Chapter Summaries

Joseph evaded his parents’ push to marry Clementine by arguing that France’s interests should guide any marriage alliance, then left Petit Trianon. Meanwhile, Napoleon marched with the Royal Guard Legion toward a demonstration, determined to prove himself to soldiers mocking his running ability.

• Queen Mary urged Joseph to marry Clementine soon and suggested Doctor Perna could only be a mistress, not a suitable official wife.
• Joseph said France was his true love and argued they should wait to see how Austria fared in the Southern Netherlands before arranging a marriage alliance.
• Louis XVI helped Joseph escape Petit Trianon and agreed to speak with him, while Queen Mary insisted they settle on a bride before the next year.
• The Royal Guard Legion marched toward Troyes Province to demonstrate its standards to the Champagne Legion.
• Soldiers mocked Captain Napoleon Bonaparte as a sickly weakling who could not pass the five-kilometer run, and Napoleon vowed to prove them wrong during the demonstration.

Napoleon continued adapting to the Royal Guard Legion’s demanding training while preparing to learn from its combat effectiveness assessment of the Champagne Legion. After the Champagne soldiers failed a five-kilometer run, Joseph ordered Lefebvre to demonstrate the Royal Guard Legion’s performance.

• Napoleon recalled the Royal Guard Legion’s training and chose to miss a Corsican restoration gathering so he could keep building his military skills.
• Napoleon trained alone with push-ups after the 1st Guards Corps reached Troyes and camped near the Champagne Legion.
• Joseph presided over the Champagne Legion’s assessment and set passing and excellent times for a five-kilometer run.
• The Champagne Legion failed the run, with its fastest company commander taking twenty-five minutes and twenty-seven soldiers still missing.
• Joseph ordered Lefebvre to assemble the 1st Guards Corps for a demonstration run and directed Baron Dierkun to bring the Champagne soldiers to watch.

The Royal Guard Legion crushed the Champagne Legion in physical and shooting assessments, then flaunted its superior equipment and food during a joint drill. Napoleon passed the grueling run but failed the shooting test, and he kept studying logistics while the Champagne Legion struggled to accept its inferiority.

• The Champagne Legion watched the Royal Guard Legion complete a five-kilometer run carrying nine-kilogram loads, with every soldier finishing in under twenty-two minutes.
• Napoleon pushed through the run in twenty-one minutes and nineteen seconds, passing the assessment.
• The next day, only a few dozen Champagne Legion Jägers met the shooting standard, while Napoleon was among the Royal Guard Legion's unlucky failures and studied logistics instead.
• The Royal Guard Legion continued to outperform the Champagne Legion in assessments of running, shooting, formations, and hand-to-hand combat.
• During the final joint drill, the Champagne Legion saw the Royal Guard Legion's better uniforms, guns, boots, and benefits.
• At lunch, the Champagne Legion watched the Royal Guard Legion eat beef, eggs, white bread, and vegetable soup, then resigned themselves to their own meager rations.

Joseph shared a meal with Royal Guard Legion soldiers and told them they would soon head to Verdun for a war that might involve Prussia. Napoleon received a letter from his brother Joseph Bonaparte, who had secured a well-paid government position and was traveling to Bavaria for trade negotiations.

• Joseph ate the same tomato soup as the Royal Guard Legion soldiers, praised Napoleon's diligence, and learned he had been sleeping poorly.
• Joseph told the Legion that war awaited them in Verdun and ordered the new Horse Artillery Carriage sent there for training.
• Napoleon became eager to learn about the artillery carriage but worried that doing so might make him miss the next Corsican Restoration Organization gathering.
• A mail carrier gave Napoleon a letter from his elder brother, Joseph Bonaparte.
• Joseph Bonaparte wrote that he had become an administrative assistant earning 65 Livre a month and had left Paris for Bavaria with the Minister of Commerce.

