Note 167 — Chapter VI
Reading edition
"That retreat was the greatest blunder that ever Moreau committed. If he had, instead of retreating, made a détour, and marched in the rear of Prince Charles, he would have destroyed or taken the Austrian army. The Directory, jealous of me, wanted to divide, if possible, the stock of military reputation; and as they could not give Moreau credit for a victory, they caused his retreat to be extolled in the highest terms: although even the Austrian generals condemned him for it."—Napoleon, Voice, &c., vol. ii., p. 40. See also Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 157.