Military Career of Napoleon the Great Part 15

"The night," says Napoleon, "offered a spectacle worthy of observation; that of the two armies, one of which embraced with its front an extent of six leagues, and peopled the atmosphere with its fires, the other, whose apparent fires were concentrated in a small point, and in both encampments activity and motion. The fires of the two armies were within half cannon-shot; the sentinels almost touched each other, and not a movement could be made without being heard."

At about 5 o'clock Napoleon asked Marshal Soult, "Shall we beat them?"

"Yes, if they are there," answered the marshal; "I am only afraid they have left."

At that moment the first musketry was heard, "There they are," said the Emperor joyfully; "there they are! The business is beginning."

Napoleon then rode through the ranks addressing his soldiers. He bade them remember that, a year ago, at the same period, they had conquered Ulm and recommended that they be on their guard against the Prussian cavalry, which had been represented as so formidable. "This cavalry," he said, "must be destroyed here, before our squares, as we crushed the Russian infantry at Austerlitz." He told them that if they should succeed in endeavoring to fight their way through any point, the corps that would suffer them to pa.s.s, must forfeit its honor and character.

The soldiers answered his animated discourse by demanding to be led against the enemy; and the cries of, "Forward! Let us march!" were heard in every direction.

Again, as at Austerlitz, a cloud of mist completely enveloped the contending hosts. Both armies were almost in the heat of battle before the different divisions were distinguishable. Augereau commanded the right wing, Soult the left, Cannes the centre and Murat the reserve of cavalry. Escorted by men carrying torches, Napoleon again went along in front of the troops, talking to the officers and soldiers. He exhorted them to keep on their guard against the Prussian cavalry and to receive it in square with their usual firmness. His words everywhere drew forth shouts of "Forward! Vive l'Empereur!" At that moment the corps of Lannes set itself in motion on a signal from Napoleon.

The battle began on the right and left and the conflict proved terrible.

Davoust, in particular, was placed in a situation sufficient to try a man of the most determined courage and firmness but Bernadotte refused to support him. He paraded around Apolda, while 26,000 French troops were engaged with 60,000 picked men, commanded by the Duke of Brunswick and the King of Prussia. Thus, says General Gourgaud, he caused the death of five or six thousand Frenchmen and hazarded the success of the day, for which he experienced a very short disgrace. Napoleon on this occasion observed that Bernadotte did not behave well, and that he would have felt gratified had Davoust been defeated; "but," added the Emperor, "the affair reflects the highest honor on the conqueror, and the more so, as Bernadotte rendered his situation a most difficult one."

Bernadotte's conduct was such that a decree was signed by Napoleon that must have resulted in his being shot, but out of regard to his wife the Emperor destroyed the order the moment he was about to put it into the hands of one of his officers.

A hand to hand struggle followed the first charge of the Prussians. It was received by Soult and was a doubtful engagement until Ney appeared with a fresh division and drove the Prussians back. Nothing but the smoke of battle now obstructed the view, the famous sun of Napoleon having mounted the heavens was throwing a flood of light on a terrific engagement. Charge after charge followed, both sides maintaining their positions with firmness and valor. The commanders were constantly executing manoeuvres as though on parade. At one time the Emperor observed Ney, whom he had supposed to be in the rear, engaged with the Prussians. He hastened up greatly displeased, but on discovering the brave marshal defending himself in the centre of two weak squares against the whole of the Prussian cavalry, his displeasure gave way to admiration, and an immediate relief was ordered and brought up by Bertrand and Lannes. During the time that elapsed before relief arrived he fought as intrepidly as before, and was not in the least disconcerted by his hazardous position. Davoust's plans were so well laid, and his generals and troops displayed such courage and skill, that Blucher, with 12,000 cavalry, had not the satisfaction of penetrating through a single company. The king, the guards, and the whole army, attacked the French without obtaining better success. Amidst the deluge of fire that surrounded them on all sides, they preserved all their national gaiety.

A French soldier, nick-named "the Emperor" impatient at the obstinacy of the Prussian guards, exclaimed, "On with me, grenadiers! Come, follow the Emperor!" when, rus.h.i.+ng into the thickest of the battle, the troops followed, and the enemy was penetrated. For this deed he was raised to the rank of a corporal.

Napoleon, field-gla.s.s in hand, at length ordered a general onslaught all along the lines, to be followed by a bold charge of Murat's cavalry at a point where the Emperor had detected a weakness in the enemy's lines.

