Worlds Best Histories France Vol 7 by M. Guizot and Madame Guizot De Witt

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"Soldiers! The second Polish war is begun. The first finished at Friedland
and Tilsit! At Tilsit Russia swore an eternal alliance with France, and
war with England. To-day she is violating her oaths. She will give no
explanation of her strange conduct unless the French eagles recross the
Rhine, thus leaving our allies to her discretion. Russia is drawn on by
fate; her destiny must be accomplished. Why does she think we are
degenerated? Are we no longer the soldiers of Austerlitz? She places us
between dishonor and war. Our choice cannot be doubtful! Let us march
forward; let us pass the Niemen; let us carry war into her territory. The
second Polish war will be glorious to French arms; but the peace which we
shall conclude will bring with it its guarantee; it will bring to a close
the fatal influence which for fifty years Russia has exercised upon the
affairs of Europe."

The river was there, rolling at Napoleon's feet, like a natural and
majestic barrier, fulfilling its function of holding him back from ruin;
the enormous mass of his army surrounded him; on the opposite bank reigned
silence and solitude. Several sappers who had crossed in a small boat,
having landed, a Cossack came up to them, in charge of a patrol, who
followed him at a short distance. "Who are you? and what do you want
here?" he asked. "We are Frenchmen, and we are come to make war upon you,"
replied one of the sappers. The Cossack turned his horse round, and
disappeared in the forest, unhurt by the bullets which they fired after
him. They were there to throw a bridge across.

On the morning of the 25th, Napoleon himself crossed the river on
horseback, galloping as if he wished to find the enemy, still absent and
invisible. The light cavalry had already taken possession of Kowno. The
emperor wishing bridges to be thrown over the Vilia, ordered a squadron of
Polish lancers to cross the river, in order to sound the depth, and a
large number of the unfortunate men perished in the attempt. When they
felt themselves carried away by the current, they turned round to shout
"Long live the emperor!" Meanwhile the army was still defiling across the
Niemen, and it was only on the 30th June that it had entirely reached the
left bank.

After a violent discussion among the Czar's advisers, Alexander decided to
evacuate Wilna, the minister of police being appointed for the last time
to carry a conciliatory message to Napoleon. A detachment of cavalry
disputed for a moment with the French the gates of the capital of
Lithuania, the passage being forced by Murat. On the 28th June, about mid-
day, Napoleon made his entry into Wilna, annoyed at not meeting the enemy,
whom he would have liked to fight, overcome, and crush on the first day.
The Lithuanians received him eagerly, as in expectation of freedom. The
same day the Diet assembled at Warsaw proclaimed the re-establishment of
the kingdom of Poland, and several members of the Senate hastened to
Wilna, to announce officially to Napoleon the resurrection of their
country. "The Poles have never been subjected by either peace or war,"
said they, "but by treason! They are therefore free _de jure_ before God
as well as before men, and to-day they can be so _de facto;_ and their
right becomes a duty. We demand the independence of our Lithuanian
brothers, and their union to the centre of all the Polish family. It is
from Napoleon the Great that we ask this word, 'The Kingdom of Poland
exists!' It will then exist if all the Poles devote themselves ardently to
the orders of the chief of the fourth French race, before whom the ages
are but a moment, and space an infinitesimal point."

Napoleon did not believe in the restoration of Poland, and was resolved
not to create beforehand an insurmountable obstacle to peace by forming
engagements with the Poles. He received the deputies of the Diet coldly,
and did not yield to their desire of seeing Lithuania at once joined to
Poland. A special government had just been organized, which seemed to be
entrusted to the great Lithuanian lords, but was practically administered
by young "auditors" of the Council of State. Distrust had already secretly
begun, and mutual recriminations; the Lithuanians dreaded the vengeance of
Russia, not being certain of having permanently got rid of her government;
robbery was scandalously common; the weather was bad, and many soldiers
were ill. Everywhere throughout the province, corn, cattle, and forage
were requisitioned for the army, and a dearth threatened Lithuania as soon
as the French entered upon their soil. Half of the carriages, a third of
the horse, and a fourth of those in charge of the transports, had already
perished on the roads from the Elbe to Wilna. Napoleon had ordered a levy
of four regiments of infantry in Lithuania, and five regiments of cavalry;
but the money and military outfits were both wanting. It was necessary to
organize some columns of militia, to pursue those who pillaged, and
protect the peaceful inhabitants. Our soldiers were ordered to look after
the burial of the dead. From the reports of chiefs of divisions the
emperor was fully informed of some of the wretched consequences. The Duke
of Trevisa wrote:--"From the Niemen to the Vilia I saw nothing but houses
in ruins, wagons and carriages abandoned; we found them scattered on the
roads and in the fields; some upset, others open, with their contents
strewed here and there, and pillaged, as if they had been taken by the
enemy. I thought I was following a routed army. Ten thousand horses were
killed by the cold stormy rains and the green rye, which is their only
food, and new to them. They lie on the roads and encumber them; their
bodies exhale a poisonous smell--a new plague, which some compare to
famine, though the latter is much more terrible. Several soldiers of the
young guard have already died of hunger."

