Chapter Summaries

Salah revealed that Mysore and France planned to attack the Marat Alliance and invited Singh to join them. Singh resisted until Salah offered to help drive Mughal Emperor Alam II from Delhi, with Mysore as his destination.

• Singh identified Salah as a French liaison and correctly guessed that he was secretly negotiating with Marat leaders, but Salah said Tipu Sultan planned to attack Kolhapur State instead.
• Salah invited Singh to join the campaign against the Marat Alliance, but Singh refused, citing the threat from Afghanistan and his lack of interest in war.
• Salah argued that Afghanistan's civil war would give Punjab time to reclaim territory south of the Sutlej River, but Singh remained unconvinced.
• Salah offered to help remove Alam II from Delhi, and Singh warmed to the proposal because of the Mughal Empire's long persecution of the Sikhs.
• When Singh asked where Alam II would go, Salah said the emperor would willingly leave for Mysore if Singh provided some assistance.

Gerard Lake delayed his attack on Gwalior while waiting for allied powers to weaken the Marat Alliance, and he ordered them to begin a joint siege after Mysore defeated Indore at Satara. Meanwhile, Ranjit Singh’s Sikh army reached Delhi, where Singh began directing the assault to capture Shah Alam.

• Gerard Lake explained to Sir Fokner that he was waiting for Mysore and other allies to weaken the Marat Alliance before attacking Gwalior.
• Lake received news that Mysore had routed Indore’s cavalry at Satara and ordered Hyderabad, Punjab, and the other powers to launch a joint siege.
• Lake told Fokner that capturing Delhi and the emperor would let the English command the Indian states.
• Ranjit Singh captured Karnal and waited for the English order before marching south with seven thousand Sikh soldiers.
• Singh reached Delhi and ordered General Gurdip to block Shah Alam’s escape while the Shorkot Corps and artillery prepared their attack.

As Sikh forces captured Delhi, Alam II refused to flee the Red Fort, but Tipu Sultan’s officers arrived with an offer to restore his authority from Pune. Alam II accepted, setting up Tipu’s plan to use the revived Mughal Empire against British influence in India.

• Alburz told Alam II that Sikh forces had entered Delhi after Scindia’s troops fled, and the nobles urged the Emperor to escape.
• Alam II refused to leave the Red Fort, declaring that he would remain there whether he lived or died.
• Mysore officers entered the hall and conveyed Tipu Sultan’s offer to escort Alam II to Pune and let him rule the empire from there.
• Alam II accepted the offer after hearing that he would control appointments and receive the empire’s tax revenue.
• Tipu planned to strengthen his position and eventually draw the Mughal Empire into a decisive fight against the United Kingdom.

General Lake captured Aligarh while believing Mysore’s advances had forced Scindia to weaken its defenses. Meanwhile, Mysore escorted Mughal Emperor Alam II to Pune, where he established his court, raised a Guard Corps, and invested Tipu as Sultan before the Mysore and Holkar armies fell quiet.

• General Lake’s forces broke through Aligarh’s defenses, and Lieutenant Colonel Hippolyte asked to negotiate.
• The Mughal royal convoy traveled through Marwar to Puj Port while Alam II went ahead to Jor Port under Mysore protection.
• Alam II reached Pune, held a capital relocation ceremony at Shaniwar Wada Palace, and began raising a four-thousand-man Guard Corps.
• Alam II appointed officials for Pune and its surroundings, then invested Tipu as Sultan and governor of the Deccan Plateau.
• Tipu paid homage to Alam II and called on India’s states to visit the Emperor, while the Mysore and Holkar armies quieted their fighting around Indore.

Daulat Rao Scindia secured Mughal and Indian-state support against the English after Alam II accepted Gwalior’s allegiance and called for a joint defense. General Lake faced an encirclement by a much larger Indian force, while the story then shifted to Graz ahead of the Vienna Affairs Summit.

• Daulat Rao Scindia sent Bourquin and his son to Pune to seek Alam II’s forgiveness and aid against the English and Mysore.
• Alam II accepted Gwalior’s allegiance, persuaded Mysore to withdraw, and blamed Holkar for the Marat Alliance’s disrespect toward the imperial house.
• Scindia reinforced the Yamuna defense with troops and Mysore cannons as Alam II repeatedly demanded that General Lake withdraw.
• Tipu Sultan, Scindia, and Alam II rallied Indian states to support Scindia, and Punjab, Mysore, and other powers promised or sent troops.
• By early March, General Lake found himself facing an encirclement by eighty thousand Indian troops, before the story moved to Graz ahead of the Vienna Affairs Summit.

