This flattering distinction did not excite the jealousy of the other
corps of the army, for each regiment had on that day its own share of
compliments, whether small or great; and when the review was over, they
went quietly back to their quarters. But the soldiers of the Thirty-
sixth, Fifty-seventh, and Tenth, much elated by having been so specially
favored, went in the afternoon to drink to their triumph in a public
house frequented by the grenadiers of the cavalry of the Guard. They
began to drink quietly, speaking of campaigns, of cities taken, of the
First Consul, and finally of that morning's review. It then occurred to
the young men of Boulogne, who were among the drinkers, to sing couplets
of very recent composition, in which were extolled to the clouds the
bravery and the exploits of the three regiments, without one word of
praise for the rest of the army, not even for the Guard; and it was in
the favorite resort of the grenadiers of the Guard that these couplets
were sung! These latter maintained at first a gloomy silence; but soon
finding it unendurable, they protested loudly against these couplets,
which they said were detestable. The quarrel became very bitter; they
shouted, heaped insults on each other, taking care not to make too much
noise; however, and appointed a meeting for the next day, at four o'clock
in the morning, in the suburbs of Marquise, a little village about two
leagues from Boulogne. It was very late in the evening when these
soldiers left the public house.

More than two hundred grenadiers of the Guard went separately to the
place of meeting, and found the ground occupied by an almost equal number
of their adversaries of the Thirty-sixth, Fifty-seventh, and Tenth.
Wasting no time in explanations, hardly a sound being heard, each soldier
drew his sword, and for more than an hour they fought in a cool,
deliberate manner which was frightful to behold. A man named Martin,