the Saxons and Austrians, beyond Warsaw. General Sachen*, who was at Ruzana, advanced against Regnier with the Saxons, and General Wasillchitkoff, who was at Grodno, against Schwartzenberg with the Austrians. Sachen, on the 25th of December, took possession of the town of Brescz Litow, and from thence proceeded along the Bug to Grannym. Wasiltchikoff, having been joined by four regiments of Don Cossacks, pursued Schwartzenberg along the course of the Narew, and the latter dividing his corps into three columns, gradually approximated to Warsaw, by the way of Ostrolenka and Pultusk.

The Prussians, in every direction, received the Russian troops in a friendly and open manner, and provided them willingly with provisions and their horses with forage, for which they gave them their receipts. In return for their good conduct, the most rigorous discipline and subordination were observed, to the great satisfaction of the inhabitants.

The retreat of the French armies through the kingdom of Prussia was, like that from Moscow, marked by the most savage ferocity and devastation; the abandonment of magazines, tumbrils, and other stores. Some idea may be formed of the misery of their retreat, by two returns which were intercepted of the 4th French Voltigeurs and 6th Tirailleurs. The former, when it left Smolensk, consisted of 32 officers and 427 privates, of whom there remained under arms on the 16th of December, only 10 officers and 29 privates. The latter, consisting of 31 officers and 300 privates, mustered, on the 31st of December, only 14 officers and 10 privates.

The Emperor of Russia moved, in the night of the 7th of January, from Wilna, to join the division which comprehends the guards, and the head-quarters of the whole army were at Merez, on the 10th of January; on the 13th of January they were at Ratschky, and the emperor crossed the Niemen near Moretz on that day, amid the acclamations of his brave troops, and continued to march with a division of his army, in a western direction, through Berjuiki, Krasnople, and Subalki, to Lique, where he established his head-quarters on the 19th. Generals Miloradovitch and Dokterofl't, with the troops which crossed the frontier at Grodno, moved in a

General Sachen commanded the centre at Pultusk and Eylau; commanded at Zechern, two miles in front of Heilsberg, and repulsed the French; as he did soon after in the neighbourhood of Wormdit.--Vide Sir Robert Wilson.

It was this gallant officer who reinforced Prince Gallitzin at the affair of Golymin, on the day of the battle of Pultusk, and enabled him to drive back the enemy from every point.

line parallel to that of the Emperor, on his left, whilst General Sachen's column was still farther to the left. There were also intermediate corps to keep up the communication between each of these columns. The Austrians remained upon the Bug, with a view to create a diversion in favour of the army retiring upon Dantzic, as long as their own line of retreat might remain open.

In the meantime Count Platow, with his gallant Cossacks *, continued to pursue the enemy to the suburbs of Dantzic, and surrounded that city with his troops to cut off all communication with it, where he was joined by detachments under Major-General Howaisky and Kachocosky.

The situation of Prussia was, at this period, exceedingly singular. The capital in the hands of a French garrison; the inhabitants looking eagerly for the arrival of the Russians, and flattering themselves that the King, with the troops he was collecting in Silesia, would declare against their oppressors the French. What were the real intentions of that sovereign, or whether he was yet decided how to act, it seemed difficult to discover. In the month of January, Berlin daily exhibited scenes of tumult and disorder; the populace having repeatedly risen against the French, whom they occasionally succeeded in confining to their barracks. Meanwhile a regency had been established in the name of the king, at Koningsberg, of which the ex-minister Stein, who had been an object of French persecution, was the president. This regency had issued a proclamation, calling on the loyal and patriotic inhabitants of Prussia to come forward and rescue their king and country from French

* The following account of the Cossacks is extracted from Prince Potemkin's memoirs.

"The Russian army was considerably encreased under Potemkin. He submitted to the empire a nursery of soldiers, who till then had been nominally its subjects, but of very little service. The Cossacks had formed a volunteer militia, governed by republican laws, which no one before him dared to attempt to alter, and which Potemkin abrogated.. He formed the Cossacks into regiments, and subjected them to the same recruiting laws and discipline as the other troops. He afterwards employed them in their true character at the outposts, but regulated their service according to the principles and tactics proper for this kind of warfare, to which they never had attended before. He showed by the effect which these changes produced with Cossacks, of what utility they might be to the Russian army. Potenkin esteemed them much, and was beloved by them. They almost adored Suwaroff, who, equally fond of them, taught them to serve with the greatest distinction. Having been but recently organized, the Cossacks are not what they may become. If the Russian government continues its attention to the improvement of those troops, it may convert the brave, intelligent, faithful, numerous, indefatigable, and warlike Cossacks into the principal instrument of its successes, and the terror of its enemies."

thraldom; nor was the call in vain., The young men were eagerly running to arms, and joining their brethren under the command of General D'York, who had been nominated, by the regency, Commander-in-Chief of the patriotic army.

By the declaration of Buonaparte in his exposé issued at this period, that fresh French troops were going to the Oder, "to set bounds to the system of Russian invasion;" it is to be observed that the Oder was now the acknowledged bound of the French hopes of defence, and the entrenched camp at Cunersdorf was declared to be the point of assemblage for a new grand army. Meanwhile Dantzic, Warsaw, Thorn, and indeed all the fortresses beyond the Oder, were left by the enemy to their fate. The former, as already mentioned, was closely invested, and all communication cut off, by the cordon which Platow had drawn round it; and St. Cŷr had in vain attempted to re-open the communication.

