170] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1812. 



was the united amount of all these 

 divisions has not been exactly 

 stated ; but it may be affii med that 

 never, probably, in modern Eu- 

 rope, forces so numerous, and 

 composed of such various people, 

 •were led under a single command 

 to the decision of a political con- 

 test. It is agreed that the armies 

 of Russia, extensive as that em- 

 pire is, were greatly outnumbered 

 by the inyaders ; whence a defen- 

 sive plan was necessarily the only 

 one that could be thought of by 

 the Court of Petersburgh, to meet 

 the danger. 



The French divisions were all 

 in advance at the beginning of 

 June. On the 11th of that month, 

 the Prince of Eknuihl (Davoust) 

 had his quarters at Konigsberg, 

 where he was joined by Napoleon 

 in person ; and on the 19th, the 

 French emperor had advanced to 

 Gumbinneii in his march to the 

 Niemen. Three bridges being con- 

 structed over that river, part of the 

 army crossed without opposition 

 on the evening of the 23rd, and on 

 the 24th Napoleon was at Knwno 

 on the other side. The rest of the 

 armj' passed on the following days, 

 and pushed forward in divisions, 

 the Russian light troops retreating 

 before them on all sides. Wilna, 

 the capital of Lithuania, at which 

 the emperor Alexander had for 

 some time resided, was given up 

 without a contest, the Russians, on 

 the approach of the French, burn- 

 ing the bridge over the Vilia, and 

 after setting on fire their large ma- 

 gazines in that city, hastily re- 

 treated. On the 28th Napoleon 

 entered Wilna, and the bridge was 

 re-established. The Russians were 

 pursued by the French advanced 

 guard, and some skirmishing took 



place, but with no material loss on 

 either side. The Duke of Reggio. 

 (Oudinot) had previously crossed 

 the Vilia, near Kowno, on the 

 25th, and advancing up the coun- 

 try, had obliged the Prince of 

 Wittgenstein, commandant of the 

 first Russian corps, to evacuate all 

 Samogitia, and the country be- 

 tween Kowno and the sea, and re- 

 tire upon Wilkomirz, On Oudi- 

 iiot's advance, the Russians still 

 retreated, and set fire to their ma- 

 gazines at Wilkomirz. 



At this time, a Poli:<h party, un- 

 der the influence of France, as- 

 sembled a General Diet at War- 

 saw, at which, on June 28th, a 

 committee made a long report, 

 dwelling in strong language on 

 the injuries the nation had at dif- 

 ferent periods sustained from Rus- 

 sia, and the ties by which it was 

 bound to France. It concluded 

 with an act of General Confedera- 

 tion, the sole object of which is 

 declared to be, " to rejoin the 

 fragments of their country, dis- 

 membered by the most unjust vio- 

 lence, and to restore it to its former 

 existence and prosperity." They 

 then determine to delegate their 

 powers to a General Council, to be 

 attached to the Grand Marshal, 

 and to reside at W'arsaw ; and to 

 send a deputation to the King of 

 Saxony, requesting his approbation 

 of this act ; and another to the 

 Emperor Napoleon, begging his 

 protection of " the cradle of reviv- 

 ing Poland." Sanguinaryand un- 

 just as Buonaparte's proceedings to- 

 wards Russia must be accounted, 

 we cannot wonder that Poland, 

 cruell}' treated as she had been by 

 the powers whi('h usurped all her 

 territory, and blotted her from the 

 list of nations, should readily seize 



an 



