Memoirs of the life, exile, and conversations of the Emperor Napoleon. (Vol. IV)

by comte de Emmanuel-Auguste-Dieudonné Las Cases

1. Fort Boyard, constructed for the purpose of enlarging and defending the anchorage of the Isle of Aix, whence, by dint of perseverance and intrepidity, a passage had been discovered out of sight of the enemy, between Oleron and the main-land, by which even ships of the line could reach the anchoring grounds of the Gironde and its outlets.

2. The extensive and superb works of Cherbourg. The dike, which was commenced under Louis XVI., and which had suffered considerable injury during the Revolution, was repaired; the central part being elevated nine feet above the highest level of the sea, and along an extent of 100 toises, for the purpose of mounting a battery of twenty guns of the largest calibre. This work was executed in less than two years, from 1802 to 1804, and with such success that, though it has been neglected since 1813, it has suffered no decay, and still retains all its original strength.

A large elliptical tower of granite was built in the centre, and within the dike, which it supports, and by which, it is, in its turn, covered. The massive foundations of this tower, which, being constructed in the open sea, of course presented enormous difficulties, were completed at the end of 1812, and raised to the height of six feet above the level of the highest tides. The solidity which it has preserved since that period, though in a state of neglect, and exposed to the violent action of the waves, is a manifest proof of the strength of the defensive works that were projected on this artificial rock, when the time should arrive for the full completion of the plan. This plan consisted in raising, at the height of one story, a barrack, capable of containing the garrison, a powder magazine, reservoir, &c.; this was to be surmounted by an arched platform, bomb-proof, and capable of receiving a casemated battery of nineteen thirty-six pounders, and above this was to be a second platform, capable of receiving mounted guns, if necessary; the whole crowning the central battery, already existing on the dike itself. Thus the enemy’s attack would have been resisted by four ranges of batteries one above another.

In less than eight years, a military port was excavated in the solid rock. It was capable of containing forty-five ships of the line, a proportionate number of frigates, three slips for building, &c. This asylum, so necessary for ships of the line, owing to the natural situation of the roads of Cherbourg, which are too much exposed to the violence of the waves, was dug thirty feet beneath the level of the sea, at the lowest ebb tide, in order to afford, at all times, a secure station for the largest ships. When it was opened in 1813, the moles and dikes were fully completed along its whole extent. At that time, the Empress Maria Louisa and all her Court witnessed the magnificent and sublime spectacle of the sudden irruption of the sea, which was admitted, simply by the spontaneous rupture of the immense dam that had hitherto repelled its efforts. The largest vessels immediately entered the enclosure, which has since afforded a convenient station for shipping, together with the requisite accommodations for building, repairing, and fitting out: in short, it possesses every advantage that might be expected in so important a creation of art, and is justly considered to be one of the noblest monuments of Napoleon’s reign. According to the Emperor’s plan, this stupendous work was intended only as a first or outward port; he had determined on constructing, in a lateral direction, at a little distance within it, a second or inner port, which was to be commenced immediately, and which would have been speedily completed, owing to the precautions that were previously adopted. It was to be large enough to receive twenty-five ships of the line, and behind these two ports, and extending along their whole length, in a semicircular form, there were to be built thirty covered docks, where the same number of ships of the line might be kept in constant readiness to put to sea. Such were the immense works executed or planned at Cherbourg alone.

3. The numerous works occasioned by the flotilla for the invasion of England.—It was necessary to provide anchorages, to render the preparations simultaneous, and to execute every offensive and defensive operation. All this required, at various points, the construction of forts of stone and wood, quays, basins, jetties, dams, sluices, &c.

Boulogne was chosen as the central point of assemblage; and Vimereux, Ambleteuse[Ambleteuse], and Etaples, were the secondary points. Boulogne itself was rendered capable of receiving 2,000 ships of different kinds. Besides its natural port, an artificial basin was formed, by means of a dam, closed in the middle by a sluice, twenty-four feet wide. This basin was capable of containing 8 or 900 ships afloat, and in a constant state of readiness; and the sluice, from the preceding retention, had the advantage of producing currents of water, which increased the depth of the real port, and cleared its entrance of sand-banks, by which it was liable to be obstructed. Vimereux, Etaples, and Ambleteuse, were simultaneously rendered capable of receiving a proportionate number of ships: all these undertakings were completed in the space of two years.