Napoleon learned that his family’s finances had improved and that he could focus on his army career, while Joachim Murat applied to join the Royal Guard Legion. In Bavaria, Joseph Bonaparte prepared for trade negotiations as Austria presented its draft agreement to representatives from the German states.

• Napoleon read Joseph Bonaparte’s letter about the family’s improved finances and decided he could travel to Verdun to inspect the new Horse Artillery Carriage.
• Joachim Murat wrote to his father that he would not return to Fort Fortinier, then completed an application to join the Royal Guard Legion.
• Joseph Bonaparte reviewed the data he had gathered in Württemberg and prepared for the upcoming negotiations in Munich.
• Grand Duke of Bavaria Karl Ottodor opened the negotiations, then left State Minister Pomenthal to host the representatives.
• Baron Thugut described the proposed trade agreement and distributed Austria’s preliminary draft, while the smaller states’ representatives showed little enthusiasm.

The negotiators debated Austria’s trade agreement, while Joseph Bonaparte used commercial research to defend France’s proposed tariff limits. In Vienna, Joseph II and Leopold II learned that Paris had not confirmed the Habsburg marriage alliance and speculated that Clementine’s age was the reason.

• Pomenthal urged Bavaria and the smaller states to coordinate their demands for higher tariffs on French and Austrian goods.
• Count Wintzingerode and other representatives sought higher tariffs on French iron and steel, but Joseph Bonaparte presented trade figures and survey results that persuaded them to back down.
• Bayei used detailed research to resist tariff increases throughout the negotiations, while Austria accepted several higher rates requested by the smaller states.
• On the fifth day, Bayei produced a clause concerning free transport along inland waterways.
• Leopold II told Joseph II that Antoinette’s letter had not mentioned the engagement, and Joseph II suggested Clementine was too young to bear children.

Joseph II and Leopold II sought French military aid against Prussia, offering concessions in trade negotiations in return. Talleyrand told Leopold that France was already prepared to sign a military assistance agreement, leaving Austria hopeful of French support.

• Joseph II told Leopold II that Austria needed French support to defeat Prussia and preserve its position among the German States.
• Leopold II warned that France had no military obligation under the marriage alliance, and Joseph II said they would persuade Antoinette while offering trade concessions.
• Talleyrand arrived at Schönbrunn Palace after Leopold II summoned him to discuss Austria's situation in Southern Netherlands.
• Leopold II described Austria's plan to assemble eighty thousand troops and asked France for military assistance, offering to consider French interests in the Seine-Rhine River Trade Agreement.
• Talleyrand told Leopold II that the French King had already authorized him to sign a military assistance agreement with Austria.

Talleyrand urged Leopold II to make Silesia the main battlefield against Prussia, promising French support in exchange for Austria backing France in trade negotiations and recognizing its claim to Piedmont. French envoys then rallied Austrian marshals to the prospect of recovering Silesia, leaving the push for war gaining momentum in Vienna.

• Talleyrand advised Leopold II against sending more troops to the Southern Netherlands and argued that Austria should fight Prussia in Silesia instead.
• Leopold II worried that Saxony and Poland would join Prussia, but Talleyrand promised French troops and said France could keep Poland out of the war.
• Talleyrand sought Austria's support in trade negotiations and recognition of France's claim to Piedmont in return for French assistance.
• Conrad Höttinger told Marshal Franz von Lacy that France might send fifty or seventy thousand troops to help recover Silesia, and Lacy hurried to Schönbrunn Palace.
• Bellamy recounted Prussia's seizure of Silesia to Marshal Ernst Gideon von Laudon, who angrily demanded that the Prussians be taught a lesson.

At Schönbrunn Palace, Joseph II and his ministers debated joining France in a war against Prussia to recover Silesia, while Count Voltaire questioned France’s motives. Talleyrand’s bribery had helped secure support for the plan, and the meeting left Austria leaning toward an invasion despite concerns about French ambitions in Italy.

