Vienna, 1814: How the Conquerors of Napoleon Made Love, War, and Peace at the Congress of Vienna (68 page)

Dallas is one of the few historians of the congress to deal with the Duchess of Sagan in his valuable book, but there is some confusion in his account: Sagan did not receive Metternich’s letter on the twentieth and then invite the tsar over for breakfast [
The Final Act: The Roads to Waterloo
(1997), 209]. That breakfast had been set up two days before she received the note, when she encountered the tsar at the Russian ambassador Stackelberg’s ball. It was the duchess’s request for an audience with the tsar at that ball that in part prompted Metternich to write his letter. The duchess did not receive that letter on the twentieth, either (209); Metternich wrote it in the early-morning hours after the ball, or the twenty-first, and she received it on the twenty-second at Count Zichy’s ball. On the tsar-duchess of Sagan’s breakfast that morning, there is an anonymous report to Hager, November 1, 1814, no. 635, and no. 476. Metternich’s letter, dated four in the morning, October 21, 1814, was published
MSB,
267–269. Metternich’s other difficult letter on Saxony is in Angeberg (1864), II, 316–320.

Metternich spoke to Gentz that day, October 22, of his “permanent breaking” with the duchess,
Tagebücher
(1873), I, 322. Gentz does not mention Saxon letter, and despite what some historians have asserted, it is probably because he did not know of it. Gentz was against this policy. For Gentz’s view of this letter, see his
Denkschrift
written in February 1815,
NP,
II, 489. For more on background of Austria and Russia, see Gentz’s
Denkschrift
in
NP,
II, 474–476, and the dispute over Switzerland, Nesselrode,
Autobiographie
in L
ettres et papiers du chancelier comte de Nesselrode, 1760–1850
, II, 108–109, Helen du Coudray’s
Metternich
(1936), 139–141. The tsar’s pledges to honor Swiss neutrality and assurances from Austria, Tsar Alexander I to La Harpe, January 3, 1814–December 22, 1813, La Harpe to Tsar Alexander,
Correspondance de Frédéric-César La Harpe et Alexander 1er
(1978–1979), II, 505. Tsar Alexander was said to have had an instant reaction or dislike to anything Metternich said, Archduke Johann, October 21, 1814,
Aus dem Tagebuche Erzherzog Johanns von Oesterreich, 1810–1815
, ed. Franz, Ritter von Krones (1891), 180. Talleyrand and Gentz speaking more and then dining together is clear from Gentz’s diary, and many spy reports, such as unnamed agent to Hager, December 31, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 1215. Later Gentz notes many gifts he received from delegates, including some 24,000 florins, on behalf of the king of France,
Tagebücher
(1873), I, 343. Gentz and Talleyrand were in agreement on many things, including Saxony.

My account of the plan to present the tsar with the opening of the congress draws on a series of letters in Castlereagh’s correspondence, particularly the “First Memorandum on the Polish Question,”
BD,
209–210, Castlereagh to Liverpool, October 20, 1814,
BD,
CXVIII 211, and his follow-up on the twenty-fourth, XXIX, 212–213, along with the “The Memorandum on the Best Method of Handling the Polish Question,” 213–215. Czartoryski’s
The Memoirs of Prince Adam Czartoryski and His Correspondence with Alexander I,
ed. Adam Gielgud, I–II (1968), II, 284, along with the discussions in Webster,
The Foreign Policy of Castlereagh, 1812–1815: Britain and the Reconstruction of Europe
(1931), 347ff, and Kraehe,
Metternich’s German Policy
(1982), II, 207ff. Talleyrand’s critique of his colleagues, as well as the reference to tortoises, comes from a letter to the Duchess of Courland, October 31, 1814,
TLI,
60. The dialogue between the tsar and Talleyrand, the evening of October 23, Talleyrand to Louis XVIII, October 25, 1814,
TLC,
84–89, and the King’s Ambassadors at the Congress to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, No. 8A, October 24, 1814, 274. Agent ** to Hager, October 26, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 559. The tsar’s threat about the king of Saxony was also related by a member of the Russian delegation, Stein, for example, in an undated entry before October 2, 1814,
Tagebuch,
in
Briefe und amtliche Schriften,
V (1964), 319. Talleyrand’s thoughts on Poland and Saxony before meeting the tsar appear in Talleyrand to Louis XVIII, October 19, 1814,
TLC,
75–76.

