Passing before the ruins of the castle of Dirnstein, on an eminence beyond the Molck, and in the direction of Vienna, whither he was going, Napoleon said to Marshal Lannes, who was at his side: "Look! Behold the prison of Richard Coeur de Lion. Like us, he went to Syria and Palestine. Coeur de Lion, my brave Lannes, was not braver than thou. He was more fortunate than I at St. Jean d'Acre. The Duke of Austria sold him to an emperor of Germany who had him imprisoned there. That was in the barbarous ages. How different to our own civilization! You have seen how I treat the Emperor of Austria, whom I could have taken prisoner. Ah! well! I shall treat him again in the same manner. It is not my wish, but that of the age!"
From Molck the headquarters of the Emperor were transferred to St. Polten and two days later, at 9 o'clock in the morning, Napoleon was at Vienna, which he desired to take forthwith, but to take without destroying if possible.
Meeting with resistance in entering the city, the inhabitants having prepared for a vigorous defense, Napoleon began to play with his heavy batteries upon the city. The bombardment soon convinced them that it was hopeless to resist, and Vienna surrendered May 12th after suffering severely. In a few hours eighteen hundred shells had fallen in the city. The streets were narrow, the houses high, and the population crowded within the narrow fortifications, were terrified and infuriated at the sight of the damage caused by the shells which started fires in every direction. Who would have said to the Viennese, who were then hurling all manner of imprecations at Napoleon, the author of all their woes, that ten months later they would be singing the praise of this detested Emperor, and would be voluntarily setting French flags in their windows as symbols of friendship?
All the royal family had fled except the young Archduchess Marie Louise, who was detained in the palace, suffering from small-pox. When Napoleon heard she was sequestered there he ordered that no battery should be directed to that part of the town in which lay she who was destined to be his bride within less than a year! At this time Napoleon himself would no doubt have laughed heartily had he been told that in that palace was a woman who was to succeed Josephine in his struggle for a dynasty, to be Empress of the French, and later, to bear him the long wished for son and heir.
That Marie had no such thoughts or inclinations can readily be guessed from the fact of the present campaign in which her father, the Emperor, was battling for his Empire. The Emperor Francis had left his capital on April 8th, 1809, leaving there his wife and children, but all of whom departed, except Marie, on May 5th. From Vienna Marie wrote frequently to her father. A rumor had reached the capital that the battle of Eckmuhl had been a brilliant victory for the Austrians, and the young Archduchess wrote to her father on April 25th: "We have heard with delight that Napoleon was present at the great battle which the French lost. May he lose his head as well! There are a great many prophecies about his speedy end, and people say that the Apocalypse applies to him. They maintain that he is going to die this year at Cologne, in an inn called the 'Red Crawfish.' I do not attach much importance to these prophecies, but how glad should I be to see them come true!"
On May 13th the capitulation of the Austrian capital was signed, and Napoleon's army again entered Vienna, the Emperor taking up his old quarters at the imperial palace of Schoenbrunn. He said to his soldiers: "The people of Vienna, according to the expression of the deputation, wearied, deserted, widowed, shall be the object of your regards. I take the inhabitants under my special protection. As for the turbulent and ill-disposed, I will make a severe example of them. Let us be kind towards the poor peasants, towards these good people, who have so many claims upon our esteem. Let us not be vain of all our successes; but look upon them as a proof of that divine justice which punishes ingratitude and perjury."