They determined to give it a new general; and Buonaparte was appointed to the splendid command.

It is acknowledged, in one of Josephine's letters, that the First Director had promised to procure it for him before their marriage took place.
"Advance this man," said Barras to his colleagues, "or he will advance himself without you." Buonaparte quitted his wife ten days after their marriage; paid a short visit to his mother at Marseilles; and arrived, after a rapid journey, at the headquarters at Nice.

From that moment opened the most brilliant scene of his existence; yet, during the months of victory and glory that composed it, his letters, full of love and home-sickness, attest the reluctance with which he had so soon abandoned his bride.
[Footnote 6: De Bourienne.] [Footnote 7: According to some, the last clause ran "die in an hospital," and this was in the sequel interpreted to mean Malmaison--a palace which (like our own St.James's) had once been an hospital.].