Hitherto every thing had proved favourable to the wishes of the royal army: it marched from one success to another; and the noise of its victories, swelled by fear and rumour, had spread consternation and dismay as far as Grenoble and Lyons.
The Emperor himself was uneasy. On leaving Lyons he had foreseen the possibility of a partial rising in the south; and, relying on the energy and patriotism of the Dauphinese, he had entrusted to them the care of defending their territory and their capital. But, if they were strong enough to repel the aggressions of the royalists, they were not in a condition to resist four thousand soldiers, who had embraced their cause, and fought in their ranks.
General Grouchy had orders, to hasten to Lyons, and raise in mass the national guards of Dauphiny, the Lyonnais, and Burgundy.
At the name of the Emperor and of their country all were in motion: the patriots of la Drôme and the Isère descended from their mountains; the Lyonese quitted their workshops; the Burgundians spontaneously began their march with half-pay officers at their head.
This patriotic burst was so unanimous, that the roads were instantly covered with national guards; and General Corbineau, whom the Emperor had despatched to accelerate their march, was obliged, on the contrary, to retard it. But all these arrangements, sad presages of a civil war, were happily unnecessary.
The troops of General Gardanne, during their stay at Gap, became acquainted with the Emperor's proclamations. These had awakened their remembrances, electrified their minds, and the 58th mounted the tricoloured cockade.
The defection of this regiment was soon known to the division of General Loverdo; and, in spite of this general's efforts, a part of the 14th chasseurs, and the whole of the 83d, equally embraced the imperial cause. On the other soldiers, though faithful in appearance, the generals could no longer confide: "they could not speak to a single inhabitant of the country, without receiving impressions absolutely inimical to the party of the King[89]," and they expected every moment, to see them go over to the enemy.
General Loverdo, impatient to give battle, and imagining, that he could dispense with their assistance, attempted to force the defile of Saulces, in advance of Gap, supported only by his royal volunteers: but this attack, as rash as it was useless, did not succeed, and he was forced to fall back to Sisteron.