Entry of Napoleon into Berlin
"Well, I would rather have the cross," and the worthy grenadier could not be moved from that point. It took much explaining to make him understand that the title of Knight of the Empire carried with it the Legion of Honor. He was not appeased on this point until the Emperor had fastened the decoration on his breast, and he seemed to think a great deal more of this than of his annuity of 1200 francs.
It was by familiarities of this kind that the Emperor made the soldiers adore him, but as Marbot again well says, it was a means that was only available to a commander whom frequent victories had made illustrious; any other general would have impaired his reputation by it.
Napoleon now sent an aide-de-camp to Lannes urging him to expedite the taking of Ratisbon. This intrepid marshal had directed all his artillery against a projecting house which rose above the wall surrounding the town. The house was knocked down and the ruins fell into the ditch. Still there were two fortified positions to take. Ladders were procured and placed at the critical points by the grenadiers, but every time one of them appeared he was instantly brought down by the well-aimed balls of the Austrian sharpshooters. After some men had been thus struck, the rest appeared to hang back. Thereupon Lannes advanced, covered with decorations, seized one of the ladders and cried out: "You shall see that your marshal, for all he is a marshal, has not ceased to be a grenadier!" Two aides-de-camp sprang forward and snatched the ladder out of his hands, and the grenadiers followed them, took the ladders, and, notwithstanding the continued fire of the sharpshooters, made the crossing in safety, followed by hundreds of others in an instant.
The walls being scaled, the town was soon in the hands of the French, who rushed along the blazing streets taking prisoners in all directions. Suddenly they were stopped with a cry of terror uttered by the Austrians; "Take care, we shall all be blown up!" shouted an officer. There were some barrels of powder left in the street which were in danger of being fired by the shots exchanged on either side. The belligerents stopped with one accord and joined hands in removing the barrels to a place of safety. The Austrians then withdrew and left the town to the French troops.
After the taking of Ratisbon Napoleon issued an address to his soldiers complimenting them highly on their valor. "You have justified my expectations," he said. "You have made up for numbers by your courage; you have gloriously marked the difference which exists between the soldiers of Cæsar and the armies of Xerxes. In a few days we have triumphed in the three battles of Tann, Abensberg and Eckmuhl, and the affairs of Peising, Landshut and Ratisbon. One hundred pieces of cannon, fifty thousand prisoners, three equipages, three thousand baggage wagons, all the funds of the regiments, are the results of the rapidity of your marches, and of your courage.... Before a month we shall be in Vienna!"
Thus in five days, in spite of inferiority of numbers and of the unfavorable manner in which his lieutenants had distributed an inferior force; by the sole energy of his genius, did Napoleon triumph over the main force of his opponent. The Emperor reviewed his army on the 24th, distributing rewards of all sorts with a lavish hand. Upon Davoust he bestowed the title of Duke of Eckmuhl.
On May 3rd a body of 30,000 Austrians remaining from the army of Landshut, fell back upon Ebersberg, where Massena engaged in a stubborn battle, General Claparéde being obliged to defend himself for three hours with but 7,000 men against 30,000 Austrians. Reinforcements at last arrived and the enemy retired in disorder upon the Ens, where they burned the bridge so as to protect their flight in the direction of Vienna. The battle cost the Austrians 12,000 men, of whom 7,500 were prisoners. The field of carnage was hideous, and the town of Ebersberg was so wrapped in flames that the wounded could not be withdrawn. To prevent the fire from reaching the bridge it had been necessary to cut off the approach at either end, so that communication was interrupted for several hours between the troops who had crossed the river and those coming to their aid. Napoleon had galloped up on hearing the cannonade, and though inured to all the horrors of war, is said to have been greatly shocked at the sight he beheld.