Count Waldersee convened a conference in Graz to secure troops against the Vienna Rebellion, but delegates challenged the Emperor’s authority and demanded overdue military funding. Lord Hawkesbury tried to restore order until Frank Hilger attacked Britain over Portugal’s besieged forces in San Carlos.

• Count Waldersee called the National Assembly a rebel body and asked the German states to send Imperial Army troops.
• Torsten Jagger defended Vienna’s National Assembly, arguing that it had legitimate standing and that the old Parliament served the aristocracy.
• The Hesse envoy demanded 670,000 Florins in overdue army maintenance expenses, prompting other delegates to demand funding as well.
• Lord Hawkesbury urged the states to fulfill their Imperial obligations before discussing military funding.
• Frank Hilger challenged Hawkesbury over Britain’s responsibilities and pointed out that Portuguese forces at San Carlos faced defeat by New Granada militia.

At the Vienna Affairs Summit, Hilger and Kretschmer forced Lord Hawkesbury into an awkward exchange about whether Britain would send troops to South America, disrupting the conference and drawing attention away from its agenda. Fontaine learned that Graz had recruited thousands of soldiers and concluded that the Habsburg core was secure, while French agents prepared press coverage portraying Britain as having hinted at an expeditionary force.

• Hilger pressed Lord Hawkesbury to explain whether Britain would honor its alliance with Portugal by sending an expeditionary force to South America, and Kretschmer loudly claimed that British reinforcements were coming.
• Lord Hawkesbury refused to confirm or deny the claims, but Hilger's remarks prompted other delegates to question him about the force's size, timing, and command.
• Count Waldersee failed to redirect the conference, and Lord Hawkesbury stormed out before the delegates resumed arguing over Imperial Army funding.
• Baden's and Württemberg's representatives met Fontaine and reported that Graz had recruited more than ten thousand soldiers, with more expected from Judenburg.
• Fontaine concluded that the Habsburg Family had stabilized its core holdings and directed that a press release say Lord Hawkesbury had never denied plans to send an expeditionary force.
• Newspapers reported that the summit had failed to reach a consensus and that Lord Hawkesbury had not denied a large-scale expedition to New Granada.

At the Vienna Affairs Summit, Austria’s allies offered little support, while Bouchard warned National Assembly Speaker Lucas that Bohemian forces and setbacks in Hungary threatened the revolution. Bouchard urged Lucas to prepare an escape plan, though France would not intervene.

• The Bavarian envoy offered 15,000 troops to help suppress the rebellion, but the Emperor rejected the proposal, and the envoy left for Munich.
• Cologne’s Deputy Minister Jagger protested Austria’s treatment of National Assembly supporters and left Graz, while the British foreign minister had already departed; Count Waldersee ended the summit early.
• Bouchard visited Lucas in Vienna, delivered a letter from Baron Scheller, and said an unnamed important figure believed the National Assembly was in danger.
• Bouchard explained that Linz had fallen because of a local uprising and warned that the conservative Inn River Region would resist the Liberals.
• Bouchard told Lucas that Bohemia had assembled 23,000 troops and that the Hungarian front might turn against the revolution.
• Lucas asked whether France would intervene, and Bouchard refused, advising him to prepare a way out for the National Assembly.

Lucas proposed a fallback plan to extend the Austrian Republic into Konstanz and Tyrol, while Dupont urged Hungarian legislators to sign a ceasefire before Russian and Austrian forces besieged them. The chapter left the Hungarian leaders confronting the question of what independence would mean for Croatia, Slovakia, and Serbia.

• Lucas argued that a small force could bring Konstanz and Tyrol into the Republic, with the University of Innsbruck helping spur revolt.
• Lucas said the plan could use a private arrangement to cross Bavaria and that the Cologne Parliament would support the Republic.
• Lucas outlined how the southwestern provinces could serve as a defensible refuge with strong economic ties to France.
• In Pest, Dupont told Janos and the Hungarian legislators that a ceasefire was their best option as Russian forces prepared to join the fight.
• Palffy insisted Hungary should fight for independence, while Dupont warned that victory would leave the status of Croatia, Slovakia, and Serbia unresolved.

Dupont persuaded the Hungarian Parliament to pursue a ceasefire and a new Austria-Hungary arrangement as Russian and Austrian forces crushed the National Assembly’s army. The chapter then shifted to Rome, where Charles learned that protesters demanded an end to the Pope’s temporal power.

• Dupont warned Janos and the Hungarian councilors that Vienna faced financial collapse and would withdraw its troops before Hungary’s decisive battle with Russia.
• Dupont urged Hungary to sign a ceasefire and proposed renaming the country the United Empire of Austria and Hungary, with Hungary treated as Austria’s equal.
• On April 24, 1802, Kutuzov’s forces and the Slovakian army routed the National Guard near Pressburg while Bohemian forces advanced toward Vienna.
• Croatia and Serbia mobilized against Hungary, and the Hungarian Parliament secretly sought French mediation before requesting a ceasefire from Franz II in Graz.
• On March 15, 1802, guards told Charles in Rome that the protesters demanded the abolition of the Pope’s temporal power, and he regretted coming.