Metternich’s words on the context for his interview with the tsar are in his
NP,
I, 326ff, and Gentz’s view in
NP,
II, 482–483, as well as Castlereagh to Liverpool, November 11, 1814,
BD,
CXXVIII, 229, Talleyrand to Louis XVIII, October 31, 1814,
TLC,
99–100, the latter reporting Tsar Alexander’s shocking language, Metternich’s “tone of revolt,” and his state afterward. Metternich’s comparison of the tsar to Napoleon is in Archduke Johann’s diary, October 25, 1814,
Aus dem Tagebuche Erzherzog Johanns von Oesterreich 1810–1815
, ed. Franz, Ritter von Krones (1891), 181, and Metternich’s declaration not to meet with him again in private, Gentz’s memoir on the Congress,
Denkschrift, NP,
II, 483. Police agents reported Tsar Alexander wish for Metternich being sacked, Agent ** to Hager, October 28, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 598. That Metternich sometimes seemed to treat the sovereigns frivolously was also a complaint of the king of Denmark, Nota to Hager, January 3, 1815,
DCV,
I, no. 1230. The tsar’s threat to throw Metternich out the window, Eynard, October 28, 1814,
Journal
(1914), I, 73. Many Metternich biographers place the rumored Metternich-Alexander duel here, but this is not correct. The challenge to the duel, if it did happen, came later in December; see notes to chapter 19. The trip to Hungary, often misdated, began on the morning of the twenty-fourth. The tsar left no one in charge, Talleyrand to Louis XVIII, October 25, 1814,
TLC,
93.

C
HAPTER
13. R
OBINSON
C
RUSOE

The reference to
Clisson and Eugénie
comes from Andy Martin’s
Napoleon the Novelist
(2000), 118–120, and Steven Englund’s recent biography,
Napoleon: A Political Life
(2004). Englund was given access to some other parts of the work that previous Napoleonic scholars have not been able to see. The tsar’s role in the selection of Elba and his offer to Napoleon after his abdication is in Norman Mackenzie,
The Escape from Elba: The Fall and Flight of Napoleon, 1814–1815
(1982), 14–15, 22, which is an invaluable resource for Napoleon’s days on Elba. See also J. M. Thompson,
Napoleon Bonaparte
(1952), 391, August Fournier,
Napoleon the First: A Biography,
trans. Margaret Bacon Corwin and Arthur Dart Bissell (1903), 675–677 and F. M. Kircheisen
Napoleon
(1932), 674ff. Many, of course, saw Elba as a humiliation, for example, Princess Radziwill,
Forty-five Years of My Life (1770–1815
), trans. A. R. Allinson (1912), 390. Metternich at Dijon, his opposition to the choice of Elba, and his prediction of war again within two years,
NP,
I, 198–201. For more on this situation, see also two of his letters to Emperor Francis, both dated April 11, 1814, and the emperor’s responses, including his opposition to the tsar’s plans,
NP,
II 469–472. On the Allied entry into Paris, with Emperor Francis remaining behind at Dijon, Palmer notes that the emperor preferred it that way,
Napoleon and Marie Louise: The Emperor’s Second Wife
(2001), 170. The tsar’s “theatrical generosity” is from Lord Stewart, Castlereagh’s late arrival and refusal to sign, Mackenzie (1982), 25, as well as Norwood Young,
Napoleon in Exile: Elba
(1914), 49.

Elba as Napoleon’s principality, and “full sovereignty and property” with two million annual revenue, are from Article III, and the money for his family in Article VI. Napoleon also, importantly, renounced the French empire in the first article.
Le Congrès de Vienne et les traités de 1815
(1864), I, 148–151. Population, legends, and reference to the seedy port come from Mackenzie,
The Escape from Elba
(1982), 66–68. The population figures were also accepted at the time of the congress, as noted in the minutes of the second meeting of the Evaulations Committee, December 25, 1814, in Angeberg (1864), II, 566. The committee reached this number, actually, by a compromise estimate between two authorities (11,385 and 13,750). Café Buono Gusto and the wine are in Robert Christophe,
Napoleon on Elba,
trans. Len Ortzen (1964), 91. Resources of Elba are in Sir Neil Campbell journal, published in
Napoleon at Fontainebleau and Elba; Being a Journal of Occurrences in 1814–1815
(1869), 254. Richness of iron ore, with center at Rio, Mackenzie (1982), 65, Christophe (1964), 30 and 44, and salt warehouse, 21, and mines as the island’s most profitable enterprise, Kircheisen (1932), 681. See also André Pons de l’Hérault,
Souvenirs et anecdotes de l’île d’Elba
(1897).

