330

LIFE OF COLONEL MACERONI.

hundred prisoners. On the I3th, of November, he enteredVienna;—pursuing the enemy, he got up with them atGuntersdorf , took one thousand eight hundred prisoners,and twelve pieces of cannon. On the 2d of December hewas in the field of Austerlitz , where he contributed by hismanoeuvres, his charges, and his prodigious valour, to thecomplete victory of that memorable day.

The treaty of peace of Presburg ceded to France theGrand Duchies of Berg and Cleves. The Electors of Bavaria and of Wurtemberg were raised by the Emperor Napoleon to the dignity of Kings. Prince Eugene Beauharnais , theson of the Empress Josepliina was married to the daughterof the King of Bavaria, and Stepliania de Beauharnais, a nieceof Josepliina, was married to the hereditary Prince ofBaden. ,

An imperial decree of the 25tli of March, 1806, createdhis brother-in-law, Joachim Murat, Grand Duke of Bergand Cleves, which had been solemnly ceded to France byPrussia and Bavaria . In reply to the imperial message con-veying to the Senate of France , the notice of this nomina-tion, the President replied, “ Sire,—The military glory ofthe Prince Murat , the importance and the splendour of hisvictories ; his public and private virtues, will cause allFrenchmen to feel convinced of this being a reward due tohis merit: and his new subjects will respect and cherish hisauthority. The Prince Murat will thus be as a guard toa portion of the empire, and your Majesty could not haveconfided it into better hands.” These sentiments were un-doubtedly participated by the public at large.

Murat immediately despatched General Dupont as hisCommissioner to take possession of his states, and thecession was performed with all diplomatic form andsolemnity at Dusseldorf by the Prussian and Bavarian com-