Memoirs of Napoleon — Volume 10 by Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne
page 7 of 100 (07%)
page 7 of 100 (07%)
|
respect to the grand manoeuvres of the French army from the battle of
Eylau to that of Friedland, where, at all events, our success was indisputable. There was no necessity for printing favourable versions of that event, and, besides, its immense results were soon felt throughout Europe. The interview at Tilsit is one of the culminating points of modern history, and the waters of the Niemen reflected the image of Napoleon at the height of his glory. The interview between the two Emperors at Tilsit, and the melancholy situation of the King of Prussia, are generally known. I was made acquainted with but few secret details relative to those events, for Rapp had gone to Dantzic, and it was he who most readily communicated to me all that the Emperor said and did, and all that was passing around him.-- --[Savory gives the following account of the interview between Napoleon and Alexander at Tilsit. "The Emperor Napoleon, whose courtesy was manifest in all his actions, ordered a large raft to be floated in the middle of the river, upon which was constructed a room well covered in and elegantly decorated having two doors on opposite aides, each of which opened into an antechamber. The work could not have been better executed in Paris. The roof was surmounted by two weathercocks: one displaying the eagle of Russia, and the other the eagle of France. The two outer doors were also surmounted by the eagles of the two countries. "The raft was precisely in the middle of the river, with the two doors of the salon facing the two opposite banks. "The two sovereigns appeared on the banks of the river, and embarked |
|