The advance of the Russians and their extraordinary rapid progress, with the wide extent of country over which they were spread at this period, from Mecklenberg to Silesia, seemed to prove that they must be supported by an almost universal insurrection; otherwise their conduct would have been inconsistent with the most obvious rules of prudence; and instead of the line of the Vistula, or the entrenched camp in front of the Oder, which Buonaparte had lately acknowledged as the bounds of the French hopes of defence, his expectations were confined to the army of observation of the Rhine. The military ardor of Russian troops, and their disinclination to retreat, has always been remarkable.

The head-quarters of the Russian army, which were on the 19th at Lique, had been moved by the 26th, nearly 120 miles, to Willenberg, in a direction rather inclining to the westward of the Warsaw road, by which means they had got into the rear of the Austrian position at Pultusk. Previously to this, General Miloradovich, supported by Winzingerode, Wassilchikoff, and Pahlen, had advanced as far as Prasnitz, the Austrians gradually retiring before him, and suc. cessively abandoning Smadovo, Novogrodek, and Ostrolenka, on the river Narew. Regnier now retired to Posen, from which place Davoust had marched to Stettin, on the side of Dantzic, Count Woronzow had advanced to Bromberg, and made himself master of the large magazines collected there by the enemy, to cover which, and to observe Thorn, General Tchichagoff approached the latter fortress. Count Rostopchin, the brave and virtuous governor of Moscow, was now appointed minister of the interior of Russia, and the Ex-Prussian Minister Stein, whose enmity to Buonaparte

had called forth a furious proclamation against him, was made a Russian cabinet minister; Kutusoff, Wittgenstein, and their brother generals, had the most distinguished honors heaped upon them, and every disposition was shown to reward exertions against the common enemy.

On the 7th of February, Major-General Count Woronzoff continued his march to Posen with his detachment, keeping open the communications on his right with Tschernischeff's detachment; and on his left, with the corps under Winzingerode ; whilst Admiral Tschichagoff's corps, invested the fortress of Thorn on all sides. General Miloradovitch's corps, on the 5th of February, crossed over to the left bank of the Vistula. Major-General Paskewitsch, with the 7th corps, took possession of Sakroczin, and pushed posts of Cossacks for observations as far as Modlin, under the very guns of which they made 30 prisoners. On the 6th of February, Gen. Miloradovitch, in order to induce the enemy to quit Warsaw, caused his troops to approach nearer to the place, and detached parties of cavalry, who surrounded a great part of it.

On the 4th of February, the enemy wishing to procure provisions from the villages about Dantzic, made a sally on the left wing, towards Brentau, but was immediately received by the Cossack regiment of Rebritow and the 1st Baschkir regiment, under the command of Major Latschkin, who, after having very much weakened the enemy and made some prisoners, notwithstanding his obstinate endeavours, obliged him to retreat. At the same time a strong column of infantry, with a number of cavalry, appeared on the Russian left flank, opposite the village of Nenkau, and at first drove in their advanced posts. A Cossack chief, named Meinikow, taking advantage of this movement, collected several detachments of Cossacks, rode round the enemy's wing, and falling unexpectedly upon his rear, threw him into total confusion; the consequence was, that the whole column was cut off from the city, and not a single man returned into the fortress: 600 men were cut down on the spot, and 200 privates and 73 officers were made prisoners. Gen. Tschernischeff, with his detachment, took possession of the villages of Schochau, Friedland, and Flatow. The victorious Russian troops were every where met by the inhabitants with joy, and acknowledged as their deliverers. Prince Schwartzenberg's corps was, by their motions, forced to retreat; and on the 8th of February, General Miloradovitch took possession of the city of Warsaw. On his arrival at the village of Wilanow, he was met by the deputies of the corporations of the nobility, merchants, and clergy, headed by

the prefect, sub-prefects, and mayors of the city, who presented to him bread, salt, and the keys of Warsaw.

On the 6th of February, in consequence of a disposition made by Count Wittgenstein, Major-General Count Sievres, commanding in Koningsberg, received orders to march against Pillau, with all the troops and artillery then in Koningsberg, and to which were added 2000 infantry and batteries of artillery from the army, and to summon the French garrison to surrender. In pursuance of these orders General Count. Van Sievres arrived, on the 6th of February, with those troops, about 6000 men strong, and a proportionable quantity of artillery, in the village of Old Pillau, within 2000 paces of the fortress:-the troops posted themselves partly in front of this village and partly on the heights situated at the right and left of it, and partly on the Nehrung point, at a proper range of shot, and the commanding General immediately sent the following summons, for the surrender of the citadel and the Nehrung fort, to the Commandant of the French garrison.

"GENERAL,

"You must be convinced that both the town and fortress of Pillau are surrounded by so very superior a force that all resistance on your side would not only be fruitless, but merely tend to encrease the effusion of blood, of which there has already been too much this war, and would unnecessarily expose the town to devastation.

"I therefore summon you, General, to evacuate the fortress, and to accept a capitulation for the Imperial French troops, which shall be made as favorable as the condition in which they are situated will allow.

"I beg you to receive the assurance of the most perfect respect, with which I have the honor to sign myself, General, your very obedient servant, COUNT VON SIEYERS, Commanding General of the Imperial Russian troops lying before Pillau.

"Head-quarters, Old Pillau, January 25, (6th Feb.)"

This proposal led to the happy conclusion of a convention, according whereto the Imperial French troops on the 8th of February, at eight o'clock in the morning, quitted the town and fortress, of Pillau, and the fort of Nehrung, which had been garrisoned by them ever since the month of May, 1812.

In conformity to the convention made with the garrison, the Imperial French General Castella was to march out with the troops under his command, with their arms, ammunition, and baggage, and to retire with the same to the left bank of the Rhine, where they were to be released from all obligations. Such Imperial Russian subjects as might possibly be found among the garrison of