[556] Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 283.
[557] Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 287; Thibaudeau, tom. vi., p. 300. At the battle of Montebello, which afterwards gave him his title, General Lannes added to his already high reputation. In describing the desperate conflict—"bones," he said, "crashed in my division; like hailstones against windows."
[558] Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 289.
[559] The Moniteur put in the mouth of the dying general a message to Buonaparte, in which he expressed his regret that he had done so little for history, and in that of the chief consul an answer, lamenting that he had no time to weep for Desaix. But Buonaparte himself assures us, that Desaix was shot dead on the spot. [Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 300.] Nor is it probable that the tide of battle, then just upon the act of turning, left the consul himself time for set phrases, or sentimental ejaculations.—S. Savary, who was aide-de-camp to Desaix, had the body wrapped up in a cloak, and removed to Milan, where, by Napoleon's directions, it was embalmed, and afterwards conveyed to the Hospice of Saint Bernard, where a monument was erected to the memory of the fallen hero. "'Desaix,' said Napoleon, 'loved glory for glory's sake, and France above every thing. Luxury he despised, and even comfort. He preferred sleeping under a gun in the open air to the softest couch. He was of an unsophisticated, active, pleasing character, and possessed extensive information.' The victor of Marengo shed tears for his death."—Montholon, tom. iv., p. 256.
[560] Thibaudeau, tom. vi., p. 312.
[561] Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 296, 303; Jomini, tom. xiii., p. 278, 296; Dumas, tom. ii.; Savary, tom. i., p. 176.
——"Desaix, who turn'd the scale,
Leaving his life-blood in that famous field,
(Where the clouds break, we may discern the spot
In the blue haze,) sleeps, as thou saw'st at dawn,
Just where we enter'd, in the Hospital-church."
Rogers' Italy, p. 10.
[563] See Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 303.