me to hold
ground against the reserves of the Russian Guard. We charged again,
and this charge was terrible. The brave Morland was killed by my
side. It was downright butchery. We were opposed man to man, and
were so mingled together that the infantry of neither one nor the
other side could venture to fire for fear of killing its own men.
At length the intrepidity of our troops overcame every obstacle, and
the Russians fled in disorder, in sight of the two Emperors of
Russia and Austria, who had stationed themselves on a height in
order to witness the battle. They saw a desperate one," said Rapp,
"and I trust they were satisfied. For my part, my dear friend, I
never spent so glorious a day. What a reception the Emperor gave me
when I returned to inform him that we had won the battle! My sword
was broken, and a wound which I received on my head was bleeding
copiously, so that I was covered with blood! He made me a General
of Division. The Russians did not return to the charge; we had
taken all their cannon and baggage, and Prince Repnin was among the
prisoners."

Thus it was that Rapp related to me this famous battle of which he was
the hero, as Kellerman had been the hero of Marengo. What now remains of
Austerlitz? The recollection, the glory, and the magnificent picture of
Gerard, the idea of which was suggested to the Emperor by the sight of
Rapp with the blood streaming from his wound.

I cannot forbear relating here a few particulars which I learned from
Rapp respecting his mission after the cure of his wound; and the marriage
of Prince Eugene to the Princess Augusta of Bavaria. The friendship
which Rapp cherished for me was of the most sincere kind. During my
disgrace he did not even conceal it from Napoleon; and whoever knows
anything of the Emperor's Court will acknowledge that that was a greater
mark of courage than the carrying of a redoubt or making the most
brilliant charge of cavalry. Rapp possessed courage of every kind, an
excellent heart, and a downright frankness, which for a time brought him
into disgrace with Napoleon. The only thing for which Rapp could be
reproached was his extreme prejudice against the nobility, which I am
convinced was the sole reason why he was not created a Duke. The Emperor
made him a Count because he wished that all his aides de camp should have
titles.

"He had been a fortnight at Schoenbrunn," said Rapp to me, "and I ha