Note 502 — Chapter XLVIII

"The two arms of the Danube which traversed the island, and had hitherto been found dry, or at least fordable, had become dangerous torrents, requiring hanging bridges to be thrown over them. The Emperor crossed them in a skiff, having Berthier and myself in his company. When arrived on the bank of the Danube, the Emperor sat down under a tree, and, being joined by Massena, he formed a small council, in order to collect the opinion of those about him as to what had best be done under existing circumstances. Let the reader picture to himself the Emperor sitting between Massena and Berthier on the bank of the Danube, with the bridge in front, of which there scarcely remained any vestige, Davoust's corps on the other side of the broad river, and, behind, in the island of Lobau itself, the whole army separated from the enemy by a mere arm of the Danube, thirty or forty toises broad, and deprived of all means of extricating himself from this position, and he will admit that the lofty and powerful mind of the Emperor could alone be proof against discouragement."—Savary, tom. ii., part ii., p. 88.