50 



RUSSIAN-GERMAN WAR. 



itself in motion to encounter the French army, 

 which had advanced, on the lOtli, to compel, if 

 possible, a general battle. When Napoleon saw his 

 attempts to surround the right wing of the Russians 

 deteated, he ordered his right wing, under Ponia- 

 towski, to hasten by way of Ortza, by rapid marches, 

 to cut off the Nubians from Mo-cow. On the other 

 hand, Migration hastened to defend this road, and 

 Barclay de Tolly sought to retard the enemy as 

 much as possible. Smolensk, an old place, formerly 

 strongly fortified, and the whole position on the 

 Dnieper, greatly favoured his plan ; and not till the 

 midnight of the 17th, after a loss of many thousands, 

 did the French succeed in taking this bulwark, re- 

 duced, for the most part, to a ruin. The French 

 army was now in possession of the road to Moscow, 

 and formed a triangle, with the left angle before 

 Riga, with the right on the Bug, and the foremost 

 at Smolensk, on the Dnieper. On the left and in 

 the rear it was tolerably based, but very badly on 

 the right flank, where the division of Tormassoff 

 was continually making attacks. August 19, Na- 

 poleon left Smolensk, in pursuit of the Russians, 

 whose rear encountered at Volontina, the French 

 van under marshal Ney. The duke of Abrantes, 

 who had superseded the king of Westphalia, had 

 already come up in the rear of this body, when part 

 of the Russian main army hastened to its succour : 

 and by this means succeeded in leaving, though with 

 great loss, the narrow defile, thirty miles in length. 

 The Russian army retired in haste, bujning all the 

 towns through which it passed. With equal haste 

 the troops of Napoleon followed, suffering more and 

 more from want and the climate. Meanwhile, Bar- 

 clay de Tolly had to resign the chief command to 

 Kutusoff, who had reaped new laurels in the Turk- 

 ish war just ended. Reinforced by militia and 

 reserves, he resolved to await the enemy seventy 

 miles from Moscow, in a strong position which 

 was entrenched as well as time permitted. Sep- 

 tember 5, the French encamped opposite him, and, 

 on the evening of the same day, one of the out- 

 works of the Russian camp was taken, after the 

 most dreadful slaughter ; and at sunset of the 7th 

 began the most bloody battle of this war, in which 

 the one party fought to put an end to all their pri- 

 vations and sufferings, and the other to defend their 

 country and preserve its capital. (See Moskwa, 

 Battle of the.) The Russians lost 25,000 men ; the 

 French themselves estimated their own loss at 10,000 ; 

 the number of wounded cannot be ascertained. 

 Although the Russians were broken in their centre 

 by the perseverance of Ney and the viceroy, on the 

 right and left they remained masters of the field of 

 battle ; and without any great loss of artillery, and 

 still less of prisoners, they were able to retire to 

 Moscow, whither Napoleon's army, after two days' 

 repose, followed in two divisions, of which the first 

 was designed to attack the Russians in the flank. 

 Kutusoff did not dare to risk a battle before the 

 gates of Moscow. He marched through, and aban- 

 doned it to the flames and the French, who, Sept. 

 14, entered the desolate city. Moscow (q.v.) was 

 devoted to destruction, and all the hopes built on 

 the possession of it disappointed. Kutusoff, by a 

 lateral march to the south, stationed himself at 

 Kaluga, and threatened evecy minute to interrupt 

 the communication of the French with their base on 

 the Vistula. His Cossacks pressed forward to Smo- 

 lensk. Werega, situated south of Moscow, con- 

 utituting, as it were, a post for the protection of the 

 French, was surprised by him, September 29. No- 



thing could save the French army but a speedy 

 it neat or peace. Of the latter Napoleon enter- 

 tained the more hope, as he was too proud for the 

 former. Every day heightened the sufferings of his 

 army, t'ie provisions having been wasted, and for- 

 aging becoming continually more dangerous, from the 

 conilux of Russian peasants and Cossacks. After 

 Kutusoff had been reinforced from all quarters, by 

 Cossacks and by militia, the summoning of which 

 Alexander had himself superintended in summer. 