Turmoil on Elba, including the revolt and change in government, Captain Ussher, “Napoleon’s Deportation to Elba,” in
Napoleon’s Last Voyages, being the Diaries of Admiral Sir Thomas Ussher, R.N., K.C.B. (on board the “Undaunted”) and John R. Glover, Secretary to Rear Admiral Kockburn (on board the “Northumberland”)
(1895), 48–49, Campbell (1869), 214. Firing at the
Undaunted
as it arrived, Mackenzie (1982), 63, Christophe (1964), 16–17, 26–27. French General Dalesme in charge, the Bourbon flag up for forty-eight hours, and narrowly escaped being British property, which would have made for an interesting development, Thompson (1952), 396. Napoleon’s palace and throne, Mackenzie (1982), 73, and other similar references, found, for example, in Abbé de Pradt,
Congrès de Vienne
(1815), I, 216, or Count Molé,
The Life and Memoirs of Count Molé
(1781–1855), ed. Marquis de Noailles (1924), I, 205, as a throne without a nation as “simply four pieces of wood covered with a piece of velvet.” The Prince de Ligne’s words on Robinson Crusoe are in many sources, including Comte Auguste de La Garde-Chambonas,
Anecdotal Recollections of the Congress of Vienna
(1902), 14, and Pictet de Rochemont,
Biographie, travaux et correspondance diplomatique
(1892), 211. Palffy and Bigottini come from report to Hager, October 14,
DCV,
I, no. 415, and Karl von Nostitz, in an undated entry from the end of December,
Leben und Briefwechsel
(1848), 140, while the ballerina’s confinement some nine months later in Paris,
The Diary of Frances Lady Shelley (1787–1817
) (1912), 109. The offending busts of Tsar Alexander, Agent O to Hager, October 19, 1814, DCV, I, no. 450. Count Anstett, rumored to be fond of his drink, Niels Rosenkrantz, October 6, 1814,
Journal du Congrès de Vienne, 1814–1815
(1953), 40, was another good source, and he was followed closely by the spies. Josephine Wolters in the Burg, report to Hager, October 12, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 346. She was coming “almost every evening” to Wolkonsky, Goehausen to Hager, October 16, 1814, DCV, I, no. 396, and still observed sneaking into the palace, report, October 22, 1814, no. 477. Emperor on Wolters, Hager’s report, October 25, 1814, no. 498.

The story of the game of blindman’s buff in the salon and the following trouble almost ending in a duel, October 11, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 337, Rzewuska,
Mémoires de la comtesse Rosalie Rzewuska (1788–1865)
(1939) I, 254–255, and Archduke Johann’s diary, October 9, 1814,
Aus dem Tagebuche Erzherzog Johanns von Oesterreich, 1810-1815, ed. Franz, Ritter von Krones
(1891), 176. More background on the “personal rivalry” of the crown princes is in Countess Bernstorff’s
Ein Bild aus der Zeit von 1789 bis 1835: Aus ihren Aufzeichnungen
(1896), I, 151. The duel stopped, Rechbert to his father, undated, Le Comte de Goerz, no. 343, and Field Marshal Prince Schwarzenberg to his wife, October 8, 1814, Johann Friedrich Novák, ed.,
Briefe des Feldmarschalls Fürsten Schwarzenberg an seine Frau, 1799–1816
(1913), 408. The Bellio affair is in many spy reports around the time of seizure:
DCV,
I, nos. 443–446. See also intercepted letter from Mavrojény, October 22, 1814, no. 487. Gentz learned of Prince Bellio’s expulsion for copying his letters at the Peace Ball,
Tagebücher,
October 18, 1814 (1873), 320–321. Abduction rumor, Mackenzie (1982), 163. Hints of abduction were found in the French embassy, for example, Marioti to Dalberg, October 5, 1814,
GPWK,
219–220, and appearing also in
DCV,
I, no. 563. The emperor ordered closer surveillance. See notes to chapter 18.

Carl Bertuch noted that cooler “November weather” had finally arrived,
Tagebuch vom Wiener Kongress,
October 25, 1814, 38, and Stolberg-Wernigerode noted the pouring rain that day,
Tagebuch über meinen Aufenthalt in Wien zur Zeit des Congresses
(2004), 78—this supported, too, by others who regularly noted the weather, for instance, Gentz,
Tagebuch,
and San Marzan,
Diario.
“I am no longer the man I was the day before yesterday,” McGuigan (1975), 381. Rumors of the tsar’s pressure on the duchess made their rounds, for example, Rosenkrantz, October 27, 1814 (1953), 54. Metternich asked her not to speak about him to the tsar,
MSB,
October 31, 1814, 269. “I am no longer astonished” comes from his letter, November 1, 1814,
MSB,
270.

Date for the departure to Hungary often confused, though should be October 24 as many diaries confirm. Just before leaving, Emperor Francis ordered all spy reports to be sent to Prince Metternich, Emperor to Hager, October 23, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 475. One Hungarian newspaper account of the stay was excerpted by the
Wiener Zeitung,
November 1, and again November 4, 1814. The volatile trip is clear from many sources, for instance, King’s Ambassadors at the Congress to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, no. 9A, October 31, 1814, 285, Alexander’s words on Metternich, and Emperor Francis on leaving work to the ministers, Talleyrand to King Louis XVIII, October 31, 1814,
TLC,
100–101, and Stein also reported the tsar’s criticisms of the Austrian foreign minister in his diary, October 29–November 7, 1814,
Briefe und amtliche Schriften,
V (1964), 330. The trouble between the sovereigns noted by Stein, as well as the report to Hager, the same day,
DCV,
I, no. 626. Tsar Alexander blaming the ministers, and hoping to settle matters among sovereigns themselves, Castlereagh to Liverpool, November 11, 1814,
BD,
CXXVIII, 230. Bavaria’s Wrede also informed Rosenkrantz, October 30, 1814,
Journal,
56. The tsar’s time with beautiful ladies in Hungary, Agent ** to Hager, November 6, 1814,
DCV,
I, no. 692. Buda and Pest are described in contemporary travel account of the same year, published in 1818, by Bright,
Travels from Vienna through Lower Hungary with some remarks on the state of Vienna during the congress in the year 1814
, 207ff.