Marshal Soult
William Allan introduces the Napoleonic military genius; in Napier’s words, ‘the best loved Frenchman England ever fought’.
There is a story told of the banquet held by the Duke of Wellington at Apsley House to mark the occasion of the coronation of the young Queen Victoria in December 1838. The Iron Duke was seen by his bemused guests to tiptoe the full length of his drawing room, a silk handkerchief held across his face, and steal up behind a figure in a plain blue coat topped by a untidy mane of grey hair who was lounging abstractedly by one of the fireplaces; there was a hush in the conversation as the sprightly old Duke pounced on the stranger, pinioned him round the shoulders and let forth a deafening cry of ‘View Halloo! I’ve got him, by damme; I’ve found you at last, Marshal Soult!’
The other guests burst into a cheer as the veteran French Marshal shook hands all round with his former foes; Hill, Kempt, Harry Smith, Stapleton Cotton, crowded round to pay their respects to the man who was, in Napier’s words, ‘the best loved Frenchman England ever fought.’
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