CHAPTER XIX. RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN: Napoleon, impressed with the perilous Situation of his Army, proposes to open a Negociation for Peace-Repeated Rejection of these Overtures-Moscow abandoned by the French-Battle of Touratino-Retreat of the French Armies—Advance of the Russian Auxiliary Corps from the North and South to close in upon the Enemy and cut off his Retreat-Battle of Malo-Jaroslavitz-Battle of Viasma-The Winter sets in-Its Effects on the French Army-Passage of the Vope-Arrival at Smolensk-Battles of Krasnoi-Junction of all the Russian Armies-Dreadful Passage of the Beresina-Capture of the Bavarian Auxiliaries under General Wrede-Arrival of Napoleon at Molodetschno-The Twenty-ninth Bulletin of the French Army-The Emperor Napoleon abandons his Army and repairs to Paris-Disorganization of the French Army-Ruin and Dispersion-Defection of the Prussians under General D'Yorck-Surrender of the Prussian Fortresses, garrisoned by French Troops, to the Russians under Wittgenstein—Permission granted by the Russians to Prince Schwartzenberg to retire with the Wreck of his Army into Austrian Galicia-Result of the Campaign. THE French Emperor was now awakened from his vision of conquest, and all the horrors of his situation at once opened to his view. His soldiers became turbulent and clamorous; they demanded from their leader that peace which he had promised to dictate in the Russian capital. Napoleon soon perceived that peace alone could afford hope to himself and his followers; but he was yet unwilling to stoop from the attitude of conquest, and to implore the forbearance of those whom he had so deeply injured. His dignity seemed still to require that he should be addressed as a conqueror; and he was, no doubt, aware, that if he talked of peace, the weakness of his situation, and the extent of his fears, would be exposed to the enemy. He waited therefore in anxious expectation for proposals from Russia; he trusted to his erroneous impression of the character of the Russian monarch and people; but all the hopes resting on this foundation were disappointed. fatal delay, which he required as a sacrifice to his pride, was increasing his difficulties every moment; his stores were exhausted, his supplies intercepted, and already his troops were becoming the victims of famine and disease. At this moment the energetic proclamation issued by the Emperor Alexander on the entrance of the enemy into Moscow, was distributed through the Russian empire, and reached the French camp; this memorable, and almost prophetic document, was expressed in these terms: The "Moscow was entered by the enemy on the 3d of September, O. S. (the 15th, N. S.) At this intelligence it might be expected that consternation would appear in every countenance; but far from us be such pusillanimous despondency! Rather, let us CHAP. XIX. swear to redouble our perseverance and our resolution; let us hope BOOK IV. "We know that it is painful to every true heart in Russia, "This proud devastator of kingdoms, on his entrance into Moscow, hoped to become the arbiter of our fates, and to prescribe peace to us upon his own terms. But the expectation is fallacious. He finds in Moscow, not only no means for domination, but no means of existence. Our forces, already surrounding Moscow, and to which every day is bringing accession, will occupy all the roads, and destroy every detachment the enemy may send forth in search of provisions. Thus will he be fatally convinced of his error, in calculating that the possession of Moscow would be the conquest of the empire; and necessity will at last oblige him to fly from famine, through the closing ranks of our intrepid army. "Behold the state of the enemy. He has entered Russia at the head of an army of three hundred thousand men. But whence do they come ? Have they any natural union with his aggrandizement? No; the greater number of them are of different nations, who serve him, not from personal attachment, not for the honour of their native land, but from a base and shameful fear. The disorganizing principle, in such a mixture of people, has been already proved. One half of the invader's army, thus made up of troops that have no natural bond of union, has been destroyed; some part, by the valour of the soldiers; another, by desertion, sickness, and famine; and the miserable remainder is at Moscow. "Without doubt the bold, or rather, it should be called, rash enterprise of penetrating into the bosom of Russia; nay, of occupying its ancient capital; feeds the pride of the supposed conqueror: but IT IS THE END WHICH CROWNS ALL! "He has not yet penetrated into a country where one of his actions has diffused terror, or brought a single Russian to his 1812 1812 BOOK IV. feet. Russia clings to