The necessity for a speedy victory was being already felt. The Russian
army had been cut in two by the rapid march of the French, Prince
Bagration being isolated on the Dnieper, where Marshal Davout was already
hemming him in, and soon after gained an important victory, at Mohilew,
23rd July, 1812. The Czar, with General Barclay de Tolly, had fixed
himself in the intrenched camp at Drissa before the Dwina; and it was upon
this principal division that Napoleon directed his march when he left
Wilna, on the evening of the 16th July. Murat commanded the advanced
guard, followed first by Ney, and then by Oudinot; Prince Eugene, who
advanced towards the right, was to join Marshal Davout. The forces of King
Jerome and Prince Poniatowski remained in the rear. Desertion and fatigue
were already decimating the soldiers. The King of Westphalia, placed under
Marshal Davout's orders, had with difficulty accepted that secondary
position. Difficulties having arisen, the prince returned towards Germany,
and thus lessened the marshal's success at Mohilew.

Before leaving Wilna the emperor had dismissed, without satisfying him,
Balachoff, the bearer of the Czar's last offers. Napoleon repeated his
former complaints, going back bitterly to the happy future which was
unrolled before Russia when her emperor walked in harmony with France.
"What an admirable reign he might have had, if he had liked!" repeated
Napoleon; "all that was necessary was to keep on good terms with me. I
gave him Finland, and promised him Moldavia and Wallachia, which he was
about to obtain, when all at once he allowed himself to be surrounded by
my enemies, and turned against me the arms he ought to have reserved for
the Turks; and now his gain will be having neither Wallachia nor Moldavia.
And now, what is your object in coming here? What are the Emperor
Alexander's intentions? He is only general on parade: whom will he put
against me? Kutusof, whom he does not like, because he is too Russian?
Benningsen, who is old and only recalls to him frightful memories?
Barclay, who can manoeuvre, who is brave, who knows war, but who is a
superannuated general? Bagration is the best soldier; he has no
imagination; but he has experience, quickness of vision, and decision; he
cannot prevent my throwing you beyond the Dnieper and Dwina. These are the
results of your rupture with me. When I think of the reign which your
master might have had!" Napoleon summed up by a demand to occupy
Lithuania, Russia to undertake to resume permanently her alliance against
England. Balachoff set out again, assuring Napoleon that if the sentiment
of religious patriotism had disappeared throughout Europe, it still
remained in Spain and Russia. The bitterness of the discussion envenomed
several wounds already deep enough. When Balachoff rejoined the Czar in
order to give account of his mission, Alexander was no longer at Drissa.
Waiting in an entrenched camp tired and humiliated the Russians. The plan
of campaign was the work of Pfuhl, a German general, high in the emperor's
favor; but the feeling of the whole army was expressed so emphatically
against the tactics at first adopted, that the Czar agreed to quit head-
quarters, and fall back with his staff upon Moscow. There, they assured
him, the mere fact of his presence was enough to animate the national
enthusiasm of the old Russians, and stir up the whole country against the
invader. General Barclay, henceforward free in his movements, began on the
10th July to march up the Dwina as far as Vitebsk, hoping to be joined by
Bagration opposite Smolensk. Our road to Moscow was thus intercepted; and
Count Wittgenstein, with 25,000 or 30,000 men, was to cover St. Petersburg
between Polotsk and Riga. Marshal Macdonald, at the head of the left wing
of the French army, threatened the coasts of the Baltic.