• Talleyrand spread rumors that Austria and France would join forces to retake Silesia, and his agents secretly bribed Austrian officials to support the plan.
• Leopold II outlined France’s proposal to advance toward Silesia and force Prussia to withdraw troops from the Southern Netherlands.
• Kaunitz argued that France’s trade interests made it a reliable ally and urged Austria to use the opportunity to recover Silesia and expand its influence in Germany.
• Count Voltaire warned that France might demand more than Austria’s recognition of its claim to Piedmont, and raised concerns about French ambitions in Italy.
• Lacy, Loudon, and other senior officers endorsed sending troops quickly, while Joseph II asked Leopold whether surrendering Austrian interests in western Italy was worthwhile.
• Leopold II answered that securing Silesia justified the cost, and the ministers rallied behind restoring the Holy Roman Empire’s glory.

Austria and France prepared to join a war against Prussia in Silesia while negotiating a trade agreement with South German states. The Seine-Rhine River Trade Agreement was signed, and Leopold II turned to securing Russia’s neutrality.

• Marshal Lacy planned to lead 80,000 Austrian troops into Silesia, while Würmser would bring the remaining Austrian forces after a brief rest.
• Austria sought troops from Bavaria and France, and Leopold II worried Russia might intervene to protect its interests in Poland.
• France’s Queen Mary questioned whether entering the war served France, but Brienne and the Duke of Broglie argued that the gains justified sending troops.
• Austria pressured the hesitant South German states to approve the trade agreement, and Württemberg relented after France promised to buy 800,000 pikes of coal each year.
• France, Austria, Bavaria, Salzburg, Württemberg, Augsburg, Hesse-Darmstadt, and Baden signed the Seine-Rhine River Trade Agreement on July 1, 1789.
• Leopold II concluded that his sister would need to help secure Russia’s neutrality in the coming war.

Queen Mary’s Cabinet agreed that France should enter the Prussian-Austrian war, but Joseph persuaded her to delay declaring war on Prussia and instead declare war on the Southern Netherlands Rebels. France planned to send up to fifty thousand troops while keeping its options open and benefiting from trade with South Germany.

• Brienne and Duke of Broglie won unanimous Cabinet support for France to join the war on Austria’s side, while the Count of Provence questioned troop numbers and costs.
• Duke of Broglie said government bonds could fund up to fifty thousand troops, and Brienne cited Austria’s promised trade agreement with France and South German states.
• Joseph warned that formally allying with Austria and declaring war on Prussia would bind France to Austria, and argued that France should avoid a declaration while the war’s outcome remained uncertain.
• Joseph proposed declaring war on the Southern Netherlands Rebels over their attack on a merchant caravan, presenting the incident as a provocation rather than an attack on Austrian supplies.
• Queen Mary accepted the ministers’ advice to declare war on the Southern Netherlands Rebels first and ally with Austria against Prussia only if Austria gained the battlefield advantage.
• Joseph confirmed that the Duke of Brunswick would receive the message when the time came.

Joseph coordinated France’s preparations for a surprise attack in the Southern Netherlands while Austrian forces planned an offensive in Silesia. He sent Talleyrand to Saint Petersburg to keep Russia from intervening and reviewed the French troop deployments and supply arrangements.

• Talleyrand reported that French agents had entered Saxony and made contact with General Maurice, and Joseph praised his handling of intelligence sales and offered bonuses.
• The Duke of Broglie and Berthier presented a plan to send 35,000 French troops to the Austrian front, and Joseph approved Broglie’s selected legions.
• Talleyrand told Joseph that Leopold II wanted France to persuade Russia to stay out of the Silesian fighting, so Joseph ordered Talleyrand to travel to Saint Petersburg and deliver a message to the Tsar.
• The Chief of Staff reported that the Royal Guard and Moulins Legions had assembled, supply stations north of Verdun were nearly ready, and a railway was under construction.
• Joseph prepared to use the Prussian Army in the Southern Netherlands to surprise Würmser’s Austrian force in Luxembourg while Austria committed its attention to Silesia.