Charles, traveling incognito in Rome, was caught in the violent unrest that followed Archbishop Muzarelli’s assassination and was threatened with arrest after receiving a revolutionary leaflet. As Secret Police confronted him outside the University of Rome, Josiah recognized the leaflet and decided to intervene.

• Charles’s visit to Rome coincided with protests against papal rule, and Secret Police and Papal Guards clashed violently with the crowd.
• Rocher tried to protect Charles as protesters and guards swept through the street, and the two escaped to the University of Rome.
• A student gave Charles a leaflet accusing Muzarelli of corruption and persecution, signed by “The Reckoning of the People of Rome.”
• Secret Police officers arrested Charles for participating in the riot, while Rocher moved to shield him and Charles feared the diplomatic consequences of revealing his identity.
• Josiah recognized the leaflet and, despite his companion’s warning, resolved to stop the Secret Police from arresting Charles.

Josiah helped Charles and Rocher escape the Secret Police, but they became trapped with her revolutionary companions as authorities searched the area. When Charles accused them of assassinating Archbishop Muzarelli, Josiah explained the atrocities that had driven them to target him and insisted they sought to destroy his power, not kill him.

• Josiah used a smoke diversion to draw the Secret Police away and helped Charles and Rocher escape into the University of Rome.
• Josiah's companions Benigni and Severino arrived, and Benigni insisted Charles and Rocher stay with them to keep their plans secret.
• The Noble Guard and police closed in, trapping the group inside the university.
• Charles suspected Josiah's group had assassinated Archbishop Muzarelli and urged them to confess to a judge.
• Josiah described the abuse and killings under Muzarelli and said they had wanted to destroy the power that enabled such atrocities.

Charles helped Josiah and the other students escape the Secret Police by scattering money outside the University of Rome, then chose to join them after recalling the poverty and oppression he had witnessed. The Free Rome Party prepared to launch uprisings across the city two days later.

• Charles gave Patrice his passport and ordered him to negotiate with the Secret Police, then used money from his carriage to draw a crowd toward the university gates.
• The crowd overwhelmed the Secret Police as people rushed to collect the banknotes, allowing Charles, Josiah, and the others to escape.
• A student returned some of Charles’s money and Josiah thanked him, while Benigni let Charles’s group leave without interference.
• After remembering Josiah’s wish for a city where no one had to kneel, Charles turned back and decided to go with the students, asking Rocher to join him.
• At a secret Free Rome Party meeting, Sorrentino announced plans for uprisings at twelve locations across Rome in two days.

Charles warned the Free Rome Party that its uprising plan was dangerously unprepared and offered to help secure weapons and organize it. In Paris, Berthier reported that Kutuzov had lured Austrian forces into an ambush near Vienna.

• Charles questioned Josiah about the uprising’s plan and identified ways Papal forces could trap and defeat the insurgents.
• Sorrentino met Charles and, after hearing his military concerns, agreed that the plan was hasty but insisted the revolution must proceed.
• Charles advised the Free Rome Party to obtain more weapons, avoid attacking Castel Sant'Angelo without cannon, and improve its command and logistics plans.
• Charles offered to use his channels to acquire weapons, which would take half a month.
• In Paris, Berthier told Joseph that Kutuzov had ambushed Austrian reinforcements near Vienna after drawing their forces toward the western front.

Joseph responded to Vienna’s military collapse by pushing its National Assembly toward retreat and sent Segur to mediate a ceasefire between Austria and Hungary. He also learned that a liberal uprising might erupt in Rome after Archbishop Muzarelli’s assassination.

• Berthier reported that the National Guard had lost more than twenty thousand men and that its eastern line was retreating, while Vienna’s National Assembly remained divided over abandoning the city.
• Joseph ordered rumors spread in Vienna about executions and a planned railway to draw people and merchants toward the southwest.
• Segur reported that Franz II had rejected Hungary’s ceasefire request, and Joseph sent him to Graz to coordinate with Metternich and seek British pressure on Austria.
• Lavalette told Joseph that Archbishop Muzarelli had been assassinated in Rome and that the Roman Liberal Organization appeared to be planning an uprising.

Joseph learned that Charles was suspected of organizing the Roman uprising and moved to protect him while France prepared to influence events in Rome. In Vienna, news of the approaching Bohemian army drove residents to flee west toward National Assembly territory.

