Arabs of the desert, the trains and carriages which separated. This contemptible cavalry, which only create noise, and are not capable of penetrating through a company of Voltigeurs, rendered themselves formidable by favour of circumstances. Nevertheless, the enemy had to repent of all the serious attempts which he wished to undertake; they were overthrown by the Viceroy, before whom they were placed, and lost many men.

"The Duke of Elchingen, with three thousand men, had blown up the ramparts of Smolensk, he was surrounded, and found himself in a critical position, but he extricated himself from it, with that intrepidity by which he is distinguished. After having kept the enemy at a distance from during the whole of the 18th, and continually repelled him, he made a movement at night towards the right, crossed the Boristhenes, and deceived all the calculations of the enemy. On the 19th, the army passed the Boristhenes at Circa, and the Russian army being fatigued, and having lost a great number of men, ceased from the attempts to annoy us.

"The army of Volhinia had inclined on the 16th upon Minsk, and marched to Borisow. General Dumbrowski_defended the bridge of Borisow with three thousand men. On the 23rd, he was forced to evacuate that position. The enemy then passed the Beresina, marching upon Bohr, the division of Lambert formed the advanced guard.

"The second corps, commanded by the Duke of Reggio which was at Tancherum, had received orders to march upon Borisow, to secure to the army the passage of the Beresina. On the 24th, the Duke of Reggio met the division of Lambert, four leagues from Borisow, attacked and defeated it, took two thousand prisoners, six pieces of cannon, five hundred baggage waggons of the army of Volhinia, and threw the enemy on the right bank of the Beresina.

"On the 26th, at break of day, the Emperor after having deceived the enemy by different movements made during the 25th, marched upon the village of Soudzeanea, and in spite of a division of the enemy, caused two bridges to be thrown over the River. The Duke of Reggio having passed, attacked the enemy and led him on fighting for two hours. The enemy retired upon the

tete-du-pont of Borisow. General Legrand was badly but not dangerously wounded.

"The Duke of Belluno, commanding the ninth corps, had received orders to follow the movements of the Duke of Reggio to form the rear guard, and keep in check the Russian army from the Divina, who followed him. Partonneaux's division formed the rear guard of his corps.

"On the 27th at noon, the Duke of Belluno arrived with two divisions at the bridge of Studzeanea, Partonneaux's division set out at night for Borisow. A brigade of this division, which formed the rear guard, and which was charged with burning the bridge, marched at seven in the evening, and arrived between ten and eleven o'clock it sought its first brigade and General, who had departed two hours before, and which it had not met with in its route. All researches were in vain, great uneasiness was excited. All we have since been able to learn is, that the first brigade set out at five o'clock, misled its way at six, went to the right instead of the left, and marched two or three leagues in this direction: that during the night, when benumbed with cold, it sallied at perceiving the enemy's fires, which it mistook for those of the French army. Thus surrounded it was taken. This cruel mistake must have caused us a loss of two thousand infantry, three hundred cavalry, and three pieces of artillery.

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All the army having passed, on the morning of the 28th, the Duke of Belluno guarded the tete-du-pont upon the left bank, the Duke of Reggio, and behind him all the army was upon the right bank. Borisow having been evacuated, the armies of the Divina and Volhinia communicated they planned an attack on the 28th, at the break of day. The Duke of Reggio caused the Emperor to be informed that he was attacked. Half an hour afterward, the Duke of Belluno was on the left bank. The Duke of Elchingsen immediately followed the Duke of Reggio, and the Duke of Treviso followed the Duke of Elchingsen; the battle became warm. The enemy wishing to turn our right, General Doumere ordered a change of cavalry at the moment when the legion of the Vistula was engaged in the woods to pierce the centre of the enemy. The Russians were defeated, and put to the route together with their cavalry, which came to the

assistance of their infantry. Six thousand prisoners, two standards, and six pieces of cannon, fell into our hands. On this side, the Duke of Belluno vigorously charged the enemy, defeated him, and took from five to six hundred prisoners, and did not suffer him to advance within reach of the cannon of the bridge. General Tournier made a fine charge of cavalry.

"In the battle of the Beresina, the army of Volhinia suffered much. The Duke of Reggio was wounded, but not dangerously. He received a ball in his side.

"The next day the 29th, we remained on the field of battle, we had to make our choice between two routes, that to Minsk, and that to Wilna. The road to Wilna led through a very fine country. The army being without cavalry, deficient in ammunition, and horribly fatigued, by fifty day's march, carrying in its train all the sick and wounded of so many battles; stood greatly in need of getting to its magazines."

