trod between them, and falling, in this situation, inevitably broke their legs. If, to avoid these difficulties, we turned to the right or to the left, we were in danger of sinking into morasses from which there was no possibility of escape.

During their march the French saw nothing of the Russians, who, with little or no resistance, sometimes retreated and sometimes fled at the first attack of the enemy, always destroying whatever they left behind, and without sparing houses, villages, and towns; and it was not before the 25th of July that Napoleon succeeded to bring them to an action, but not without a ruse de guerre. Having called their attention to a false point, he, at the head of the Bavarians, overtook them near Ostrowno, where a vigorous engagement commenced, and the Russians were defeated, leaving behind them a vast number of dead, with twenty pieces of cannon.

When the French approached the Dwina the Russians seemed inclined to dispute with them the passage of this river; and whilst they were endeavouring to construct a bridge, the Bavarians, through a ford, effected their passage, and in sight of the whole French army, attacked the enemy. The Russians fled, and at this moment Napoleon arrived; he proceeded immediately to that part where they were erecting the bridge, and "in a dry and sarcastic manner he blamed its construction," which, our author observes, "was certainly very defective;" and having joined the Bavarians, he went with them in search of the Russians. This brought on the affair of Witepsk, where the Russians, though they fought most desperately, were equally beaten; and on account of deep ravines and impenetrable thickets, their detachments had time to rejoin the corps from which they had been detached.

"The success of the combat was certain; but we dared not venture to cross the extensive forest before us, on the other side of which were the hills of Witepsk, where we knew the whole Russian forces were encamped. While we were deliberating on the means of effecting that important passage, we heard a great tumult behind us. No one could guess the cause, and uneasiness was added to our curiosity; but when we perceived Napoleon surrounded by a brilliant suite, our fears were dissipated; and the enthusiasm which his presence always excited, made us hope that he would add to the glory of that eventful day. The King of Naples and the Prince hastened to meet him, and informed him of the event of the engagement, and the measures which they had since adopted. But Napoleon, desirous to become more intimately acquainted with every circumstance, quickly proceeded to the most advanced posts of our line, and ascending an eminence, attentively viewed the position of the enemy, and the nature of the ground.

His eye penetrated into the Russian camp. He guessed their plans, and immediately ordered new dispositions, which being executed with precision and rapidity, the army was soon in the middle of the forest. We followed at a quick pace, and reached the hills of Witepsk as the day began to close." P. 68.

Another engagement, with the same success, took place at Veliz, and the Count de Tolly was obliged, in the night, to evacuate again his position.

"The cavalry had been ordered to continue their march, and we soon heard that they had overtaken the Russian army. The rest of the troops immediately followed, and speedily came in sight of and overtook the enemy. The cossacks, who formed the rear-guard, retreated on the advance of our artillery, and only halted to fire a few cannon-shot, whenever they found a favourable opportunity. They continued manoeuvring till they were beyond Aghaponovchtchina, where our corps and the cavalry were encamped. Near this village, on an eminence towards the left, was a wretched chateau built of wood, where the Emperor (who, being informed that we had overtaken the Russians, immediately left Witepsk to join us) established his quarters.

"Never did a bivouac present a more military appearance than ours at Aghaponovchtchina. Napoleon, the King of Naples, and the Prince were in one tent. The generals, placed in miserable huts which their soldiers had hastily constructed, were encamped with their officers by the side of a rivulet, the miry water of which was preserved with the greatest care. During the three days that we had been on the field of battle, water and roots had constituted our only nourishment. But victory inspired us with spirits and with strength, and rendered us insensible to every privation. Our divisions were encamped on the eminences which surrounded the chateau, and the enemy could see our numerous fires, the brilliant light of which dissipated the obscurity of the night." P. 76.

In all these affairs the loss of the Russians was immense; the Duke of Reggio alone having obtained over the Prince Wittgenstein a victory, near Drissa, where he lost three thousand men, and fourteen pieces of cannon. "Pursuing the scattered troops, on the road to Sebei," observes M. Labaume, "we counted two thousand dead."

This was but a prelude to the battle of Smolensko, where the Russians maintained themselves with the greatest obstinacy, as Alexander, when he quitted the army, had recommended them to give battle in order to save Smolensko. This town is surrounded by an ancient wall, with battlements of eight thousand yards in circumference, ten feet thick, and twenty-five high, and at certain distances is flanked with enormous towers,

in the form of bastions, the greater part of which were mounted with heavy pieces of cannon. The garrison consisted of thirty thousand men, and the rest of the army was in reserve on the right bank of the river, communicating by means of bridges constructed below the town. Napoleon having made the Russians believe that he should attack the town by the right bank of the Borysthenes, drew the attention of the enemy to that point, while, by an unexpected manoeuvre, he caused on a sudden the whole army to pass to the opposite side. After three days fighting, Davoust having taken possession of the covered-way, and Ney having forced the intrenchment of the Russians, General de Tolly, fearing an assault, reinforced the town with two new divisions, and two more regiments of infantry of the guard. The battle continued the whole of the night, but soon after the evening had commenced thick columns of smoke were seen to rise from different quarters, "and the Russians having set fire to the town abandoned its ruins at one o'clock in the morning." At two the French grenadiers mounted the breach, and to their great surprise found the place evacuated, and every street and every square covered with the bodies of the Russian dead or dying.

