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CHAP. LXXV.--Buonaparte marches upon Blucher, who is in possession of Soissons--Attacks the Place without success--Battle of Craonne--Blucher Retreats on Laon--Battle of Laon--Napoleon is compelled to withdraw on the 11th--He attacks Rheims, which is evacuated by the Russians--Defeat at Bar-sur-Aube of Oudinot and Gerard, who, with Macdonald, are forced to Retreat towards Paris--Schwartzenberg wishes to Retreat behind the Aube--but the Emperor Alexander and Lord Castlereagh opposing the measure, it is determined to proceed upon Paris--Napoleon occupies Arcis--Battle of Arcis--Napoleon is joined, in the night after the Battle, by Macdonald, Oudinot, and Gerard--and Retreats along the Aube, 1
CHAP. LXXVI.--Plans of Buonaparte--Military and Political Questions regarding Paris--Napoleon crosses the Marne on 22d March--Retrospect of Events in the Vicinity of Lyons, &c.--Defeats of the French in various Quarters--Marmont and Mortier Retreat under the walls of Paris--Joseph Buonaparte--Maria Louisa, with the Civil Authorities, leave the City--Attack of Paris on the 30th--A Truce accorded--Joseph flies, 11
CHAP. LXXVII.--State of Parties in Paris--Royalists--Revolutionists-- Buonapartists--Talleyrand--Chateaubriand--Mission to the Allied Sovereigns--Their Answer--Efforts of the Buonapartists--Feelings of the Lowest Classes--of the Middling Ranks--Neutrality of the National Guard--Growing confidence of the Royalists--Proclamations and White Cockades--Crowds assemble at the Boulevards--The Allies are received with shouts of welcome--Their Army retires to quarters--and the Cossacks bivouac in the Champs-Elysées, 28
CHAP. LXXVIII.--Fears of the Parisians--Proceedings of Napoleon--Operations of the French Cavalry in rear of the Allies--Capture of Weissemberg--The Emperor Francis is nearly surprised--Napoleon reaches Troyes on the night of the 29th March--Opinion of Macdonald as to the possibility of relieving Paris--Napoleon leaves Troyes, on the 30th and meets Belliard, a few miles from Paris, in full Retreat--Conversation betwixt them--He determines to proceed to Paris, but is at length dissuaded--and Despatches Caulaincourt to receive terms from the Allied Sovereigns--He himself returns to Fontainbleau, 35