Joseph planned to use the war in the Southern Netherlands to advance France’s interests while avoiding conflict with Britain, then traveled to Lyon to press its textile industry to modernize. He warned Lyon’s officials and factory owners that lower tariffs on British textiles would soon threaten their market.

• Joseph planned for France to secure Wallonia while leaving Flanders under Austrian control and avoiding a confrontation with Britain.
• After reviewing the French Army’s preparations, Joseph ordered Eman to arrange an early departure for Lyon.
• Seven days later, Joseph arrived in Lyon and saw the busy but comparatively outdated textile trade along the Rhone River docks.
• Joseph addressed Lyon’s officials and factory owners in Royal Square and warned that reduced tariffs would allow British textiles to take Lyon’s domestic market.

Joseph urged Lyon’s textile factory owners to adopt Automatic Looms and High-Pressure Steam Engines to compete with Britain, offering investment insurance to reduce their risks. He bolstered the case with news of access to South German markets and cheaper wool from the Pacific, leaving the factory owners eager to consider investing.

• Joseph warned Lyon’s textile producers that Britain’s lead in Automatic Looms threatened their market and urged them to adopt the looms with High-Pressure Steam Engines.
• Boyer told Joseph that the machinery’s cost and the risk of factory bankruptcy made large-scale investment difficult.
• Joseph announced that the French Commercial Insurance Company would insure investments in Automatic Looms and compensate investors for eighty percent of their investment if a factory failed without fraud.
• Joseph told the factory owners that trade agreements opened South German markets to Lyon’s textiles through the Rhine River, with favorable tariffs.
• Joseph announced a new Pacific wool supply that could exceed one million pounds and cost half as much as wool on the market.

Joseph encouraged Lyon’s textile factories to adopt Automatic Looms, then promised workers new jobs and support if automation left them unemployed. Meanwhile, Lafayette arrived in Mysore with French arms and troops, while William II learned that Austria was preparing to attack Silesia and Prince Heinrich proposed striking first.

• Joseph offered tax reductions and leasing subsidies for factories adopting Automatic Looms, and more than thirty applications for new factories reached his desk.
• When Lyon textile workers petitioned over possible job losses, Joseph promised public works, priority hiring, and support for unemployed families.
• Marquis de Lafayette reached Mysore and told Tipu Sultan that France would help defeat their enemies with troops, guns, craftsmen, and cannons.
• William II received a report that Austria had assembled nearly 100,000 troops for an attack on Silesia, and Prince Heinrich urged him to seize the initiative.

William II and Prince Heinrich planned Prussia’s response to Austria’s invasion, while the Duke of Brunswick prepared to attack Austrian-held Southern Netherlands. Austrian forces advanced into Silesia and attacked Liegnitz, where both the French and Austrian vanguards ran into Prussian resistance.

• William II and Prince Heinrich planned alliances with Saxony, Hanover, Hesse-Kassel, and Mecklenburg, and ordered General Drissen and General Krokow to defend Liegnitz and Ratibor.
• After receiving the Duke of Brunswick’s report that he planned to attack Luxembourg, Prince Heinrich urged William II to let him seize Southern Netherlands and suggested Blücher command there.
• General Wurmser led an Austrian, French, and Bavarian vanguard into Silesia, believing the Prussians would be caught unprepared.
• Wurmser divided his force near Liegnitz and prepared an assault, assigning General Kellermann’s French troops to occupy high ground and flank the defenders.
• Kellermann’s scouts spotted a formed Prussian force ahead, so he halted and withdrew his troops while requesting Austrian support; Wurmser’s vanguard also called for French help as it became locked in battle.

