If he had received private orders not to meddle with the conduct of the war, he disregarded them.

He assumed all the authority of a sovereign, showed himself ostentatiously to the troops as their supreme chief, and affected to treat Saint Ruth as a lieutenant.

Soon the interference of the Viceroy excited the vehement indignation of that powerful party in the army which had long hated him.

Many officers signed an instrument by which they declared that they did not consider him as entitled to their obedience in the field.

Some of them offered him gross personal insults.
He was told to his face that, if he persisted in remaining where he was not wanted, the ropes of his pavilion should be cut.