with this division to San Giuliano.  I was struck with the numerical weakness of the corps which was marching to aid an army already much reduced and dispersed.  The battle was looked upon as lost, and so indeed it was.  The First Consul having asked Desaix what he thought of it, that brave General bluntly replied, “The battle is completely lost; but it is only two o’clock, we have time to gain another to-day.”  I heard this from Bonaparte himself the same evening.  Who could have imagined that Desaix’s little corps, together with the few heavy cavalry commanded by General Kellerman, would, about five o’clock, have changed the fortune of the day?  It cannot be denied that it was the instantaneous inspiration of Kellerman that converted a defeat into a victory, and decided the battle of Marengo.

That memorable battle, of which the results were incalculable, has been described in various ways.  Bonaparte had an account of it commenced no less than three times; and I must confess that none of the narratives are more correct than that contained in the ‘Memoirs of the Duke of Rovigo’.  The Emperor Napoleon became dissatisfied with what had been said by the First Consul Bonaparte.  For my part, not having had the honour to bear a sword, I cannot say that I saw any particular movement executed this or that way; but I may mention here what I heard on the evening of the battle of Marengo respecting the probable chances of that event.  As to the part which the First Consul took in it, the reader, perhaps, is sufficiently acquainted with his character to account for it.  He did not choose that a result so decisive should be attributed to any other cause than the combinations of his genius, and if I had not known his insatiable thirst for glory I should have been surprised at the sort of half satisfaction evinced at the cause of the success amidst the joy manifested for the success itself.  It must be confessed that in this he was very unlike Jourdan, Hoche, Kleber, and Moreau, who were ever ready to acknowledge the services of those who had fought under their orders.

Within two hours of the time when the divisions commanded by Desaix left San Giuliano I was joyfully surprised by the triumphant return of the army, whose fate, since the morning, had caused me so much anxiety.  Never did fortune within so short a time show herself under two such various faces.  At two o’clock all denoted the desolation of a defeat, with all its fatal consequences; at five victory was again faithful to the flag of Arcola.  Italy was reconquered by a single blow, and the crown of France appeared in the perspective.

At seven in the evening, when I returned with the First Consul to headquarters, he expressed to me his sincere regret for the loss of Desaix, and then he added, “Little Kellerman made a lucky charge.  He did it at just the right moment.  We are much indebted to him.  You see what trifling circumstances decide these affairs.”