the parental throne of a sovereign, who stretches over her the guardian arms of affection: she is not acCHAP.XIX, customed to the yoke of oppression: she will not endure subjection to a foreign power. She will never surrender the treasure of her laws, her religion, and her independence; and we will shed all our blood in their defence! This principle is ardent and universal; and is manifested in the prompt and voluntary organization of the people under the sacred banner of patriotism. Protected by such an Ægis, who is it that yields to degrading apprehension? Is there an individual in the empire so abject as to despond, when vengeance is breathed by every order of the state? When the enemy, deprived of all his resources, and exhausting his strength from day to day, sees himself in the midst of a powerful nation, encircled by her armies ; one of which menaces him in front, and the other three watch to intercept the arrival of succours, and to prevent his escape? Is this an object of alarm to any true-born Russian? When Spain has broken her bonds, and advances to threaten the integrity of the French empire! When the greatest part of Europe, degraded and despoiled by the French Ruler, serves him with a revolting heart, and fixing her eyes upon us, awaits with impatience the signal for universal freedom! When even France herself wishes in vain, and dares not anticipate an end to the bloody war whose only motive is boundless ambition! When the oppressed world looks to us for an example and a stimulus, shall we shrink from the high commission? No; we bow before the hand that anoints us to be the leaders of the nations in the cause of freedom and of virtue. "Surely the afflictions of the human race have at length reached their utmost point! We have only to look around us on this "All-powerful God! The cause for which we fight, is it not (Signed) This proclamation, which tended to rouse the patriotic feelings of the army and the people to the highest state of enthusiasm, sufficiently shewed the determination of the Russian government. The pride of Napoleon was humbled; he was at last compelled to give way to circumstances, and to sue for peace to those over whom but a few days before he affected to exercise the rights of conquest. General Lauriston, a favourite diplomatist of the French Emperor, was now sent with a flag of truce to the Russian head-quarters. After expressing the anxiety of his sovereign to prevent the further effusion of blood, he announced his readiness to treat with the Russian court. The answer of Prince Kutusoff was resolute; "as to the effusion of blood," said he, "there is not a Russian who is not ready to sacrifice his life in this contest, and no terms can be entered into while an enemy remains upon the Russian territory." The discontent of the French army now became more alarming than before, and Bonaparte affected to believe that Kutusoff had exceeded his powers, and that as soon as the overture for peace should reach the Emperor Alexander negociations provided the word peace be not expressed in Thus were extinguished all the hopes which says exulting account of the success of this grand enterprise-"All the adjoining buildings," this report, "have been emptied with great care, and the Kremlin, being judiciously mined, at two o'clock in the morning of the 23d of October it was blown into the air by the Duke of Treviso. The arsenal, the barracks, the magazines, all have been destroyed. This ancient capital, from which is dated the foundation of the empire, this first palace of the czars, exists no more!" This, however, is a very erroneous account of the mischief inflicted by the enemy; such was doubtless his intention; but the activity of the Russian corps, in the neighbourhood of Moscow, arrested the hand of the destroyer, and saved the principal part of this venerable edifice. a About the middle of October, General Winzingerode received intelligence that the enemy's force still remaining in Moscow was very much reduced; and on the 19th of that month, this general observed that the corps under Mortier, stationed on the Mojaisk road, had fallen back from the capital. The Russians, encouraged by these movements, gradually approached without opposition to the walls of the city. They were at length, however, assailed by a strong body of French infantry and cavalry, and must have been cut to pieces, had not the opportune arrival of General Iliovaskoy repulsed the enemy, and rescued them from their perilous situation. Winzingerode was thus enabled to draw his forces round Moscow; and on the 22d he passed the barriers of that city, overthrew the enemy, and drove them under the guns of the citadel. At this moment the Russian general, accompanied by his aide-de-camp, rode forward to the French lines, carrying