122] ANNUAL REGISTER, 



1813. 



cannon taken, whilst they made 

 prize of ten pieces of the enemy. 

 The principal loss fell on the 

 Prussians, and among other staff 

 officers, the prince of Hesse-Hom- 

 burg was killed. The French re- 

 turned their loss at the same num- 

 ber, and that of their opponents at 

 double or triple. From the supe- 

 riority of the French artillery, it is 

 probable that the allies were the 

 greatest sufferers. But whatever 

 were the events on the field, it 

 cannot be doubted, from the con- 

 sequences, that the engagement 

 was the most severely felt by the 

 allied army, which made little op- 

 position to the advance of the 

 French to the Elbe, which river 

 they crossed at Dresden, and Meis- 

 sen, on the 6ih and 7th, and Na- 

 poleon took up his quarters at the 

 former city on the 8th. The king 

 of Saxony now joined his arms to 

 those of the French emperor, in 

 consequence of which, marshal 

 Ney was admitted into Torgau. 

 The French had already possessed 

 themselves of Leipzic. Their 

 troops continued to advance, and 

 the main army of the allies to re- 

 tire before them; and on the 12th 

 and 15th, marshal Macdonald 

 came in contact with the Russian 

 rear-guard under Miloradovitch, 

 and some actions of no great mo- 

 ment were brought on. In the 

 meantime Ney and Lauriston 

 crossed the Elbe at Torgau, with 

 the intention of acting on the 

 right of the allies. The latter, who 

 had conducted their retreat in such 

 good order as not to lose a single 

 gun, took up their first position on 

 the heights overhanging the Spree, 

 with the centre of the front line 

 behind Bautzen. On the 19th, 

 Napoleon, having joined his main 



army, consisting, it is said, of 

 more than 100,000 men, with a 

 numerous artillery, planned an 

 attack upon the allies in front, 

 whilst the fotce under Ney, Lauri- 

 ston, and Regnier, should move 

 from their position to the north of 

 Bautzen, and turn the right of the 

 allies. Witgenstein, having pene- 

 trated into this latter design, de- 

 termined to counteract it by a se- 

 parate attack on the corps of those 

 generals, which he entrusted to 

 generals Barclay de Tolly and 

 D'Yorck. The}' engaged with Lau- 

 riston and Ney on the 19th, and 

 a severe action is said, in the Rus- 

 sian account, to have terminated 

 in favour of the allies. At least it 

 is certain that it frustrated this part 

 of the plan. The grand attack by 

 the French main army commenced 

 at four in the morning of May 

 20th. The passage of the Spree 

 was forced by the corps of Oudinot, 

 Macdonald, and Marmont, and a 

 furious assault was made on the 

 centre of the allies, commanded by 

 Miloradovitch, which he resisted 

 with great steadiness- At length, 

 after seven hours hard fighting, the 

 numbers and impetuosity of the 

 French so far prevailed, that the 

 allies were obliged to fall back to 

 their second position, near Hoch- 

 kirchen. 



On the 21st, another very san- 

 guinary conflict took place. Na- 

 poleon, in person, taking the com- 

 mand of his whole assembled forces, 

 moved at day-break to the attack 

 of the allies in advance of Wurts- 

 chen and Hochkirchen. The de- 

 tails of this engagement are not 

 intelligible without plans. On the 

 whole it appears that the allies, 

 who are represented as much in- 

 ferior in number, were strongly 