Napoleon guessed this movement of the Russian general, and determined to
push forward, prevent the junction of the two armies of the enemy, attack
them by suddenly crossing the Dwina, and thus render impossible the
continuous retreat of the Russians, who were now drawing him in their
pursuit into the interior of the empire, without giving him an opportunity
of striking the blow which was to be their destruction. He therefore left
Gloubokoe on the 23rd July, advancing upon Vitebsk; and two brilliant
engagements of the advance-guard, by Murat and Ney, on the 25th and 26th,
redoubled the ardor of our troops. On reaching Vitebsk after another
engagement, the Russian army was seen, drawn up in order of battle, beyond
a small tributary of the Dwina. Napoleon urged forward the march of all
his forces. The Russian forces seemed to count about 90,000 or 100,000
men. The French army was reduced by illness, by the desertion of some
Poles and Germans, and by the death of young recruits who could not endure
the heat, fatigue, and bad food. The body accompanying the emperor,
however, still amounted to 125,000 men, excellent troops. Napoleon felt
certain of success.

Barclay de Tolly was of the same opinion. At first he had resolved to give
battle, in order to keep the roads open for Prince Bagration, with whom he
had made an appointment to meet at Babinowiczi; but the news of the check
received by the Russian army at Mohilew convinced him that their junction
must now be delayed, and that his colleague felt himself compelled to look
forward to a long movement before succeeding in passing the Dnieper. A
battle was no longer necessary, and, on the night of the 27th, Barclay
raised his camp, to advance upon Poreczie, behind the Kasplia. Thus the
St. Petersburg and Moscow roads were covered by the Russian army, and the
two main divisions might look forward to a junction in the neighborhood of
Smolensk.

Napoleon was excessively annoyed on learning of the enemy's retreat, and
in spite of the overpowering heat ordered immediate pursuit. Count Pahlen,
however, at the head of the Russian cavalry, protected their main body,
while at the same time retiring before us. After a day's work as fatiguing
for the troops as a long engagement, Napoleon returned to Vitebsk, where
he encamped several days, in order to rest his soldiers, and rebuild the
store-houses, everywhere overthrown by the Russians, who also destroyed
the crops and every kind of forage. Up to this point, in spite of his able
combinations, the plan of campaign decided upon by Napoleon at Wilna was a
complete failure; and by the persistent retreat of the Russians, the
circle of his operations had to be constantly increased. The immense space
spread out before us, solitary and vacant; and for the future it was
impossible to prevent the junction of the enemy's forces. On our side
Marshal Davout had just joined the great army; and the emperor took
advantage of this combination of the greater part of our forces to inspect
his troops. In every regiment, except the old guard, the leaders were
struck with consternation at the results ascertained by the roll-call.

It is a good thing to know the cost of enterprises begun in folly and
pursued through excessive difficulties, whatever may have been the
superior genius, the consummate foresight and experience, of the general.
Ney counted 36,000 men as they crossed the Niemen, but only 22,000 were in
line at Vitebsk. The King of Naples had lost 7000 men out of 28,000. The
young guard had seen 10,000 men disappear out of 28,000. Prince Eugene
reckoned 45,000 on the banks of the Dwina, and entered Kowno with 40,000.
Even Davout, the most skilful in drilling and managing his soldiers, saw
his 72,000 men diminished by 20,000. In King Jerome's division, 22,000
were wanting, the number formerly being nearly 100,000 men. The emperor
still had at his disposition 255,000 soldiers; but Macdonald on the
Baltic, and Oudinot at Polotsk, ought still to have 60,000, and General
Reynier remained on the Dnieper with a body of 20,000 soldiers. Napoleon
already spoke of calling Marshal Victor, with his 30,000 men of reserve,
cantoned between the Niemen and the Rhine. Thirty thousand Austrians
advanced towards Minsk under the orders of Prince Schwartzenberg. The
emperor sent orders to Paris to despatch all his guard still left in the
depots. He rejected the idea of an establishment on the Dnieper and Dwina
being a sufficient result of the campaign. Better than all his lieutenants
he at last foresaw the dangers and difficulties of the work which he had
undertaken, which he still wished, but which he was anxious to finish in a
brilliant manner. Europe was waiting for the news of a victory. Napoleon
had reached the centre of the Russian empire, but without a battle. The
prestige of his glory and his power demanded a decisive blow; and the
emperor prepared for it at Vitebsk.

