to enter the Papal
States; and at the same time another small division, commanded by
General Vaubois, started from the upper valley of the Po, ostensibly
destined to proceed against Rome by passing through Tuscany. The
effect of Augereau's movement, which was closely followed by the
commander-in-chief in person, was to bring both Naples and the Pope
speedily to terms. An armistice was signed by the former on the 5th,
and by the latter on the 24th of June. Vaubois, on the other hand,
after passing the Arno below Florence, instead of continuing on to
Siena, as the Grand Duke had been assured that he would, turned sharp
to the westward, and on the 28th of June entered Leghorn, which was
thenceforth held by the French. Thus within a brief month were the
British deprived of two allies, lethargic, it is true, in actual
performance, but possessed of a degree of potential strength that
could not but enter largely into Bonaparte's anxieties; while at the
same time they lost the use of a seaport that had heretofore been
considered essential to their support.

Rumors of Vaubois' movement reached Nelson in Genoa at noon of June
23, but somewhat vaguely. "Reports are all we have here," he wrote to
Jervis the same day, "nothing official from the armies;" but he
thought the situation critical, and started without delay for Leghorn.
Arriving there on the morning of June 27, after a passage rendered
tedious by light airs and calms, he found the British merchant vessels
that had been in the harbor, to the number of nearly forty sail,
already under way, laden with British merchants and their property,
and standing out under convoy of several ships of war; while in
pursuit of them--a singular indication of the neutrality possible to
small States like Tuscany and Genoa at that time--were a dozen French
privateers, which had been lying beside them within the mole. One or
two of the departing vessels were thus taken.

The first impression upon Nelson's mind was that the occupation of
Leghorn was only the prelude to an invasion of Corsica in force. "I
have no doubt," he wrote to the Viceroy, "but the destination of the
French army was Corsica, and it is natural to suppose their fleet was
to amuse ours whilst they cross from Leghorn." Thus reasoning, he
announced his purpose of rejoining the admiral as soon as possible, so
as not to lose his share in the expected battle. "My heart would
break," he says to Jervis, "to be absent at such a glori