a flag of truce, to intimate that further resistance must be unavailing, and to propose to the enemy a capitulation. The French answered, as the Russians assert, by making the general and his aide-de-camp prisoners. This singular violation of the usages of war animated the Russians with resistless fury; and on the morning of the 23d of October, when the first mine was about to be sprung which was to level the Kremlin to the ground, they marched forward under General Iliovaskoy, and seized the incendiaries with the torches in their hands. In this way the Krem * lin was saved; and the French having on the BOOK IV. same day finally evacuated Moscow, the inhabitants, with Rostopchin at their head, returned CHAP.XIX. to their desolated city, where every effort was made to mitigate sufferings which no human power could altogether relieve.t About the 16th of October Napoleon made preparations for his retreat from Moscow. The conflagration of that city, he had now discovered, rendered it no longer a desirable or proper military station; it must therefore be abandoned, but not with an intention of flying from Russia; a stronger position, and an untouched and fertile country, was to be sought, in which the army having recruited itself, the campaign might be re-opened in the spring with renewed vigour and fresh triumphs. But the difficulty of fixing on a line of retreat was extreme; if possible, the route by which the army had advanced to Moscow was to be avoided; over that country had already passed two large armies; the Russians had laid it so completely waste, that the French, when advancing, had found the roads almost impassable, and the country on all sides was completely stripped of provisions and accommodations. Nothing therefore but dire necessity could compel Bonaparte to retreat by this route. If he chose one more to the south, it would not only lead him along roads little injured, but through a rich and fertile country; and though necessarily circuitous, yet if he could accomplish his retreat in this direction, he would in the end arrive much sooner in a friendly country than if he marched by Smolensk. Having decided, if possible, to penetrate by the route of Kalouga and Toula, it was necessary, as a preliminary step, to drive back the Russian grand army, which occupied and defended the Kalouga road. Marshal Kutusoff, aware of the intention of the French, and having received information that a strong reinforcement was marching from Smolensk to assist in extricating Napoleon from the perilous situation in which he was placed, resolved to attack Murat, who commanded the advancedguard. This division of the army, which consisted of forty-five thousand men, was attacked and defeated at Touratino, on the 18th of October, with a loss of thirty-eight pieces of cannon, two thousand slain, and fifteen hundred pri * General Winzingerode, who is a Hessian by birth, was conducted to Verreia, and taken before Bonaparte, who charged him with being a traitor, and threatened to send him back to his country to meet the fate merited by his infamy. The general repelled the charge of treason, and replied with the utmost firmness, that he feared not death, from whatever quarter it might come. The baron, and his aide-de-camp, Captain Narishkin, were however ordered to Hesse under an escort of gens d'armes; but the carriage breaking down at Minsk, they were rescued by a body of Cossacks, and restored to the Russian army. "Of 4,000 houses, built with stone, which were in Moscow, not more than two hundred remain. It has been said a fourth remained, because in that calculation 800 churches were comprehended, some of which are damaged. Of 8,000 houses of wood nearly 500 remain.”—Twenty-sixth Bulletin of the French army, dated Borovsk, Qct, 23d, 1812. 1812 While these events occurred in the neighbourhood of Moscow, some affairs of considerable moment, and materially influencing the result of the campaign, took place in other parts of the Russian dominions. The army of General Steingel, after having obtained important advantages over the enemy in the neighbourhood of Riga, advanced along the left bank of the Dwina, and on the 10th of October came in close communication with a part of General Wittgenstein's corps near Drissa. The plans and operations of these generals were combined with so much judgment, that while the former attacked the corps of Marshal Macdonald, the latter fell upon the division under St. Cyr. General Steingel succeeded in driving the army to which he was opposed, into the vicinity of Polotsk; and Count Wittgenstein, on the 18th of October, after a sanguinary engagement of twelve hours, compelled the enemy to seek safety in his intrenchments. On the following day these intrenchments were assailed and carried by