Marshal Macdonald, however, had taken possession of Courland, after one
battle before Mittau. The Russians everywhere retreated before him,
evacuating even the stronghold of Dunaburg. The marshal laid siege to
Riga, but his forces were insufficient to guard this vast territory, and
he in vain asked for reinforcements. Everywhere the men succumbed under
the extent of the task imposed upon them. Marshal Oudinot, who formerly
supported Macdonald at Polotsk, had crossed the Dwina, and was advancing,
by the emperor's orders, against Count Wittgenstein. After a brilliant
engagement at Jakoubowo on the 20th July, he found it prudent to retreat
upon the Drissa. On the 1st August there was another successful battle,
but the troops were tired, and had lost many men; the enemy were
threatening. Oudinot returned to Polotsk, requiring rest and more
soldiers, like Macdonald. The marshal did not succeed in demolishing the
entrenched camp at Drissa, as he had been instructed to do.

On the south-east, in the upper part of the course of the Bug, General
Reynier found himself at last obliged to retreat, in order to protect the
grand duchy of Warsaw, and invade Volhynia. This expedition was at first
intended for the Austrians, but the will of the Emperor Francis, as well
as that of Napoleon, called them to head-quarters; and Reynier's forces
were to replace them in the posts which they held.

Nevertheless, the Russian General Tormazoff threatened the grand duchy,
after taking possession of Kobrin, which was badly defended by the Saxons.
The Diet of Warsaw took alarm. A large number of wealthy Poles collected
their most valuable property, and crossed to the left bank of the Vistula.
They asked assistance from the Abbe Pradt, who was as disturbed as the
Poles. He wrote to Wilna, where Bassano was installed as the emperor's
representative, and at the same time addressed himself to General Reynier.
The latter having called Prince Swartzenberg to his assistance, they both
advanced upon the Bug, thus protecting the grand duchy, without being able
to rejoin the grand army or support the general movement. Admiral
Tchitchakoff had just signed the peace with the Turks, and was expected to
come to Tormazoff's assistance.

Following Marshal Davout's advice, after mature consideration the emperor
resolved at Vitebsk to advance with his main body from the banks of the
Dwina upon those of the Dnieper, cross the latter at Rassasna, and ascend
quickly to Smolensk. He reckoned upon finding the town without defence,
and then by a sudden movement taking the Russian in flank, and so at last
inflicting upon his enemies a great military disaster. The movements of
the French army were to be concealed from the enemy behind the forests
abounding everywhere. It was important to conceal our march from the
Russians, who were about to form their junction at Smolensk.

The Emperor Napoleon was not alone in his enthusiastic ardor for battle.
Prince Bagration was, like him, fervently wishing for the moment of
conflict. The soldiers of high rank who were of Russian birth and manners,
were greatly vexed and prejudiced against Barclay de Tolly, and his
prudent tactics, every day accusing him of cowardice, and suspecting his
patriotism. Born of a Scottish family which had long been settled in
Russia, Barclay was ardently devoted to his adopted country, and could
scarcely endure their unjust reproaches. The passion of the Russian
generals at last gained the day, and the council of war resolved to take
the offensive against the French cantonments. The projected march of our
armies was unknown to the enemy when, on the 9th August, their vanguard
made an attack upon General Sebastiani, who was badly defended. He at once
called General Montbrun, and they both charged the Russian squadrons forty
times in the course of the day, and then fell back upon Marshal Ney's
forces. The Russians observed the solidity of our lines, saw the large
force under Prince Eugene, and believed there were indications of a march
towards St. Petersburg. Barclay took advantage of the uneasiness which he
saw around him, and fell back upon Smolensk. The Emperor Napoleon now
commenced the march.

On the morning of the 14th August, the whole army had crossed the Dnieper.
With 175,000 men under the flags, an immense artillery, wagons and
innumerable troops, the vast solitude of the ancient Borysthenes was
suddenly transformed into a camp. The march continued towards Smolensk:
before Krasnoe, after a rather keen fight, General Neveroffskoi was driven
back to the town of Korytnia. Nearly all the corps had rejoined the
emperor when, on the 16th August, the advance guard debouched before
Smolensk. At a single glance of the eye, the generals were convinced that
the town was in a state of defence. A useless attempt was made to take the
citadel by storm; Ney, who had imprudently advanced, fell into an ambush,
and was only with difficulty rescued by his light cavalry. The Russians
were already seen occupying the heights on the right bank of the Dnieper,
in the suburbs, and above the new town. Barclay had taken up his position
there, and a large force occupied the old town on the left bank, both
parts of the town being connected by a bridge. Prince Bagration had
advanced beyond Smolensk, to protect the banks of the Dnieper, and prevent
Napoleon, on crossing the river, from attacking the town and its defenders
from behind.

