On March 17 Napoleon held a consuls’ meeting, which he held most days at this time, a Conseil d’État, which he did every couple of days, and then a military strategy session with his chief cartographer, General Bacler de l’Albe, kneeling on huge large-scale maps of Piedmont spread out on the floor and covered in red and black wax-tipped pins to show the positions of the armies.
(Sometimes, when crawling around the floor together on the maps, Napoleon and de l’Albe would bump heads.)
In the strategy meeting he allegedly asked Bourrienne where he thought the decisive battle would be fought. ‘How the devil should I know?’ answered his Brienne-educated private secretary.
’Why, look here, you fool,’ said Napoleon, pointing to the plains of the River Scrivia at San Giuliano Vecchio, explaining how he thought Melas would maneuver once the French had crossed the Alps. It was precisely there that the battle of Marengo was fought three months later.
Source:
Roberts, Andrew. "Marengo." Napoleon: A Life. New York: Penguin, 2014. 251-52. Print.
Original Source Listed:
eds. Tulard and Garros, Itinéraire p. 153.
Further Reading:
Napoleone di Buonaparte / Napoléon Bonaparte / Napoleon I
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