the custom of laying waste the country and setting fire to the villages they abandoned, and the French very soon had occasion to experience the truth of these observations. Napoleon having advanced beyond Sbridneva, the fourth corps, to join him, was obliged to cross an immense ravine, on the opposite side of which the Russians had established some batteries, after an obstinate engagement, which had taken place during the day. Some detachments having been sent to attack them, the Cossacks rushed from the wood, crying" hurra," a cry since become too celebrated. The fourth corps, however, having passed the ravine, effected their junction with the advanced guard of the grand army, commanded by the King of Naples. They distinguished him from afar by his white plume, as stationed at the head of his troops, animating them to the combat by his own example.

The Russians, though obliged to fall back with great loss, intending still to arrest the progress of the French, had devastated, in the most frightful manner, all the plain in which they were forced to encamp. The corn, though yet green, had been cut, the woods destroyed, and the villages burnt, so that they found no food for their horses, nor shelter for themselves. About the middle of the day Napoleon joined his advanced guard, and took his station on an eminence, whence he could easily command the whole camp of the enemy. After having long and attentively regarded their position, and carefully observed all the adjacent country, he began to hum some insignificant tune. He then conversed a moment with the Viceroy, and mounting his horse, he went to consult the Prince of Eckmuhl.

"The Russians had a redoubt towards the right extremity of our army, whose destructive fire carried consternation through the ranks. They had constructed it to fortify their left wing, which was the weakest part of their intrenched camp. Napoleon understood this, and saw the necessity of taking that redoubt. The *honour of the affair was confided to Compan's division (fourth division, first corps), and these gallant men advanced to the attack with an intrepidity, which ensured the success of the enterprise. In the meantime, Prince Poniatowski manœuvred on our right with his cavalry, to turn the enemy's position; and when he was at a proper distance, Compan's division attacked the redoubt, and succeeded in carrying it after an hour's fighting. The Russians completely routed, abandoned the neighbouring woods, and retreating in disorder towards the principal eminence, rejoined the centre of the army.

The division of Compans, in proving itself worthy of the brilliant enterprise with which it was intrusted, purchased that honour with considerable loss. The acquisition of this important position

cost

cost us the lives of 1,200 of our men, more than half of whom res mained dead in the intrenchments which they had so gloriously carried. As Napoleon was on the following morning reviewing the 61st regiment, which had suffered most, he asked the colonel what he had done with one of his battalions. SIRE,' replied be, it is in the redoubt.

"The possession of the redoubt did not in the least determine the success of the battle. Before the general engagement began, Napoleon wished to turn the left wing of the Russians. They had foreseen this manoeuvre, and had placed the whole of the corps of Tutsckkoff (the third) and the militia of Moscow in ambuscade behind the thick underwood which covered the extremity of their left; while the 2d, 4th, and 6th corps formed two lines of infantry in the rear, protected by the works which connected this grand redoubt with the wood. Our brave light troops recommenced the attack with redoubled vigour; and although the day was nearly closed, the fire on both sides continued with equal fury. At the same time, several villages on fire to the right spread around a frightful glare. The cries of the combatants, and the flames which were vomited from a thousand brazen mouths, and which carried every where desolation and death, completed the horror of the scene. Our corps, ranged in order of battle, received with intrepidity the fire of the enemy, and coolly closed the ranks, as soon as a cannon-ball had laid any of our comrades low.

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"In the meantime, the night becoming more obscure abated the fire without abating our ardour; and our soldiers, uncertain of their aim, reserved their strength and their ammunition for the morrow. Scarcely had we ceased firing, when the Russians, whose camp resembled a vast amphitheatre, lighted innumerable fires. The whole of their camp was one uninterrupted blaze of light, which, while it presented a grand and sublime appearance, formed a striking contrast with our bivouac, where the soldiers, unable to procure wood, reposed in utter darkness, and heard no Sound but the groans of the wounded." P. 128.

These affairs have led to the celebrated battle, to which the French have given the name of Moskwa, and the Russians of Borodino. They considered their position so strong that Prince Kutusoff thus wrote to the Emperor Alexander. "The position which I have chosen in the village of Borodino, is one of the best that can be found in a flat country. It is to be wished that the French would attack us in this position." The Frenchy attacked them, but the Russians were defeated. Towards the evening of the day, previous to the battle, Napoleon sent a proclamation to the chiefs of the corps, with orders not to read it till next day, should they come to an action. He was still afraid that the Russians would decline the battle, and would again act as they had done at Witepsk and Valontina.

"Here,

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"Here, however, our rapid marches, and the distance of our reserves, had equalized* the forces of the opposite parties, and the Russians were forced to come to action, if they would save Moscow, from which we were distant only 26 leagues. In addition to this, the fatigue of our soldiers, and the exhaustion of our horses, seemed to promise to the Russians an easy victory. On the other hand, we were well assured that we must either conquer or perish, and this idea inspired us with such courage, that in spite of the numbers of the Russian army, and their impregnable intrenchments, we regarded our entrance into Moscow as certain and near at hand.