As the signal blast for advancing was sounded, the eager squadrons that had been smelling the smoke of battle for hours with impatience, rushed onward to glory or to death. On, on they charged with all the vehemence and impetuosity of the French cavalryman, each of whom believed that on him, and him alone, rested the fate of the day, and as on so many similar occasions, they were victorious. The st.u.r.dy Prussian columns were broken,--infantry, cavalry, guards and grenadiers were mowed down by thousands. The French infantry gave fresh proof of their valor and sustained their reputation at this engagement. In one of the charges which the divisions under Morand had to sustain from the numerous Prussian cavalry under Prince Henry, the 17th regiment, before presenting arms, placed their caps at the ends of their bayonets, crying, "Vive l'Empereur!" "Why not fire then?" exclaimed Colonel La.n.u.sse who apprehended the enemy would be upon them before they were ready. "Oh, time enough for that" they replied, "at fifteen paces you shall see." In fact a murderous discharge at that distance made the Prussians turn their horses' heads and retire.

The ardor of the troops on this important day was such that some corps, which circ.u.mstances prevented from taking part in the engagement, loudly expressed their dissatisfaction. One of these traits is sufficiently characteristic of the soldier and the Emperor under whose eyes they fought. At an early period of the conflict, while the French cavalry was anxiously expected, Napoleon seeing his infantry wings in a state of agitation, being threatened by the enemy's cavalry, set off at a full gallop to direct the manoeuvres and change the front into squares. The infantry of the imperial guard, seeing all the rest of the troops engaged, while the Emperor left them in inaction, many voices were heard to cry "Forward!" "Who is that?" asked the Emperor quickly, as he presented himself in front of the battalions; "This is some beardless young man, who wishes to antic.i.p.ate what I intend to do. Let him wait until he has commanded in thirty pitched battles, before he pretends to give me advice."

Out of the 70,000 Prussians who had appeared on the field of battle, not a single corps remained entire, not one retreated in order. Out of the 100,000 French, composed of the corps of Marshals Soult, Lannes, Augereau, Ney, Murat and the Guard, not more than 50,000 had fought, and they had been sufficient to overthrow the Prussian army.

This rout ended in the complete breaking up of the Prussian army, horse and foot all flying together, in the confusion of panic, upon the road to Weimar. At that point the fugitives met and mingled with their brethren, flying as confusedly as themselves, from Auerstadt.

In his account of the battle of Jena Napoleon spoke with pleasure of the enthusiasm shown by his soldiers during the heat of battle. In conclusion he said: "In so warm a fight, in which the enemy lost almost all their generals, we should thank that Providence which watched over our army, that no man of note has been killed or wounded. Marshal Lannes had his breast scratched without being wounded. Marshal Davoust had his hat carried away and a great number of b.a.l.l.s in his clothes." To Josephine, who was awaiting the results of the campaign at Mayence, he wrote on October 16th: "Everything has turned out as I planned, and never was an army more thoroughly beaten and destroyed." The Emperor confessed, that, during the night before the battle of Jena, he had been exposed to the most imminent danger, and might have disappeared without anyone knowing clearly his fate. He had approached the bivouacs of the Prussians in the dark, to reconnoitre, having only a few officers about his person. The French army was almost everywhere on the alert, under a persuasion that the Prussians were strongly addicted to nocturnal attacks. Returning from that survey, the Emperor was fired at by the first sentinel of his own camp, which proved a signal for the whole line; and he had no resource left but to throw himself flat on his face until the mistake should be discovered. His princ.i.p.al apprehension, however, was not realized; he feared least the Prussian line, then very near him, might act in the same manner.

When the conflict ended 20,000 Prussians lay dead on the battle field, or were taken prisoners, including twenty generals. Among the trophies of war were 300 cannon and sixty royal standards.

The Queen of Prussia was a fearless horsewoman and had faced great dangers at Jena. When she rode before her troops in her helmet of polished steel, shaded by a plume, in her glittering golden cuira.s.s, her tunic of silver stuff, her red boots with gold spurs, she resembled Ta.s.so's heroines. The soldiers burst into cries of enthusiasm as they saw their warlike queen: before her were bowed the flags she had embroidered with her own hands and the old, torn, and battle-stained standards of Frederick the Great. After the battle she was obliged to take flight, at full gallop, to avoid being captured by the French hussars.

The Duke of Brunswick, who had contended with Napoleon in this memorable engagement, was wounded in the face with a grape-shot early in the battle and was carried off the field never to recover.

The various routed divisions roamed about the country seeking separately a means of escape, and fell an easy prey to the French. The Prince of Hohenlohe at length drew together not less than 50,000 of these wandering soldiers and threw himself at their head into Magdeburg, but that great fortress had been stripped of all its stores for the service of the Duke of Brunswick's army before Jena, and Hohenlohe was compelled to retreat. He was defeated in a number of skirmishes, and at length, finding himself devoid of ammunition or provisions, laid down his arms.