Though the taking of Smolensk formed no part of his original plan,
Napoleon was obliged to make the attack. The possession of that ancient
and venerable town had great importance in the eyes of Russians.
Nevertheless the emperor had the river sounded some distance off, hoping
to find a ford which would allow of a surprise. It was impossible to throw
over bridges, on account of the nearness of Prince Bagration, whose troops
lay on the banks of the Kolodnia, a tributary of the Dnieper; and, so far
as these observations were taken, the river was not fordable. Napoleon
waited for a day, hoping that Barclay would leave the heights of the new
town to offer him battle; and, on the Russian making no movement, the
assault was ordered.

The fighting was continued a whole day on the 17th. The suburbs of the old
town were in our hands, but the old enclosure, with its irregular brick
towers, still resisted our attack. The Russians no longer made sallies,
but defended themselves heroically behind the walls. Most of the emperor's
lieutenants had been opposed to the siege, and Murat, it is said, wished
to be killed. He went to a part which was incessantly battered by the guns
from the ramparts, and said to his aides-de-camp, "Leave me alone here."
Napoleon gave orders to cease the assault. Marshal Davout sent a party to
reconnoitre, General Haxo braving a storm of fire to discover the weak
point of the enclosure: and the attack was to begin again next morning at
daybreak. "I must have Smolensk," said the emperor.

The Russians had already seen Napoleon's obstinacy, and felt that they
could no longer repulse the efforts of our arms. The bombshells had
already set fire to several parts, and during the night the whole of the
town was in flames, kindled by the Russians. Their battalions were
withdrawn, and the old town gradually evacuated. Barclay de Tolly prepared
to follow their example. At sunrise Davout entered without difficulty into
Smolensk in flames. The women and children, collected in the ancient
Byzantine cathedral, seemed the mere remnant of a wretched population.
Many men had fled; and the bridge, which joined both banks, being cut, the
Russian army had started before us on the road to Moscow, without any
possibility of our at once pursuing them. Napoleon passed on horseback
through the smoking and blood-stained streets. Surgeon Larrey, faithful to
the sentiments of humanity which always distinguished him, had the Russian
wounded collected as well as the French.

The emperor looked gloomy and discontented. Though victorious, the army
was depressed: the first town taken by assault, burnt before them by the
determined hatred of its defenders, seemed to the soldiers a sinister
omen. They were all tired of a war which imposed upon them unheard-of
efforts without any glory coming to console them with its accustomed
intoxication. "The war is not a national one," said Count Daru recently at
Vitebsk; "the importation of a few English goods into Russia, or even the
rising of the Polish nation, is not a sufficient reason for so remote an
enterprise. Neither your troops nor your generals understand the necessity
of it. Let us stop while at least there is still time."

The same advice was repeated at Smolensk, on that bank of the river gained
by such bravery, and difficult to leave without danger, in order to plunge
into an unknown and hostile country, far from the reinforcements which
were still being prepared in Germany. Before attacking Smolensk, Napoleon
said to Prince Eugene, "We are going to give battle, and then we shall see
Moscow." "Always Moscow! Moscow will be our ruin," muttered the Viceroy of
Italy as he left the emperor. Nearly all the military leaders felt the
same fears.

Marshal Ney rushed with his troops in pursuit of Barclay, and overtook two
Russian columns on the plain of Valoutina behind a small muddy stream,
over which they had to throw a bridge. Here a keenly contested fight cost
us the life of General Gudin, when obstinately carrying the passage at the
point of the bayonet. Our columns were embarrassed in their attack by the
marshy ground. The Russians kept their positions till night; and when at
last obliged to quit the plateau more than 13,000 to 14,000 of both sides
lay dead on the field of battle. The enemy's columns resumed their
retreat, and continued to intercept our route to Moscow.

Thus, without a single check to diminish the prestige of our arms--after
constantly defeating the Russians in the partial engagements which had
taken place--after occupying, without fighting or taking by assault, every
place in our way, we found ourselves, after two months' campaigning, with
an army less by a half, in the very heart of Russia, unable to reach the
enemy, who were retreating without running away--further than when at
Wilna from that peace, desired by all, which Napoleon wished to impose
under glorious circumstances immediately after a victory. The pacific
messages of the Emperor Alexander had long accompanied our invasion of his
states. Now they ceased, and the sudden summer of the north was soon about
to disappear. "That would make a fine station for a cantonment," said
Count Lobau, the heroic General Mouton, as he looked at the position and
old walls of Smolensk. The emperor made no reply.