4. Important local repairs and improvements in all the ports of the coast.—Havre was rendered accessible to frigates, by destroying, by means of a strong sluice, the banks of gravel that obstructed its entrance. Improvements were made at St. Valery, Dieppe, Calais, Gravelines, and Dunkirk; the port of the latter was cleared, and the marsh that covered the town was drained. A second flotilla was to be assembled at Ostend, to which a free entrance had been effected by clearing its channel.

5. The works of Flushing.—This town having momentarily fallen into the hands of the English, they destroyed all its military establishments when they evacuated it. The Emperor ordered the re-construction of the works on a much more extensive scale than before. Fully appreciating the important geographical situation of the place, he ordered the basin to be re-dug and enlarged, as well as its entrance. The channel was also to be deepened, so that the basin might be rendered capable of admitting even eighty-gun ships, and affording a winter station for a squadron of twenty ships, always ready to put to sea in one or two tides. This advantage was to be procured by means of a very ingenious plan, suggested by the naval Commandant of the place, and which consisted simply in confining the water at high tide, in the ditches of the town. The basin was a most important acquisition, as it afforded the means of making naval preparations, free from all the inconveniences of the Scheldt. Our ships would have been enabled to sail directly to the coast of England; and the English would thus have been compelled to keep cruisers constantly on the watch; whereas, hitherto, as soon as they knew that our ships were disarmed in Flushing, or had returned to Antwerp, on the approach of winter, they quietly went into port, having nothing to apprehend until the return of spring. But it was necessary to render the fortifications of Flushing equal to the protection of a whole squadron: consequently, defensive works were multiplied on various points; magazines and other establishments were re-constructed; and orders were issued for rendering them bomb-proof, and surmounting them with batteries. Flushing would have been thickly planted with cannon on all points, and would, in short, have been rendered impregnable.

6. Works commenced at Terneuse.—The importance of the western mouth of the Scheldt, for enabling our fleet to sail in and out, and the inconveniences attending the return of our ships to Antwerp, every year during the winter season, suggested to the Emperor the idea of forming a still greater arsenal than Flushing near the mouth of the river. Terneuse, on the left bank of the Scheldt, three leagues from the mouth of the river, was the point fixed on, and the works were immediately commenced. They were, however, suspended, on account of the great length of time, as well as the enormous expense, that would have been requisite for their completion.

7. The immense works at Antwerp.—This town, which is nearly twenty leagues distant from the sea, from which it is separated by a winding and very difficult channel, seemed to be destitute of every desirable advantage for the formation of a maritime arsenal; and it had hitherto presented only petty commercial establishments. A fleet built at Antwerp would, with difficulty, have been able to descend the river, and would have been but ill defended against the inclemencies of the weather, or the attempts of the enemy. It would have been useless during one third of the year; for the approach of winter forced the ships to come higher up, to avoid the current and ice of the river; there being no wet docks. But these numerous difficulties seemed as nothing in the eyes of Napoleon. In his impatience to make the English feel the dangers of the Scheldt, which they had themselves so frequently acknowledged to be formidable, he speedily concerted his plans, and, in less than eight years, Antwerp assumed the aspect of an important maritime arsenal, and a considerable fleet was already riding in the Scheldt. Every thing was done thoroughly and completely. Magazines, quays, dock-yards, &c. were newly constructed. A provisional asylum was found for the shipping against the ice of the river, at Rupel, while two great wet docks were dug in the town of Antwerp, capable of receiving vessels of all sizes with all their guns on board. Twenty slips for building were raised all in a line, as if by enchantment, and twenty vessels, lying in these slips at once, presented to the traveller, arriving by the Tête de Flandres, the imposing and singular spectacle of twenty vessels of the line ranged as a squadron. Most of these works, however, Napoleon regarded merely as a temporary provision borrowed from commerce. He intended to establish a complete and much larger arsenal facing Antwerp, on the bank of the river, opposite to the Tête de Flandres. He at first conceived the bold design of throwing a bridge across the Scheldt; but he at length determined in favour of flying-bridges, of a very ingenious construction. The Emperor, as I have already observed, had formed the grandest ideas respecting the improvements at Antwerp, and the details of his plan extended as far as the sea. He used to say that he intended to make Antwerp a province, a little kingdom, in itself. To this object he devoted himself with that degree of interest which he might be expected to evince in the execution of one of his most favourite projects. He made several journeys to Antwerp, for the purpose of personally inspecting the works in their most trivial details.