86 CORRESPONDENCE. [1813. 



the sick ; as I have had the scarlet fever, and consider 

 myself as proof against it. "When the infection ap- 

 peared to be stopped, I sent those who had had it 

 away, and, after well ventilating and fumigating the 

 house, have brought back the rest of my family to 

 their old quarters ; and here they are now, all quite 

 well. 



" I have seen a very full and distinct account, from 

 a person present, of the operations before Dresden, and 

 the subsequent retreat of the Allied armies. It forms 

 a perfect contrast with Lord Cathcart's statement of 

 the same transactions, and goes very far indeed to 

 confirm the French bulletins. Indeed, allowing for a 

 little exaggerations as to numbers, and even this is not 

 so great as I should have expected, the latter appear 

 to be substantially correct. The information to which 

 I refer, states that the Peter wald and Freiburg roads 

 were intercepted; that the retreat of the various columns 

 on this account was more difficult; that they lost several 

 thousand carriages and some guns, not less than 30,000 

 men, including sick and prisoners ; and that if they 

 had delayed a few hours longer before Dresden, their 

 retreat would have been impossible. As it was, they 

 seem to have escaped a more severe loss by the perse- 

 vering resistance of Count Osterman, and the error 

 committed by Vandammc, which is represented exactly 

 as Bonaparte states it. His corps lost, as he acknow- 

 ledges, all their cannon, with the Prussian guns, which 

 they had before taken, and about 10,000 men, includ- 

 ing the wounded ; the remainder completely licked 

 Kleist's corps, and made good their retreat. 



" The most important event that has yet happened 

 is this victory obtained by the Crown-Prince, if true 



