He was believed to be in full sympathy with the
Revolution, although he had taken pains after the downfall of
Robespierre to disavow any attachment to the extreme radicals. He had
acquired some popularity by his skillful expulsion of the British from
Toulon in 1793, and his protection of the National Convention against
the uprising of the Parisian radicals in 1795 gave him credit as a
friend of law and order. Finally, his marriage in 1796 with Josephine
Beauharnais, the widow of a revolutionary general and an intimate
friend of one of the Directors, bettered his chances of indulging his
fondness for politics and his genius in war.
[Sidenote: Bonaparte's First Italian Campaign, 1796-1797]
[Sidenote: Treaty of Campo Formio, 1797]
That very year (1796), while the older and more experienced French
generals were repeatedly baffled in their efforts to carry the war into
the Germanies, the young commander--but twenty-seven years of age--
swept the Austrians from Italy. With lightning rapidity, with
infectious enthusiasm, with brilliant tactics, with great personal
bravery, he crossed the Alps, humbled the Sardinians, and within a year
had disposed of five Austrian armies and had occupied every fort in
northern Italy.
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