Chapter XLV

All this zeal however did not fill up my ranks; the time was passing away, and the recruits did not come in. The allies formed themselves in corps on the left bank of the river; they could cross at any time; my situation was become very critical. I communicated to the Emperor the accounts of my number and situation. He could not conceal his surprise. “So few men! Alsace, the patriotism of which is so ardent! No matter—victory will soon raise battalions. There is nothing to despair of; war has its chances, we shall get through it!”—Napoleon had ordered me, four days before, not to leave a single soldier of the line in the fortified places; to take from the depôts all who were in a condition to serve; to inundate and make good the lines of Weissembourg, and to keep up carefully my communications with Bitche. I was engaged in these measures; but he found that I did not proceed with sufficient celerity; he wrote to me.

“Monsieur General Rapp,

“I have received your letter of the 12th of May; I see by the
statement you have annexed, that the 18th regiment of the line,
of which your army has two battalions, 1200 men strong, can
furnish you with a third battalion, of 600 men; order it to set
off immediately from Strasburg to join you. The 32d can only
supply a reinforcement of 200 men to your active battalions,
which will raise them to 1200 men. The 39th and 55th can furnish
you their third battalions; order them to join you. The 58th can
furnish you with 200 men, to make its two battalions complete.
The 103d can complete its two first battalions to 1200 men; the
104th the same. The 7th light regiment can furnish you with its
third battalion; in the same manner the 10th light regiment. You
can then, with a little activity, reinforce your infantry with
4000 men. I am surprised that there has not been more voluntary
enlistment in Alsace for these regiments. The 39th of the line
is recruited in the Upper Rhine; that department ought at least
to have furnished 2000 veteran troops, which, divided between
the 39th, 32d, and 18th, ought to raise the third, and even the
fourth battalions, to their full numbers. The 10th light, which
is recruiting in Upper Saône, ought to receive many recruits. The
57th, which is recruiting in the Doubs, ought also to receive
a great number. The 7th light, the 58th, and the 104th, which
recruit in the Lower Rhine, ought to be complete. Inform me
for what reason all the men that you have at your depôts, are
not immediately clothed, and do not fill up your ranks. Let me
also know what men are announced for these regiments, from the
different departments. Do you expect that by the 1st of June your
third battalions will be complete, and that each regiment will
amount to 1800 men, which will make 7000 men for each of your
divisions? Are you satisfied with the generals of division, and
of brigade, under your command? What will be the condition of
the 2d chasseurs, the 7th and 19th dragoons, all of which have
their depôts in your division, by the 1st of June? These three
regiments had at their depôt 400 men, and 300 horses: they must
have received an increase since. By the 1st of June, with active
measures, this division ought to have 1500 horse. The third
division has also all its depôts in your arrondissement: it has
1200 men at its depôt; it ought, then, to furnish you with 2000
horses.

“Paris, May 14th 1815.” “NAPOLEON.”

I immediately replied to the questions which he had put to me; I explained to him the deplorable state into which the army had fallen: arms, horses, clothing, it was necessary to have every thing renewed. I could not have more than 22,000 men at my disposal by the 1st of June. The picture was not brilliant, but the Emperor made so admirable an use of his resources, that we were never justified in despairing. He put fresh funds at my disposal; he stimulated my zeal, begged me to neglect nothing to increase my forces, and to reconnoitre all the defiles. His despatch deserves to be known.

“COUNT RAPP,

“I received your letter of the 18th of May. I have allotted
13,000,000 francs for clothing in the distribution of May. Orders
for considerable sums have been sent to each corps of your army:
be assured that they will be paid. I cannot reconcile to my mind
that you will not be able to have at your disposal by the 1st
of June more than 22,000 men, when the force at the depôts is
4000 men. Send for the third battalion of the 18th regiment, the
third of the 39th, the third of the 57th, the third of the 7th
light, the fourth of the 10th light, which will raise you one
regiment of four battalions, four of three battalions, and four
of two battalions, or twenty-four battalions in all. Hasten the
clothing; money is in the course of being transmitted to you, and
will not be wanting. The enumeration of your cavalry, which you
have sent me, is not correct. How is it that the 6th cuirassiers
has only its third and fourth squadrons at the depôt? What is
then become of its fifth squadron? The same observation for the
19th dragoons. You have 1787 men, and only 427 horses; but you
do not inform me how many men there are in detachment to take
the horses of the gendarmes, how many there are to be remounted
at the depôt of Versailles, how many horses the regiment is
to receive from the contracts it has made, or how many the
departments are to furnish. If you are sufficiently active, you
ought soon to have 1500 or 1600 of these 1700 men mounted, which,
joined to those now composing the squadrons, will increase your
cavalry to near 4000 men. You look at these matters too lightly;
remove the obstacles by your own exertions; see the depôts,
and augment your army. Keep spies on the look out to know what
is passing on the other side of the Rhine, and principally at
Mentz and Thionville; and make yourself acquainted with all the
openings of the Vosges.

“NAPOLEON.”
“Paris, May 20th 1815.”