be able to reach the Danube in force before November 10th, he intended to have 200,000 men in Germany by September 18th.  But he knew not at first the full extent of his good fortune:  it did not occur to him that the Austrians would cross the Inn:  all he asks Talleyrand, on August 23rd, is that such news may appear in the “Moniteur” as will gain him twenty days and give General Bertrand time to win over Bavaria, while “I make my 200,000 men pirouette into Germany.”  On August 29th the Army of England became the Grand Army, composed of seven corps, led by Bernadotte, Marmont, Davoust, Soult, Lannes, Ney and Augereau.  The cavalry was assigned to Murat; while Bessieres was in command of the Imperial Guard, now numbering some 10,000 men.

Already the greater part of this vast array was beginning to move inland; Davoust and Soult left some regiments, 30,000 strong, to guard the flotilla, and Marmont detached 14,000 men to defend the coasts of Holland; but the other corps on September 2nd began their march Rhine-wards in almost their full strength.  On that day Bernadotte broke up his cantonments in Hanover, and began his march towards the Main, on which so much was to turn.  The Elector of Hesse-Cassel now espoused Napoleon’s cause.  Thus, without meeting any opposition, Bernadotte’s columns reached Wuerzburg at the close of September; there the Elector of Bavaria welcomed the Marshal and gave him the support of his 20,000 troops; and at that stronghold he was also joined by Marmont.