You know, we French stormed Ratisbon:
A mile or so away
On a little mound, Napoleon
Stood on our storming-day;
This introduces the setting, pace, and tone of the poem. The speaker is a Frenchman, given by “we French”. This is iambic tetrameter, which creates a conversational tone as if the speaker were telling a story or having a conversation. 
 In the lines given for explanation, the poet is describing the scene of the French attack on the German city of Ratisbon. Marshal Lannes led the French aggression in the year 1783. On that occasion, the French emperor Napoleon stood on a hillock just a mile away from the scene of the onslaught. He appeared to be in a pensive mood. He had his neck sticking out and his legs were wide apart. He had his arms joined behind his bark and a cloud on his brow was quite visible. It seemed that something very important was weighing upon his mind and he was perhaps working out his future strategy and line of action.
Incident of The French Camp