who was more used to administration than the direction of troops in
the field. In addition, the position of the armies might change; and
he thought it essential that the mission was given to a man with
enough wisdom to assess the state of affairs, and who would not hand
Masséna his dismissal on the eve of, or in the middle of a battle.

My father, eventually persuaded the minister to give the task to
M. Gault, his aide-de-camp, who, under the ostensible pretext of going
to see if the suppliers had delivered the number of horses stipulated
in their contract, would proceed to Switzerland with the authority to
retain or to hand out the order for the dismissal of Masséna, and the
installing of general Chérin, according to the circumstances which
might lead him to judge whether this would be useful or dangerous.
This was an enormous responsibility to confide to the prudence of a
simple captain, but M. Gault fully justified the faith my father had
in him.

Arriving at the headquarters of the army of Switzerland
five days before the battle of Zurich, he found the troops so full of
confidence in Masséna, and Masséna himself so calm and determined,
that he had no doubts of success, and, maintaining the deepest
silence about his secret powers, he took part in the battle of Zurich
and then returned to Paris, without Masséna suspecting that this
modest captain had in his hands the authority which could have
deprived him of the glory of one of the finest victories of the
century.

Had Masséna been rashly dismissed, this would probably have led
to the defeat of General Chérin and the invasion of France by the
Russians, followed by the Germans, and perhaps finally to the