Having pushed his plan to the representatives at every opportunity, Napoleon had recently resorted to sending a confidential letter to the War Ministry in Paris, complaining in bitter terms about the incompetence of General Carteaux, and the urgent need for his own plan to be adopted if Toulon was to fall before the end of the year. The letter had been sent off in a moment of rashness and now Napoleon feared that he had overstepped the mark. Carteaux had powerful patrons amongst the Jacobins, and the general would not be likely to forgive such a slight, if he discovered it.
As he leaned over the table and ran his hands through his hair, Napoleon became aware of a commotion outside his tent. Men were shouting to each other and in the distance came the faint pop of musket fire. With a sigh, Napoleon rose up wearily and made his way outside. The men were taking full advantage of the change in weather and had rigged clothes lines from tent pole to tent pole to dry their sodden uniforms and bedding. Faint wisps of steam rose above the camp as Napoleon made his way across to look down the slope towards Fort Mulgrave. Just beyond the outer ditch he could see a small cluster of men, some in French uniforms, the rest in scarlet. Napoleon glanced round and caught sight of Captain Marmont watching the incident through a telescope.
Hurrying over to him Napoleon called out, 'What the hell's going on?'
Marmont turned and saluted his colonel. 'Seems some of our pickets got a bit carried away and went too close to the fort. The British sortied out to capture them. Now they're giving them a good hiding.'
'Let me see.'
Napoleon took the proffered telescope and trained it down towards the fort. In the magnified circle of the eyepiece he clearly saw the French soldiers on their knees being kicked and struck with the butts of muskets by their captors.
'What's that all about?'
'I can guess.The pickets are close enough to swap insults with the British. One thing leads to another and that's the result. But it's not going down well with our men, look.'
Marmont indicated the trenches facing the fort. Soldiers were climbing up, with muskets in hand and gesturing angrily towards the enemy. The cries of their rage carried up the slope and, as the two officers watched, more and more men emerged from cover and began to edge across the open ground towards the fort. Napoleon shifted the telescope back towards the British. He could see them stop their beating and look round at the Frenchmen moving towards them. Then a redcoat sergeant lowered his pike and drove it into the chest of one of his prisoners.
'Bastard!' Napoleon breathed in sharply, then looked on in horror as the sergeant gestured to his men and they began to bayonet the rest of their captives. 'The bastards are murdering our men!'
A great cry of outrage rose up from the surrounding French soldiers and all at once a tide of blue uniformed men charged towards the enemy position.
'Oh shit!' Marmont smacked a fist against his thigh.'The fools! What do they think they're doing? We must stop them.'
'No.' Napoleon's mind was racing. He felt the thrill of opportunity coursing through his veins. 'No. This is it.This is our chance. Come on!'
He grabbed Marmont's arm and pulled the captain after him as he ran headlong down the slope. As they passed by clusters of tents Napoleon shouted at the men to grab their weapons and follow him.
Ahead, the first wave of French soldiers had reached the outer ditch and were swarming through the obstacles, angrily wrenching them aside as they went after the redcoats who had killed their friends. His heart pounding, Napoleon urged himself on as fast as his legs could go. If only enough men would go forward while their fighting blood was up. If a senior officer could get there fast enough to take advantage of the situation, then anything was possible. He reached the Battery of Men-Without-Fear and paused on the breastwork to shout at the gunners still inside.
'Grab a weapon and follow me!'
Then he was off, charging forward amongst the men streaming towards the fort. Along the ramparts puffs of musket fire appeared amid the figures of men entangled in desperate hand-to-hand fighting. Napoleon reached the ditch, scrambled down the steep slope, narrowly missing the sharpened points of a spiked wooden frame set in the mud at the bottom. A few of the men were already wounded and making their way down from the rampart as Napoleon started to climb on hands and knees. All along the rampart on either side, the French were struggling to break into the fort. The desperate faces of redcoats were visible above the parapet as they thrust with their bayonets or swung their muskets like clubs. Both sides went for each other like wild animals. As he climbed amongst the men locked into the desperate struggle, Napoleon drew his sword and raised it as high as he could.
'Forward!' he cried out. 'Forward! Follow me!'
Thrusting between two of his men he grasped the top of a gabion and hauled himself up and into an embrasure.The fort was laid out before him, and in the brief time he took to glance round Napoleon saw that this rampart was sparsely defended, but more men were forming up on the far side of the fort near the enemy's accommodation bunkers. There wasn't much time before the enemy reinforced this side of the fort.
'Colonel!' Marmont shouted close by. 'To your left!'
Napoleon was aware of the blur of scarlet as he twisted round and just had time to sweep his sword across to ward off the bayonet thrust. The spike of steel clattered away and stabbed into the wicker wall of the embrasure. Napoleon punched the hilt of his sword into the face of the British soldier and the man fell back with a grunt, dropping his musket. Napoleon paid him no more attention and jumped down inside the fort, frantically waving at the men immediately behind him to follow. On either side small groups of Frenchmen were also inside the rampart and chasing after the enemy who ran before them. Only a few British troops with stout hearts faced the enemy, fiercely determined to defend their fort and their honour. Beyond, their comrades were hurriedly forming a firing line, ready to counter-attack the French and drive them from the fort. Napoleon turned to look for Marmont and saw him a few paces away, clambering over the rampart.
'Captain! Get a message back to the general. Tell him we've taken the wall. Tell him to send more men and the fort is ours. Go!'
Marmont nodded, turned back and dropped out of sight. Napoleon stared round frantically, assessing the situation. Scores of French were over the rampart, a mass of soldiers, leaderless and disorganised, and now showing signs of confusion and fear as their earlier rage was wearing off. Many were artillerymen, armed with little more than stakes and knives.Those that carried muskets had discharged them at the enemy in the initial assault. Napoleon realised he had to form up his men immediately; get some order and restore discipline before they melted away when the well-ordered ranks of redcoats advanced towards them.
Nearby a volunteer sergeant had clubbed a redcoat to the ground and was now going through the man's pockets. Napoleon grabbed his arm and harshly tugged the man away from his looting. 'Get the men ordered! Form them in line, those with muskets at the front.'
The man looked back blankly, and Napoleon shook him. 'Form the men up! Understand?'
Awareness returned to the sergeant and he nodded, turning away to bellow orders at the men milling about across the rampart. Napoleon turned the other way, found some more sergeants and Lieutenant Junot, and passed on his instructions. Slowly, too slowly, the mob was shoved and cajoled into a rough line just below the rampart, and as more men spilled into the fort they were rushed into place alongside their comrades. Napoleon gave the order for all those that had muskets and ammunition to load up and hold their fire until ordered. As the air filled with sound of ramrods driving home the powder cartridges and musket balls, Napoleon knew that if they could just hold the wall long enough for Carteaux to feed organised and fully armed units into the fight then Fort Mulgrave would be captured.