Note 328 — SECTION XIII: CHAPTER VI

Napier’s conclusions as to Soult’s conduct are wholly warped by his strong predilection for the Marshal—which dated back to the time when the latter dealt kindly with his wounded brother on the day after Corunna. He understates Soult’s encouragement of the movement, and will have us believe that it was purely the work of the Portuguese. He omits all mention of Ricard’s circular, and finally suppresses all mention of Napoleon’s angry upbraidings except the following (ii. p. 75): ‘The Emperor wrote to Soult that the rumour had reached him, adding, with a delicate allusion to the Marshal’s previous services, “I remember nothing but Austerlitz.”’ Now it was not a rumour which had reached Schönbrunn, but a copy of Ricard’s circular, which the Emperor quotes verbatim. Therefore Napoleon was writing with tangible evidence, not with camp reports, to guide him. How far Napier’s sentence above gives a fair impression of the tone of the dispatch which I have reproduced, I leave the reader to judge. It was a surprise to myself when I put the two together. Once and for all, it must be remembered that Napier can never be trusted when Soult is in question—the Marshal’s intrigues, his greed, his shameful plundering of Andalusian churches, are all concealed.