Wurmser’s Austrian forces suffered a costly defeat near Liegnitz, while Blücher captured western Luxembourg and triggered a crisis in Vienna. Joseph II ordered Loudon to reinforce Luxembourg, and Joseph offered to send France’s twenty thousand troops from Verdun there instead of to Silesia.

• Kellermann refused Wurmser’s request for French cavalry support as Drissen’s Prussians ambushed the Austrian force near Liegnitz.
• Wurmser withdrew with heavy losses, and Marshal Lacy arrived the next day to find the Prussians prepared to defend Liegnitz.
• Viennese protesters demanded more troops for Silesia and called for Lacy’s replacement, while Joseph II backed Lacy and reprimanded Wurmser.
• Kaunitz reported that Blücher had defeated General Leo and taken western Luxembourg, prompting Joseph II to order Loudon to lead twenty thousand troops there.
• Baron Thugut sought French assistance, and Joseph proposed sending France’s twenty thousand troops at Verdun to Luxembourg so Austria could preserve its forces in Silesia.

Joseph persuaded Baron Thugut to secure Austrian cooperation in Luxembourg while Austria continued its campaign in Silesia, and Joseph II accepted French help to stop Blücher. In Vienna, Vitoluca discovered that Marie Antoinette’s letter had not promised Clementine a marriage to the French Crown Prince and vowed revenge, while Joseph dispatched the Royal Guard Legion toward Luxembourg.

• Joseph convinced Baron Thugut to return to Vienna for the Emperor’s orders and send an assistant to Versailles with Marie Antoinette’s state letter.
• Joseph II ordered General Leo to accept French command and agreed to let French troops defend Luxembourg so Austria could focus on Silesia.
• Vitoluca found Marie Antoinette’s letter, learned Clementine’s proposed marriage had not been agreed, and angrily blamed Leopold II and Marie Antoinette.
• Leopold II tried to console Vitoluca and left to handle Austria’s affairs as she vowed to repay Marie Antoinette for the humiliation.
• Joseph ordered the Royal Guard Legion to march for Luxembourg to stop Blücher.

Napoleon admired Joseph’s improved horse artillery wagons and cannons as the French army marched toward Luxembourg, eager to test his training in battle. Meanwhile, Blücher learned France had entered the war and was preparing to hurry south when scouts reported a large enemy force nearby.

• Napoleon walked beside Joseph’s new horse artillery ammunition wagon, admiring its design and imagining the tactical advantages it could give the Corsican National Guard.
• Joseph’s improvements to the wagons and cannons made horse artillery faster to prepare, easier to move, and able to carry its gunners.
• Napoleon concluded that joining the march to Verdun would help him gain combat experience and become a true general.
• Blücher ordered his troops to rest after taking Winceler, then march south to capture Diekirch.
• Blücher received word that France had entered the war and ordered his men to hurry so they could return to Silesia.
• Two Hussars reported a large enemy force several thousand men strong south of Blücher, who wondered whether Austrian reinforcements had arrived.

Blücher ordered his forces to intercept Leo’s retreating Austrians, unaware that the French Royal Guard Legion was nearby preparing to strike. A small French force disrupted Altman’s advancing regiment, and the chapter ended as Leo’s outnumbered troops charged the Prussians.

• Blücher mistook Leo’s movement for a retreat toward Liège and ordered his army to cut off and attack the Austrians, stretching the Prussian line and exposing its southern flank.
• Leo worried that his fewer than four thousand men could not hold out until the Crown Prince of France arrived, but Major Lefebvre assured him that the French main force would come within half a day.
• Altman’s regiment hurried to intercept Leo, but more than three hundred Royal Guard Legion cavalrymen in Austrian uniforms attacked its vanguard and threw the Prussian formation into disarray.
• Mura led a cavalry charge through a gap in the Prussian line, helping the French cavalry inflict heavy losses before withdrawing from pursuing cavalry.
• After taking an hour and a half to regroup, Altman ordered Bischoff to attack Leo’s position, but the Austrian infantry began charging the Prussians first.