"Although, worn out with fatigue, we felt the want of sleep, there were many among us so enamoured of glory, and so flushed with the hope of the morrow's success, that they were absolutely incapable of repose. As they passed the wakeful hours, and the silence and darkness of midnight stole upon them, while the fires of the sleeping soldiers, now almost extinct, threw their last rays of light over the heaps of arms piled around, they gave themselves up to profound meditation. They reflected on the wonderful events of our strange expedition; they mused on the result of a battle which was to decide the fate of two powerful empires; they compared the stillness of the night with the tumult of the morrow: they fancied that Death was now hovering over their crowded ranks, but total darkness prevented them from distinguishing who would be the unhappy victims. They then thought of their parents, their country; and the uncertainty whether they should ever see these beloved objects again, plunged them into the deepest melancholy. But suddenly, before day-break, the beat of the drum was heard, the officers cried to arms, the men eagerly rushed to their different stations, and all, in order for battle, awaited the signal for action. The colonels, placing themselves in the centre of their regiments, ordered the trumpet to sound, and every captain, surrounded by his company, read aloud the following proclamation:

"SOLDIERS,

"This is the battle so much desired by you! The victory depends on yourselves. It is now necessary to us. It will give us abundance of good winter-quarters, and a prompt return to our country! Behave as at Austerlitz, at Friedland, at Witepsk, at Smolensko, and let the latest posterity. recount with pride your conduct on this day; and let them say of you,' He was at the great battle under the walls of Moscow.'

"Every one was penetrated with the truths contained in these energetic words, and replied to them by reiterated acclamations. Some were animated by the love of glory, others flattered by the hope of reward, but all were convinced, that imperious necessity

"Each army consisted of 120, or 130,000 men."

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VOL. IV. SEPT. 1815,

compelled us to conquer or to die. To the sentiment of self-preservation, were added ideas of duty and of valour. Every heart was animated, every breast proudly swelled, and each flattered himself that this important day might place him in the rank of those privileged men, who were born to excite the envy of their cotemporaries, and the admiration of posterity.

"Such were the feelings of the army, when a radiant sun, bursting from the thickest fog, shone on many of us for the last time. It is reported, that at this sight, Napoleon exclaimed to those around him, Behold the sun of Austerlitz.'" P. 133.

·

The Russians having placed many batteries on the heights which they occupied, for some time caused a dreadful havoc amongst the French. But this position being carried, the guns, to whose destructive fire the French had been exposed during the attack, were turned against the enemy, and "the battle was lost to the Russians, when they imagined it had just begun."

"In this extremity," M. Labaume observes, "Prince Kutusoff saw that every thing was lost, yet determined to make one effort more, and to maintain the reputation which he had acquired by the service of half a century, he renewed the combat, and attacked with all his forces the strong positions which he had just lost. Three hundred pieces of cannon, now arranged on these heights, spread devastation and death among his ranks, and his disheartened soldiers perished at the feet of those ramparts which they had themselves raised, and which they regarded as the bulwark of Moscow, their venerable and sacred city." P. 137.

The Russian general having concentrated all his forces, attacked the centre of the French, but this movement, so admirably calculated to give him the victory, became useless by the loss of no less than two hours, during which the Russians, exposed to a fire of grape-shot, neither dared to advance nor were willing to recede. This uncertainty took victory from them.

"The Viceroy seized this decisive moment, and, flying to the right, ordered a simultaneous attack of the grand redoubt by the first, third, and fourteenth divisions. Having arranged all three in order of battle, the troops advanced with cool intrepidity. They approached the very intrenchments of the enemy, when a sudden discharge of grape-shot from the whole of the Russian artillery spread destruction and consternation through our ranks. Our troops were staggered at this fatal reception; but the Prince knew how to animate their courage by calling to the recollection of each regiment the circumstances in which it had formerly covered itself with glory. To one he said, Preserve that valour which has gained you the title of Invincible;' to another, 'Remember, your reputation depends on this day then, turning towards the

9th of the line, he said to them with emotion, Brave soldiers, remember you were with me at Wagram, when we broke the ene my's centre. By these words, and still more by his example, he so inflamed the ardour of his troops, that shouting with joy, they again marched with eagerness to the redoubt. His highness riding along the line, arranged the attack with the utmost coolness, and led it himself at the head of Broussier's division, while General Nansouty, at the head of the first division of the heavy cavalry of General Saint-Germain, vigorously charged the squadrons of the enemy which were at the right of the redoubt, and cleared the plain as far as a ruined village. The brigade of carabineers under the orders of Generals Paultre and Chouard, put to flight all that opposed it, and with the chasseurs of General Pajol covered themselves with glory.

"At this instant a division of cuirassiers, from the centre of the army rushed on the redoubt, and offered to our astonished sight a grand and sublime spectacle. The whole eminence which overhung us appeared in an instant a mass of moving iron: the glitter of the arms and the rays of the sun, reflected from the helmets and cuirasses of the dragoons, mingled with the flames of the cannon that on every side vomited forth death, gave to the redoubt the appearance of a volcano in the midst of the army.

"The enemy's infantry, placed near this point, behind a ravine, kept up so destructive a fire on our cuirassiers, that they were obliged immediately to retire. Our infantry took their place. They were supported by the third corps of cavalry commanded by Generals Chastel, Thiry, and Dommanget, who charged and overthrew every thing which it found in its way. The aides-decamp Carbonel, Turenne, and Grammont, were wounded at the side of Count Grouchy. The General himself was struck soon afterwards; but the redoubt was ours. In forcing the intrenchments, our troops made a horrible massacre of the Russians, whose efforts to retain the redoubt rivalled ours to carry it.

"In spite of the enemy's tremendous fire, the Viceroy and his staff remained at the head of Broussier's division, followed by the 13th and 30th regiments, and rushing on the redoubt, entered it by the breast-work, and massacred on their pieces the cannoneers that served them. Prince Kutusoff, astonished at this attack, immediately ordered the cuirassiers of the guard to advance and endeavour to retake the position. These were the best of their cavalry. The shock between their cuirassiers and ours was therefore terrible; and one may judge of the fury with which both parties fought, when the enemy, in quitting the field, left it completely

covered with dead." P. 140.

"The interior of the redoubt presented a horrid spectacle. The dead were heaped on one another. The feeble cries of the wounded were scarcely heard amid the surrounding tumult. Arms of every description were scattered over the field of battle.

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