storm, and the enemy, who was now driven to the necessity of quitting the city, hastened to join the corps of Marshal Victor, which was on its march to reinforce the grand army. During the engagements of the 18th and 19th the enemy lost two thousand prisoners, exclusive of the killed and wounded, among the latter of whom was General St. Cyr. In the month of September, the army of the Danube had united with the Russian force under General Tormazow, in the neighbourhood of Sloutzk; while the enemy had again overrun those parts of Volhynia, which he had for a time abandoned. The Polish division under Dombrowski, once more communicated with those of Renier and Schwartzenberg; and several affairs, important only for the gallantry displayed on both sides, occurred between their detached parties and those of the Russians. When Renier and Schwartzenberg were apprised of the junction of Tormazow with the army of the Danube, they determined to retire; but they were actively pursued in their retreat until their arrival at Bialystock, about the middle of October. At this juncture, Admiral Tschikakoff received orders from the commanderin-chief to hasten towards Minsk, for the purpose of co-operating with Wittgenstein, and on the 1st of November he arrived in that city. Such were the arrangements made in this quar ter, for the purpose of cutting off the retreat of the invaders, who had now begun their flight through the Russian territories. On the 18th of October, all the French corps in the neighbourhood of Moscow assembled, and on the following day they quitted that city, taking the great road to Kalouga; but it had already become obvious that this movement was only a false manœuvre, to conceal from the Russians the project of retreating on Smolensk and Vitepsk. In the rear of the army was a long train of carriages, loaded with the spoils of Moscow, which, in three or four ranks, extended for several leagues; these were succeeded by ammunition waggons filled with trophies, and Turkish or Persian draperies, torn from the palaces of the Czars; and lastly followed the celebrated cross of St. Ivan, held in such high veneration by the members of the Greek Church. The cohorts of Xerxes had not more baggage. On the 22d the French army had advanced to Borovsk. After the battle of the 18th, Marshal Kutusoff had resumed his position at Touratino, that he might direct the movements of his armies according to the intelligence which he should receive of the enemy; while the Hetman, reinforced by twenty-five newly raised regiments from the banks of the Don, scoured the country in all directions, and harassed the march of the invaders. During the night of the 23d, the sixth Russian corps, under General Doctorow, arrived at Malo-Jaroslavitz, and took possession of the heights which command that place. Here a sanguinary battle took place on the following day, in which the French claim the victory. "At day-break the battle commenced; at which time the Russian army appeared quite entire, and took a position behind the town. The French divisions Delzon, Broussier, and Pino, under the Viceroy of Italy, were successively engaged. The town was taken and retaken not less than eleven times during the day, and was completely burnt to ashes; but at ten o'clock at night the Russians were finally driven from the heights, and retreated so precipitately that they were obliged to throw twenty pieces of cannon into the river. General Delzon fell pierced by three balls, and General Levié shared the same fate. The loss on the side of the Russians was very severe; it amounted to from six to seven thousand." On the following morning Napoleon arrived on the field, and he soon perceived, that whatever glory the battle of Malo-Jaroslavitz had shed on the French arms, two battles more, contested like this, would leave their leader without an army." He also discovered that after the engagement the Russians had out-flanked him; and that he had now no alternative left but to gain the road to Mojaisk, and to cross that country which the retreating Russians and the advancing French armies had two months before reduced to a desert. From the commencement of the campaign, the son of the Hetman Platoff, mounted on a superb white charger from the Ukraine, was the faithful companion of his father, and always at the head of the Cossacks. This gallant youth was the idol of his family, and the hope of the warlike nation who would one day have been under his command. But in a desperate charge of cavalry, which took place near Vereia, at the commencement of the retreat of the French army, between Prince Poniatowski and the Cossack chief, the Poles and the Cossacks, animated by a mutual hatred, fought with fury, and the young warrior received a mortal wound in the heat of the battle, from a Hulan Pole, which terminated his career of glory, and destroyed the hopes of his family.