He brought also a bourgeois guard of honor, a fine
troop, which melted away in battle like butter on a hot gridiron. In
spite of the bold front that we put on, everything went against us;
although the army performed feats of wonderful courage. Then came
regular battles of mountains--nations against nations--at Dresden,
Lutzen, and Bautzen. Don't you ever forget that time, because it was
then that Frenchmen showed how wonderfully heroic they could be. A good
grenadier, in those days, seldom lasted more than six months. We always
won, of course; but there in our rear were the English, stirring up the
nations to take sides against us. But we fought our way through this
pack of nations at last. Wherever Napoleon showed himself, we rushed;
and whenever, on land or sea, he said, "I wish to pass," we passed.
We finally got back to France; and many a poor foot-soldier was braced
up by the air of his native country, notwithstanding the hard times we
had. As for myself, in particular, I may say that it renewed my life.
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