The energy and intrepidity, which the granddaughter of Maria Theresa displayed on this occasion, excited the praise of the Emperor, and drew from him the well known phrase: "She is the only man in the family."
He no less admired the firm and respectful demeanour maintained by the regiments of the garrison, amid the provocations and reproaches of the Duchess. "Every thing that passed at Bordeaux," said he, "is truly extraordinary; and I know not which most demands our astonishment, the noble boldness of Madame d'Angoulême, or the magnanimous patience of my soldiers."
The effervescence of the Bordelese having subsided, Provence and Languedoc, where the Duke of Angoulême had excited and maintained the flames of insurrection, still remained to be pacified.
This prince, having heard at Toulouse, that the Emperor had landed in the gulf of Juan, repaired immediately to the principal towns in the South, and made the partisans of the Bourbons and of royalty take up arms.
Three thousand two hundred Marseillese, and three thousand five hundred volunteers from Nismes, Avignon, and Montpelier, ranged themselves under his standards.
The 10th, 53d, and 83d, regiments of the line, containing about nine hundred men each;
The depôts of the 9th and 87th of foot, about five hundred and fifty strong;
Two hundred and fifty chasseurs à cheval of the 14th regiment, a hundred and fifty artillerymen, and three hundred soldiers of the royal regiment of foreigners, were drawn from their respective garrisons; and formed, with the royal volunteers, an army of twelve thousand men; which must necessarily be increased by the levies daily made in the provinces, that continued subject to the royal government, and by the succours, which the Prince had hastened to demand from the King of Sardinia, and from Switzerland, and which he hoped to obtain from them.
The Duke of Angoulême divided his army into two corps.
The first, commanded by General Ernouf, under whose orders were Major-Generals Gardanne and Loverdo, proceeded through Sisteron for Grenoble.