• Lavalette told Joseph that the Roman rebels had received weapons and funding, and that Charles was suspected of planning the uprising.
• Joseph ordered Lavalette to find Charles and get him out of Rome, then arranged for Charles to appear publicly in Milan to distance him from the revolt.
• Joseph ordered French agents to replace the rebels’ Percussion Cap Guns with Flintlock Guns, alter the cannon equipment, and prepare French forces near Civitavecchia.
• Joseph instructed Segur and Berthier to coordinate with the Italian states and sent two Dragoon battalions and two Steam Frigates to stand by near Rome.
• In Vienna, reports that the Bohemian army was close prompted crowds to flee west, where the National Assembly had offered farmland and arranged food sales.

Lucas refused to flee Vienna and led the last National Guard recruits toward the northern defenses, while Savien persuaded Charles to leave Rome after revealing that the Regent had sent weapons and military advisers to support the revolutionaries. The chapter ended with a massive Roman uprising confronting the Pope and the forces sent to disperse it.

• Lucas rejected Bergman's offer to escape to Konstanz and declared that he would fight in Vienna as Captain Scheller.
• Lucas told Bergman to report that the revolutionaries had stood their ground, then joined the last recruits heading north as citizens fled Vienna.
• Savien revealed that he worked for the Security Bureau and had orders to take Charles to Milan, but Charles argued that the Roman revolutionaries needed help.
• Savien disclosed that the Regent had supplied Rome with guns, a cannon, officers, and artillerymen, and Charles agreed to leave.
• On May 15, 1802, more than ten thousand Romans surrounded the Apostolic Palace and St. Peter's Basilica, demanding that the Pope renounce interference in secular affairs.
• Secret Police and Papal Guard troops moved to disperse the crowd, which was no longer unarmed.

Charles’s insurgent forces seized key parts of Rome and trapped the Pope in Castel Sant’Angelo, where Pius VI sought help from Naples while avoiding French intervention. In Graz, Count Segur urged Metternich to seek a ceasefire in Hungary, but Metternich denied ambitions to become State Minister.

• Arceo led insurgents in a surprise attack that routed the Papal Guard, while protesters captured Rome City Hall and demanded a parliament and republic.
• The insurgents bypassed Quirinal Palace, seized Sant'Angelo Bridge, and surrounded Castel Sant'Angelo according to Charles's plan.
• Pius VI learned that Austrian reinforcements depended on Venetian approval and that France had sent an envoy, then ordered Archbishop Antonelli to seek troops from Ferdinand IV of Naples.
• Count Segur met Metternich in Graz and asked him to persuade the Emperor to accept a ceasefire in Hungary.
• Metternich claimed he was content as a Royal Advisor, and Segur warned that he could lose everything if he did not become State Minister.

Count Segur persuaded Metternich to seek the position of State Minister by supporting an immediate ceasefire with Hungary, in exchange for France mediating the war. Meanwhile, a National Guard column and fleeing civilians left Vienna, including Adorno, who chose to protect his parliamentary position and his son Gretel rather than fight.

• Count Segur warned Metternich that Count Waltherhausen could blame him for the riots and proposed that he become State Minister.
• Segur revealed that Bohemia, Slovakia, Transylvania, and the Serbian Parliament would support Metternich if he backed an immediate ceasefire with Hungary.
• Segur suggested winning support from Baron Eskeles and Mr. Geymüller by promising them exclusive status as government financial agents.
• Metternich agreed to try for the appointment, and Segur asked France to be allowed to mediate the war.
• Austrian National Guard soldiers and tens of thousands of civilians traveled southwest from Vienna, while Adorno reflected on abandoning his plan to fight so he could preserve his parliamentary benefits for Gretel.

After Engelszell fell, Austrian commander O'Reilly pursued the fleeing National Assembly forces into Bavaria, where Zoller’s troops drove the Austrians back across the Inn River and protected the refugees. Bavaria and Württemberg later formalized a marriage alliance with French support, while Bavaria and France cooperated to keep Austria weakened.

• A rider told Adorno that Engelszell had fallen, prompting him to report to the Emergency Affairs Committee as the National Assembly’s forces fled Upper Austria.
• O'Reilly ordered Kleiner’s Hussars across the Inn River to capture the fleeing councilmen, but Bavarian troops surrounded them and opened fire.
• Zoller refused O'Reilly’s demand to help capture the rebels and forced the Austrian troops to withdraw to the east bank of the Inn River.
• Adorno, more than a thousand soldiers, and fourteen thousand civilians reached Innsbruck on June 12, while many civilians remained in Bavarian towns.
• Bavaria and Württemberg announced a marriage alliance, and the Regent of France pledged support for Bavaria’s South German Dual-Core vision.