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Updated: June 11, 2025
Napoleon, accompanied by Caulaincourt, Drouot, Flahaut, and Lefebvre, rushes on, wearing out horses at every stage: at Fontainebleau on the 30th he hears that his consort has left Paris; at Essonne, that the battle is raging.
The first French success, that at Brienne, leads him to hope that the allies will now be ready to make peace. Even after the disaster at La Rothière, he believes that the mere arrival of Caulaincourt at the allied headquarters will foment the discords which there exist. His terms, it seems, are determined on beforehand.
Now, gentlemen, since you have heard all, you understand that war is unavoidable, and that Austria will side with my enemies." "Sire, we have heard it, and it has filled our souls with uneasiness and anxiety," said Maret. "Perhaps, nevertheless, a compromise may still be possible," exclaimed Caulaincourt.
I expected to have a guide named Henri de Montmorency, or Armand de la Chartreuse, or something that would sound grand in letters to the villagers at home, but to think of a Frenchman by the name of Billfinger! Oh! This is absurd, you know. This will never do. We can't say Billfinger; it is nauseating. Name him over again; what had we better call him? Alexis du Caulaincourt?"
These remarks were made with such warmth, and in so elevated a tone of voice, that Caulaincourt thought it necessary to interfere, and said, "Do not forget, gentlemen, that this is the residence of the Emperor of Russia."
Petersburg that France was postponing the evacuation of Prussia for selfish purposes, meaning to dismember her; and from that starting-point depicted the horrors of a Napoleonic Europe. Such opinions dismayed Alexander, and although he received Caulaincourt with distinction equal to that which had been accorded to Tolstoi, he firmly refused the bargain offered by him.
As soon as Alexander awoke, these functionaries were admitted to his presence, and experienced a most courteous reception. The Czar repeated his favourite expression, that he had but one enemy in France: and promised that the capital, and all within it, should be treated with perfect consideration. Caulaincourt then found his way to Alexander but he was dismissed immediately.
Petersburg Internal Politics of Russia Alexander's Perplexities War between Great Britain and Russia New Orders in Council The Milan Decree Position of the United States The Regeneration of Prussia Napoleon's Repressive Measures Austria's New Army Diplomatic Tension between Russia and France Designs of Napoleon as to Egypt He Temporizes with Alexander Caulaincourt and Tolstoi The Czar's Demands Napoleon's Visit to Italy Limitations of his Ambition Visions of Oriental Empire Control of the Mediterranean His Proposition to Russia His Complete Program.
However that may be, the news which M. de Caulaincourt brought caused the Emperor to make some changes in his plans for the campaign.
The golden visions of Tilsit were thus once more relegated to a distant future, and the keenness of the Czar's disappointment may be measured by his striking statement quoted by Caulaincourt in one of his earlier reports from St. Petersburg: "Let the world be turned upside down provided that Russia gains Constantinople and the Dardanelles." The Erfurt interview left another hidden sore.
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