GENERAL HISTORY. 



[139 



the relations that might be given 

 to the world of the event, as several 

 of" these men were found abandon- 

 ed on the road, in the last gasp of 

 hunger and disease, the dead and the 

 dying frequently mixed together, 

 lying in groups of six or eight, by 

 half-extinguished fires on the road 

 side. Several of these men must 

 have been compelled to move on 

 foot, as their bodies were found on 

 the road with the sticks with which 

 they had endeavoured to support 

 their march, lying by their sides. 

 The number of dead bodies might 

 have been counted by hundreds, 

 and in the space from Eisenach to 

 Fulda, could certainly not have 

 amounted to much less than a 

 thousand. The enemy continued 

 to be closely pursued during 

 the three days' march from Eise- 

 nach to Vach Hunfeld and Fulda, 

 and frequent cannonading ensued 

 at tlie head of the advanced 

 guard ; but the nature of the 

 country not permitting the cavalry 

 to act, the enemy escaped with 

 only such losses as have been enu- 

 merated." 



The combined Austrian and Ba- 

 varian army under General Wrede, 

 after taking Wurtzburg, posted 

 itself at Hanau to intercept Napo- 

 leon on his retreat to Frankfort. 

 On October 29th the advanced 

 guards of each came to action, and 

 the French are stated to have had 

 4,000 made prisoners, with two 

 generals and two pieces of cannon. 

 On the 30th Wrede made a recon- 

 noissance, by which it was ascer- 

 tained that the French emperor 



had with him from 60 to 80,000 

 men ; and as the allies, in conse- 

 quence of detachments, were much 

 inferior in number, their general 

 found that he should be unable to 

 prevent the enemy from reaching 

 Frankfort. In order, however, to 

 impede their march, he drew up 

 his troops before Hanau, where 

 they were attacked by Napoleon 

 with all his force. A bloody en- 

 gagement ensued, of the respective 

 losses in which very different ac- 

 counts are given by the opposite 

 parties. The French certainly 

 took a considerable number of pri- 

 soners from the allies, who them- 

 selves acknowledge a loss of 7,000 

 in killed and wounded ; general 

 Wrede being among the latter; 

 and it appears that they evacuated 

 Hanau, which was entered by the 

 French. The latter.however, were 

 driven out again, and continued 

 their retreat in great disorder to 

 Frankfort, which was their head- 

 quarters on the 31st; and on Nov. 

 2nd Napoleon arrived in security 

 at Mentz. His dispatches boast of 

 his having brought back 100,000 

 men out of the hosts which he led 

 to the Elbe and Oder. This is 

 probably a great exaggeration ; 

 yet his countenance at Hanau was 

 undoubtedly such as could scarcely 

 have been expected after the dis- 

 asters at Leipzic. In this state we 

 shall leave the history of the war 

 on the Germanic quarter, and pro- 

 ceed to take up the series of events 

 in another and scarcely less inte- 

 resting theatre of military opera- 

 tions. 



CHAPTER 