 and the French army had been diminished in c<|ua ; 

 proportion (their loss in Moscow, by famine, a->a 

 sination, the assaults of marauders, &c., was ran 

 at 40,000 men), he suddenly threw aside the mas 

 of pacific negociations, and (October 8) caused 

 strong body, under general Bennigsen, to surprise. 

 at Tarutino, the unexpecting French, commanded 

 by Murat and Sebastian!, and drove them back with 

 great loss. From necessity, Napoleon now did what 

 he should have done four weeks before : October 

 19, he evacuated Moscow. By his original direc- 

 tion towards Kaluga, he gained, indeed, a march of 

 Kutusoff; but, after the engagement at Malo-Ya- 

 roslawetz (October 24), after which the Russians 

 drew back, Napoleon was either deceived respect- 

 ing this circumstance, or not sufficiently informed ; 

 and his army confined to the high road to Smolensk, 

 also drew back, which was the principal cause of its 

 destruction. For, every moment the want of cavalry 

 became more perceptible, while the Russians, with 

 theirs, could multiply attack on attack. The French 

 columns consequently, had to march continually in 

 denser order : in addition to this, the country was a 

 desert, and want of all kinds had already dissolved 

 the bonds of obedience, while the severity of the 

 winter now covered the roads with ice and snow, 

 destroying men and horses by thousands ; and the 

 Russians attacked in continually increasing numbers. 

 After a thousand sacrifices, Smolensk was reached 

 (November 12). But in vain had the remnants of 

 the army hoped to find there repose, nourishment, 

 clothing. The peace with the Porte had permitted 

 the Moldavian-Russian army, under admiral Tschit- 

 schakoff, to put itself in Napoleon's line of commu- 

 nication. Leaving some forces behind to employ 

 the Austrians and Saxons in Volhynia.he proceeded 

 with the rest of the army to the Beresina, where he 

 tried to form a junction with Wittgenstein on the 

 Dwina, in order to cut off Napoleon altogether. * 



* Here the two wings of the Russians could attack with de- 

 cided effect ; for Wittgenstein, after being joined by the Finland 

 corps, had defeated, on the Drissa, the troops loft at Poloczk by 

 Napoleon, with such loss. Oct. 18, that they had to retire across 

 the Dwina. They, nevertheless, succeeded in uniting their 

 forces at Czasnicki, Oct. 30, with the ninth corps, and Oct. 15, 



epelliny Wittgenstein's attack on Smolinni. I5ut, instead of 

 pursuing his foe on the march to Rataliczi, Wittgenstein now 

 turned against Baran, by doing which he abandoned the corps 

 of Tschitschakoff, on the Beresina, to its fate. During this 

 contest on the Drissa, the army of Volhynia was defeated, Aug. 

 12 bv the combined Austrian and Saxon force on the Ppddobna, 

 and driven back to Lut/.k, behind the Styr. But being rein- 

 forced to double its former strength by the army of the Danube, 

 it soon compelled that body to retreat ; and its commander, ad- 

 miral Tschitschakoff, leaving general Sarkeii with 25,000 men 

 at Brzesc, marched thence, Oct. 27, in the direction of Minsk, 

 in the rear of the main army of the French. The two bodies 

 attempted to prevent him, but were themselves incessantly 

 pursued by Sacken : and after they had beaten him at Wolko- 

 \visk on the 16th Nov., and driven him behind Brzesc, Tschi- 

 tsrhakoff, who had already apprised Wittgenstein of his mairli, 

 throuu-h colonel Czenitschef, succeeded in entering Wins!;, 

 Nov. IG, where he rested three days, captured Borissofl'on the 

 21st, but left it airnin on the 23d. and on the 2fith displayed his 

 forces opposite the enemy on the Ben sina. The Russian arm\ 

 on this day was still on the banks of the Dnieper. Wittgenstein 

 should now have joined Tschitschakoff, but instead of so oping, 

 I-..- pursued, on the 27th, the division Partonneaux of the ninth 

 (in PS. and captured it; but, meanwliile, Napoleon had effected, 

 thonirh with creat loss, a passage over the Beresina, wfccfl 

 chakoff could oppose, but not prevent. 



