A rival government called the
Central Committee was set up, and the streets of Paris were in uproar.
Something had to be done, and done quickly. Revolutions rise or fall
overnight. The command of Republican troops was entrusted to Paul
Barras, and one of his staff officers was Napoleon Bonaparte. Barras
had the foresight to bring up as much artillery as possible, as his men
were few. Napoleon saw that these guns were placed so as to enfilade
the principal streets. His experience at Toulon, as well as his
natural genius for strategy, stood him in good stead. The "whiff of
grape-shot" which he fired on that October day, in 1795, cleared the
streets of the opposition--and likewise cleared the pathway for him
leading eventually to a throne.
The whole world knows of the later deeds of this slim figure who thus
steps masterfully forward to the center of the most troubled stage in
Europe. Days of conflict and turmoil were yet to follow for Napoleon,
but never days of uncertainty. He had found himself. In six short
years the brooding misanthrope, the gawky young man who shunned his
fellows, became the self-possessed leader of men, wielding a power of
personal magnetism that was almost uncanny.
At twenty-six his larger career may be said to have begun. This slight
boyish figure takes command of the Army of Italy and leads that
memorable campaign to the conquest of Italy before he was thirty.
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