130] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1813. 



duct, the same which applied to 

 Prussia would serve for her. The 

 circumstance itself was decisive of 

 the future contest ; for such a 

 weight thrown into a scale already 

 nearly upon the balance, could not 

 fail to make it preponderate. A 

 treaty of alliance between Austria, 

 Russia, Prussia, and Great Britain, 

 was the concomitant of this de- 

 claration. 



The Prince-Pioyal of Sweden, 

 with the title of generalissimo of 

 the combined army of the north 

 of Germany, addressed a procla- 

 mation to his troops from Oranien- 

 burgh, on August 15th, in which 

 he called upon their exertions for 

 restoring the liberty of Europe. 

 He was at Potsdam on the follow- 

 ing day, and on the 18th removed 

 his head-quarters to Charlotten- 

 burgr As advice had been received 

 that the enemy were assembling 

 in force at Bareuth, with the in- 

 tention ef making a push on Ber- 

 lin, he concentrated his army be- 

 tween that capital and Spandau, 

 to the number, it was said, of 

 nearly 90,000 men. Napoleon was 

 at this time actively occupied, 

 sometimes on the banks of the 

 Bober, sometimes upon the de- 

 bouches from Bohemia, and some- 

 times on the Elbe, and various 

 military operations took place, the 

 results of which were stated in the 

 French papers as favourable to 

 their arms. The two allied em- 

 perors and the king of Prussia had 

 an interview in the middle of this 

 month at Prague, at which capital 

 several detachments of the Aus- 

 trian guard arrived. Their con- 

 ferences, terminated in a plan of 

 offensive measures, of which the 

 relation probably most to be 



depended upon is contained in dif-- 

 ferent despatches from sir Charles 

 Stewart. From these, it appears, 

 that the first object of the allies 

 was, to attack the enemy in front 

 and rear if he should still maintain 

 his forward positions in Lusatia 

 and on the right bank of the Elbe. 

 For this purpose, while the main 

 Russian army under Barclay de 

 Tolly, and the Prussian corps of 

 Kleist, with the whole Austrian 

 army, were to act from Bohemia, 

 under the chief command of prince 

 Schwartzenberg, Blucher's corps 

 d'arm6e, composed of a division 

 of Prussians, and two Russian di- 

 visions, was to move from Silesia, 

 and threaten the enemy in front. 

 Blucher accordingly advanced.and 

 the enemy abandoning Buntzlaw 

 after destroying their works, he 

 arrived on the Bober. He was 

 there attacked by the French in 

 great force on August 21st, Napo- 

 leon himself being said to have 

 commanded in person, and after a 

 severe contest,Blucher retired with 

 loss. The grand armies on the Bo- 

 hemian side passed the frontiers 

 on the 20th and 21st, and were 

 met by the enemy on the frontiers ; 

 and although the latter contested 

 every inch of ground, they were 

 driven back towards Dresden from 

 all their positions. The principal 

 action was between the right corps 

 of the allies under Witgenstein, 

 which had pushed before the rest, 

 and the French under Gouvion St. 

 Cyr, which terminated in the re- 

 treat of the latter. The allies con- 

 tinued to move forward, till, on 

 the 26th, their respective advanced 

 guards encamped on the heights 

 above Dresden. On the following 

 day the enemy abandoned their 



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