No. 20
Krems.—He left here to review Davoust’s corps on the field of Austerlitz. Afterwards all the generals dined with him, and the Emperor said, “This is the second time I come upon the field of Austerlitz; shall I come to it a third time?” “Sire,” replied one, “from what we see every day none dare wager that you will not!” It was this suppressed hatred that probably determined the Emperor to dismantle the fortifications of Vienna, an act that intensified the hatred of the Viennese more than his allowing the poor people to help themselves to wood for the winter in the imperial forests had mollified them.
My health has never been better.—His reason for this remark is found in his letter to Cambacérès of the same date, “They have spread in Paris the rumour that I was ill, I know not why; I was never better.” The reason of the rumour was that Corvisart had been sent for to Vienna, as there had been an outbreak of dysentery among the troops. This was kept a profound secret from France, and Napoleon even allowed Josephine to think that Corvisart had attended him (see Letter 22).