"The next day (Aug. 19) we entered Smolensko by the suburb that is built along the bank of the river. In every direction we marched over scattered ruins and dead bodies. Palaces yet burning offered to our sight only walls half destroyed by the flames, and, thick among the fragments were the blackened carcasses of the wretched inhabitants whom the fire had consumed. The few houses that remained were completely filled by the soldiery, while at the door stood the miserable proprietor without an asylum, deploring the death of his children, and the loss of his fortune. The churches alone afforded some consolation to the unhappy victims who had no other shelter. The cathedral, celebrated through Eu rope, and held in great veneration by the Russians, became the refuge of the unfortunate beings who had escaped the flames. In this church and round its altars, were seen whole families extended on the ground. In one place was an old man just expiring, and casting a look on the image of the saint whom he had all his life invoked; in another an infant whose feeble cries the mother, worn down with grief, was endeavouring to hush: and while she pre sented it with the breast, her tears dropped fast upon it.

"In the midst of this desolation the passage of an army into the interior of the town formed a striking contrast. On one side was seen the abject submission of the conquered-on the other the pride attendant upon victory; the former had lost their allthe latter, rich with spoil, and ignorant of defeat, marched proudly on to the sound of warlike music, inspiring the unhappy

remains

remains of a vanquished population with mingled fear and admiration." P. 98.

This defeat appears to have panic-struck the Russians, they retreated faster than the cavalry, under the King of Naples, could pursue them, and such was their dismay that in their retreat they overlooked or neglected the important position of Porietsch near the post-road to Petersburgh, in which, had they made a stand, they would have considerably retarded the march of the French, cut off the principal road to Moscow, and obliged the French to relinquish the possession of the town, which this position completely commanded. These advantages, which the centre of the army had obtained, soon spread through the whole line of their operations. General St. Cyr gained some fresh and important victories on the Prince of Wittgenstein: Ney and Murat, for two days, forced Tolly from his positions, and at last made him fly towards Moscow, leaving the ground covered with dead. This happened near Valontina, on a very strong position, which the Russians regarded as impregnable, from the defeats which the Poles had uniformly sustained in this place in their ancient wars. Thence the Russians having connected the idea of superstition with this plain, had given it the title of sacred fields. This victory was of the utmost consequence to the French. It enabled them more effectually to annoy the Russians in their retreat, and to obtain possession of all their baggage and waggons with the wounded from Smolensko, the evacuation of which had been protected by the rear-guard; so that Napoleon distributed rewards on the field of battle to the regiments which had distinguished themselves.

Here M. Labaume makes some very sensible reflections on the situation of the French, and on the plan which Napoleon ought to have pursued:

It had hitherto been believed, that Napoleon, desirous only. to re-establish the kingdom of Poland, would terminate his conquests by the capture of the two towns of Witepsk and Smolensko, which by their position completely defended the narrow passage. comprised between the Dnieper and the Dwina. Every one cонsidered these towns as our destined winter-quarters, and if instead of madly pushing forward he had closed this campaign with the capture of Riga, the fortifying of Witepsk and Smolensko, and, more particularly, the organization of Poland, the whole of which he had now conquered, Napoleon would doubtless in the following spring have compelled the Russians either to subscribe to his conditions, or to run the risk of the almost certain destruction both of Moscow and of Petersburgh, since the French army was then at an equal distance from each of these cities. But instead of adopting so wise a plan, this warrior, recollecting the fortunate

issue of his late campaigns, in which he had always dictated peace in the very palace of the sovereigns whom he had conquered, was dazzled by the eclat of his former treaties. The remembrance of his former glory so infatuated him, that he disdained the counsels of prudence, and at a distance of six hundred leagues from France, with worn-out horses, and destitute of provisions, magazines, or hospitals, ventured upon the desert road of Moscow. a last proof of his imprudence, he left in his rear a Russian army cantoned in Moldavia, and which was ready to march against us on the ratification of the treaty of peace which had already been concluded with the Porte." P. 107.

As

These reflections are just, and the plan which he recommends was undoubtedly the safest, although we do not think that the mere marching to Moscow could have produced any real detriment to the affairs of Napoleon, especially as he had left Prince Schwartzenberg, at the head of thirty thousand Austrians, to oppose this army of Wolhynia. For this reason, however, hazardous as the march to Moscow may appear at the first sight, it could not by itself produce the consequences which afterwards befel the French. Other circumstances were necessary to bring about this desired effect; and to them we shall call the attention of our readers at the proper time.

About this time General Kutusoff, the renowned conqueror of the Ottoman power, arrived from the banks of the Danube to take the command of the Russian army.

"This general, who was regarded by the Moscovites as the hope of their country, arrived at Czarévo-Saïmiche (29th August). The officers and soldiers hailed as their chief this venerable warrior, already celebrated in the annals of Russia; and the inhabitants of Ghiat informed us that the sight of him had inspired the whole army with hope and joy. In fact, he had scarcely arrived, when he announced that the Russian army would retreat no further. That he might better defend Moscow, within four days' march of which we were now arrived, he chose a strong position between Ghiat and Majaïsk, where he could advantageously await one of those decisive battles which often de termine the fate of empires. Each party was sanguine in its expectation of victory. The Muscovites contended for their country, their homes and their children. Our soldiers, accustomed to conquer, and filled with those grand and heroic ideas which continued success naturally inspires, eagerly demanded the fight; and such is the superiority which courage gives over mere numbers, that on the eve of the battle we busily calculated the fruits of our approaching victory." P.129.

From this time the Russians began to act with greater spirit, and practise every ruse de guerre, by which they might discover the manoeuvres of the French, without, however, desisting from

the