On December 3rd, the French army reached Moloditichno, where all the wounded men, baggage, &c. were sent to Wilna. Napoleon having left the skeleton of his army in a state of the most horrible suffering, and nominated Murat to succeed him in command, set off for Europe travelling in a sledge, under the assumed name of Duke of Vizenza, by this pusillanimous artifice, he evaded pursuit: and while the remnant of his faithful, but abandoned army, were left perishing with cold and hunger, he arrived safe at Warsaw, where he remained a few hours on December 14th, he arrived at Dresden, and on the 18th of the same month he arrived in the capital of his dominions. Thus terminated with respect to Napoleon Bonaparte, his unprovoked, cruel, and absurd invasion of Russia, in which he wantonly sacrificed the lives of more of his soldiers, than in any former campaign: the Omnipotence marked the nefarious deed, and the retributive justice of Divine Providence failed not as the sequel will shew failed not to punish the offender.

CHAP. XXVII.

Operations of the Russian army. Buttle of Lutzen. Campaign in the Peninsula. Battle of Vittoria.

1813. THE flight of Bonaparte, and the miserable state army inspired the Russian with renovated vigour, and the Emperor Alexander now determined to retaliate upon his ungenerous adversary: and instead of a defensive, to make an offensive war. A circumstance at this time occurred, which was highly favorable to the Russian interest. Two large divisions of Prussians consisting of thirty thousand men, commanded by General D'Yorck, stationed at Tauroggen, capitulated to General de Decotsch the Russian General: this convention not only related to D'Yorck's own troops, but to those also of General Massenbuch, which were in the actual service of Macdonald, Duke of Tarentum, who was incapable of hindering the Prussians from quitting his army. Upon Frederick William being apprized of D'Yorck's conduct, he was proclaimed a traitor: and orders were given to meet him, and send him to Berlin for trial. The King of Prussia also refused to ratify the convention that had been entered into. The Russian army made considerable progress, it got possession of Elbing, Koningsberg, Marienberg, and Marienwarder; and Dantzick was also blockaded. The Russians advanced to Warsaw, from whence they marched to Posen, to attack the French troops collected there. An action ensued, in which the Russians were victorious, after which on February 20th, the Russian army entered the capital of the Prussian monarch, and from thence the victorious dispatched troops to occupy Hamburgh. Ferdinand William saw no alternative now, but to throw himself upon the mercy of the mighty Conqueror. Alexander, whose generosity and magnanimity was equal to his valor, the situation of a Prince whom he viewed as his ignoble captivity, and an alliance founded upon the principles of political integrity, honor, and friendship was made between the two sovereigns.

The Russians having crossed the Elbe, found the

French posted at Lunenberg, to the amount of three thousand five hundred men, under General Morand. A battle took place, in which the Russians were eminently victorious. The Russians being now joined by the Prussians, marched to Dresden the capital of Saxony, which opened the gates to the conquering army. Napoleon set out from Paris on April 15, for the purpose of putting himself at the head of his army at Magdeburg, the French recaptured Lunenburg, and marched into Hamburg, to counterbalance this temporary success of the French Spandau, and Thorn* surrendered to the allies.

Bonaparte on May 1st, had a slight engagement with the Russians, in which Marshal Bessieres was killed. This took place at Wessenfels, the French now advanced on the road to Lutzen. The Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia having consulted relative to the situation of the enemy's army, resolved upon giving battle to the French on the plain of Lutzen, where they were posted. The army of the allies crossed the River Elster, and took possession of the village of Tasteneou, and the bridges leading to Leipsic. Napoleon marched his army to the right bank of the Elser, and the allies took took the road to Kara, which village was taken and retaken several times. General Drouet now opened a heavy fire from a battery of eighty pieces of artillery on the allies, the Duke of Treviso having obtained possession of Kasa, pressed hard upon the Russians and Prussians, who now precipitately retreated, and were pursued by the enemy for near two leagues. In this battle, the loss of the French in killed and wounded, amounted to ten thou sand men and that of the allies was estimated at twenty thousand. The Prince of Hesse Homberg, and the Prince of Mecklenberg Sehlitz were killed, and the Prince Royal of Prussia wounded. Bonaparte marched into Dresden on May 8th. The King of Saxony, who had fled at the approach of the Allies to Prague, now returned to his capital, and hastened to pay his homage to his Imperial Master, to whom he made renewed protestations of attachment and affection. Having quitted

Thorn is a city of Western Prussia, and the chief city of Polish Prussia. In 1793, the Prussian troops took possession of Thorn, from which time it was annexed to the dominions of that kingdom. It is seated on the Vistula, and is 70 miles S. of Dantzick.