* With the battle of Malo-Jaroslavitz the sun of Napoleon's Russian victories set, never more to rise. A scene of horrors now commenced to which no parallel can be found in history. Flight, disgrace, fatigue, famine, and pestilence, misery, in short, in all the various aspects it can assume, was before the French soldier. Napoleon and his generals could no longer close their eyes to the disasters that were approaching; yet a thousand efforts were made to conceal them from their followers, and to animate the drooping spirits of the soldiers by hopes of plenty and repose, which were never to be realized. So sensible was the French Emperor of the overwhelming difficulties of his situation, that he already meditated his own escape; already did he cease to command men who were no longer entitled to the name of soldiers, among whom discipline no longer existed, and military subordination was forgotten, unless when it was called forth by despair. To his generals he in a great measure consigned the direction of this unhappy multitude, and surrounded by a few of his favourite generals, and accompanied by his guards, he began to retire BOOK IV. towards Smolensk, from the indignant view of thousands of wretched beings, whose bones CHAP. XIX. were doomed to blanch on the inhospitable plains of the north. Marshal Kutusoff, who had ordered his troops to advance, moved with one part of the army on Krasnoi, and directed General Milloradowitch to move in a parallel direction. The Cossacks and light troops maintained, as usual, their harassing and destructive warfare, breaking down the bridges in the enemy's line of march, and contributing essentially to those dreadful disasters, which form the conclusion of this memorable campaign. Scarcely had the French troops, worn out by a day's march along broken and deep roads, during which they were either actually fighting, or constantly on the alert, laid down on the ground to obtain a little repose, when the Cossacks rushed into their camp; and before the men could prepare for resistance or defence, many were killed, all were thrown into confusion and dismay, and their artillery and stores frequently formed the trophies of assailants, whose vigilance was never suffered to slumber. Platoff, the celebrated leader of the Cossacks, received intelligence on the 30th of October, that a large convoy, strongly escorted, was on its way towards Smolensk. On the 31st he came up with this convoy near the monastery. of Kolotsk, and began a spirited attack upon the left flank. The enemy, paralized by the danger of the situation, shewed at first no disposition to resist; and the Cossacks having pressed on with their wonted impetuosity, great slaughter ensued. Two entire battalions of French were cut to pieces in this affair; and the object of the victors was attained by the desperate resolution of the fugitives, who, to prevent the convoy from falling into the hands of the Russians, blew up the whole of the waggons. Straggling parties of the enemy, rendered frantic by suffering, frequently broke off from the main army in quest of sustenance; but such were the activity and zeal of the warriors by whom they were beset, that these marauders generally paid the forfeit of their lives for their * The character of the Cossacks has been misunderstood; instead of forming the most barbarous, they may be ranked among the most polished subjects of the Russian government. The appearance, character, and habits of the natives of the Don, are thus delineated by a modern English traveller:-" There is something extremely martial, and even intimidating, in the first appearance of a Cossack. His dignified and majestic look; his elevated brows, and dark mustachios; his tall helmet of black wool, terminated by a crimson sack, with its plume, laced festoon, and white cockade; his upright posture; the ease and elegance of his gait; give him an air of great importance. A quiet life seems quite unsuited to the disposition of the Cossacks. They loiter about, have no employment to interest them; and, passionately fond of war, seem distressed by the indolence of peace. There is no nation (I will not except my own) more cleanly in their person and apparel than the Cossacks. Polished in their manners, instructed in their minds, hospitable, generous, disinterested in their hearts, humane, and tender to the poor, good husbands, good fathers, good wives, good mothers, virtuous daughters, valiant and dutiful sons; such are the natives of Tscherchaskoy. In conversation the Cossack is a gentleman, for he is well-informed, free from prejudice, open, sincere, and upright.-Place him by the side of a Russian-what a contrast !”—Dr. Clarke. 1812 |