GENERAL HISTORY. 



[173 



©f troops on each side was engaged, 

 and the point was obstinately con- 

 tested: it terminated in an unmo- 

 lested retreat of the Rusbians. The 

 banks of the Duna, near Polotzk, 

 were the scene of some severe en- 

 counters on the 16th and 17th, 

 between Witgenstein and Oudinot, 

 in which the success seems to 

 have been nearly balanced. Of a 

 number of inferior actions it is not 

 worth while in this sketch to take 

 notice. An accurate and impartial 

 history of the campaign alone can 

 render them intelligible, and clear 

 them from the obscurity and con- 

 tradictions resulting from the de- 

 signed misrepresentations of both 

 parties. 



At the beginning of the inva- 

 sion of Russia, it appeared to have 

 been the design of Napoleon to 

 make a push at once for Peters- 

 burgh, probably supposingthat the 

 imminent danger or capture of this 

 metropolis would terminate the 

 war. But the plan pursued by the 

 Russian commanders to draw the 

 principal force of their antagonists 

 towards the Dnieper, necessarily 

 changed that of the invader, whose 

 object now became the possession 

 of the ancient capital of the em- 

 pire, Moscow. Its central situation 

 amidst some of the most fertile 

 provinces of Russia, its vast ex- 

 tent, and its ready communication 

 with Poland and the countries of 

 Europe to the west, obviously ren- 

 dered it a most important station 

 for carrying on a war which was 

 now likely to be protracted at least 

 to another campaign. Smolensko 

 is in the direct road to Moscow, 

 and at a less distance from it than 

 from Wilna ; to have occupied that 

 city was therefore a material point 



gained towards the further progress 

 of the invading army. The ad- 

 vance of the latter, and the retreat 

 of the Russians before them, de- 

 stroying or carrying off their ma- 

 gaziue^i, continued as before ; and 

 on the 29th, General Caulincourt 

 entered Viasma, a considerable 

 town on the Moscow road. At 

 this time Gen. Kutusoff had taken 

 the chief command of the Russian 

 armies. 



Hitherto no opposition of con- 

 sequence had been given to the 

 French in their approach towards 

 the capital, but the time was now 

 come in which an effort was to be 

 made worthy of the prize contend- 

 ed for. The Russians had taken a 

 strong position at the village of 

 Moskwa, between Ghijat and Mo- 

 jaisk, where they were descried by 

 the French on September 5th as 

 they had begun to form a redoubt 

 upon a height. This was immedi- 

 ately attacked by Napoleon's order, 

 and carried. The next day passed 

 in reconnoitering; and at day-break 

 on the 7th, the French made an 

 attack on the whole of the Russian 

 position. They state the Russian 

 forces to have amounted to 120 or 

 130,000 men, and acknowledge 

 an equal number of their own. 

 The battle soon became general, 

 and lasted till night, with a dread- 

 ful carnage on both sides. Batte- 

 ries were taken and retaken, en- 

 trenchments carried and recovered, 

 and in the end each party claimed 

 the victory. The French, who 

 named this the battle of Moskwa, 

 triumph without reserve. General 

 KutusoflP says, that the result was, 

 that the enemy, with his superior 

 force, in no part gained an inch 

 of ground, and that he himself 



remained 



