II' 



400 



A HISTORY OF CAVALRY. 



[I'EKIOD IV. 



and the vigorous efforts of the escort who fought bravely, 

 and the advance of the grenadiers h,cheval and the dragoons 

 of the guard, alone saved the Emperor from being taken. ' 



This attack was made by Platoff, with ten regiments 

 of Cossacks, and the 20th regiment of Chasseurs, w'th 

 the object of seizing a park of artillery. The guns were 

 taken, but only eleven carried oti", from the want of 

 horses, and the rapid approach of the cavalry of the 

 Imperial Guard.* 



This affair had the most important consequences, and 

 affected materially the result of the war. it dispirited 

 Napoleon, proved to him the superiority of the light 

 troops of the enemy, the weakness and inferiority of his 

 own cavalry, and this at a moment when everything 

 depended on his acting boldly and decisively. A council 

 of war was held the same night, and the great question, 

 as to whether an attempt should be made to force the 

 passage by way of Medynn, or whether the retreat 

 should be ordered to the old road from Smolensk to 

 Moscow, was hotly discussed," Murat vehemently urged 

 the bolder and more impetuous course, but the other 

 officers disagreed with him, and it is said that the report 

 of another warmly contested fight with the Cossacks 

 near Borowsk, a few miles to the rear of the army, 

 turned the scale, and led Napoleon to retreat ; a course 

 that in the end proved disastrous to him.* At the same 

 moment that he retreated, Kutusof also fell back to 

 Kalouga, proving that Murat's advice was the better, 

 and that his plan would have proved successful. The 

 operations of the Cossacks, therefore, secured this great 

 advantage to the Russians. 



Thus began the celebrated retreat on the 26 th October, 

 1812, which was continued until the i3th December, and 

 during that long period scarcely a day passed in which 

 the Cossacks did not render valuable service, as Platoff 

 pressed continually the French rear-guard. The want 

 of provisions now began to be felt by the retreating 

 army, and the most frightful disorders resulted from the 



' BoutourliD, ii. 165 ; Alison, iii. 680. 

 3Segur, ii. 114. " Ibid ii.. 117, 118. 



Boutourlin, ii. 165. 



