It is said even that he
selected the most gormandizing battalions of the civic force to send
forth against the enemy: viz, the grocers, the rich bankers, the
lawyers, &c. Their parting with their families was very affecting. They
would have been very willing to recall their offer of marching, but
companies of stern veterans closing round them, marched them to the
city gates, which were closed upon them; and thus perforce they were
compelled to move on. As long as he had a bottle of brandy and a couple
of sausages in his holsters, the General of the National Guard, Odillon
Barrot, talked with tremendous courage. Such was the power of his
eloquence over the troops, that, could he have come up with the enemy
while his victuals lasted, the issue of the combat might have been very
different. But in the course of the first day's march he finished
both the sausages and the brandy, and became quite uneasy, silent, and
crest-fallen.
It was on the fair plains of Touraine, by the banks of silver Loire,
that the armies sat down before each other, and the battle was to take
place which had such an effect upon the fortunes of France. 'Twas a
brisk day of March: the practised valor of Nemours showed him at once
what use to make of the army under his orders, and having enfiladed
his National Guard battalions, and placed his artillery in echelons,
he formed his cavalry into hollow squares on the right and left of
his line, flinging out a cloud of howitzers to fall back upon the
main column.
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