The Duke of Wurtemburg, one of the Prussian generals, had taken a position at Halle and Bernadotte marched upon him. He attacked the enemy with the bayonet, killing and routing all who dared oppose him. The slaughter was dreadful and Napoleon, visiting the field of battle the ensuing day, was struck with the sight of the heaps of dead surrounding the bodies of the French soldiers. Observing on the uniforms some of the b.u.t.tons of the 32d, he said with a sigh, "So many of that regiment were killed in Italy, Egypt, and elsewhere, I thought none could be remaining."

General Blucher was shortly afterwards compelled to lay down his arms after a loss of 4,000 men out of 10,000 at Lubeck, where a severe action was fought in the streets of the town on the 6th of November. The fortresses of the Prussian monarch now capitulated as fast as their commanders were requested to do so, and Napoleon entered Berlin in triumph on the 25th of October. The honor of taking possession of that city Napoleon reserved for Davoust's corps, which had contributed so much to the victory at Jena.

The Prussians could not comprehend the rapid marches and the prompt.i.tude with which they were met in their flights. As the Emperor said in his 14th bulletin: "These gentry are doubtless accustomed to the manoeuvres of the 'Seven Years' War.' They would demand three days to bury their dead. 'Think of the living' replied the Emperor, 'and leave the care of interring the dead to us; there is no need of a truce for that.'"

Thus in a campaign of a week's duration had the proud Prussian monarchy been leveled to the ground. The people, believing that the fall of the military meant necessarily the fall of the monarchy itself, the pride and strength of the nation disappeared and every bond of union among the various provinces of the crown seemed to be at once dissolved.

On the 25th of October, 1806, after pa.s.sing in review the Imperial foot guards, commanded by Lefebvre, Napoleon visited the tomb of Frederick the Great at Potsdam where were stored a number of mementos of the great warrior. The court of Prussia had fled with so much precipitancy from Potsdam, that nothing had been carried away. Even the sword of Frederick the Great, the belt and the cordon of his orders, were left there.

On finding that the court had not thought of placing these relics out of the reach of invasion, the Emperor took possession of them. As he displayed the sword of Frederick, he said: "I prefer these trophies to all the King of Prussia's treasures. I will send them to my veterans who served in the campaigns of Hanover. I will present them to the Governor of the Hospital of the Invalides, who will preserve them as a testimony of the victories of the army, and the revenge it has taken for the disasters of Rosbach."

"The door of the monument was open," says General Segur; "Napoleon paused at the entrance in a grave and respectful att.i.tude. He gazed into the shadow enclosing the hero's ashes, and stood thus for nearly ten minutes motionless, silent, as if buried in deep thought. There were five or six of us with him: Duroc, Caulaincourt, an aide-de-camp and I.

We gazed at this solemn and extraordinary scene, imagining the two great men face to face, identifying ourselves with the thoughts we ascribed to our Emperor before that other genius whose glory survived the overthrow of his work, who was as great in extreme adversity as in success."

During his stay at Berlin Napoleon issued the famous "Berlin Decrees" by which he attempted to establish the "continental system," whose object was to shut out the commerce and intercourse of Great Britain from the Continent of Europe. The ruin of France's maritime power at Trafalgar, and the almost universal supremacy of the French Empire on land left Napoleon in his own judgment, no other means of retaliation. Through this continental system he endeavored, for several years, to annihilate all commercial intercourse between the continent and England.

The Prince of Hatzfeld was detected, during Napoleon's stay at Berlin, in sending secret information of the state and movements of the French army to the enemy. One of his letters fell into the hands of the French and he was arrested. His wife gained access to Napoleon's apartments, and, ignorant of her husband's conduct, spoke with the boldness of innocence in his favor. On being handed the letter written by her husband she was completely overcome and fell on her knees before the Emperor, imploring his forgiveness. "Throw that paper into the fire, madam," said Napoleon, "and the military commission will then have no proof of his guilt."

With a cry of joy the princess did as she was directed and the order of arrest, which would have resulted in Hatzfeld's death in an hour, was recalled.

While at Berlin the Emperor addressed his troops in a proclamation in which he said: "Our entrance into Potsdam and Berlin had been preceded by the fame of our victories. We have made 60,000 prisoners, taken sixty-five standards, among which are the colors of the King of Prussia's guards, six hundred pieces of cannon, and three fortresses.

Among the prisoners there are upwards of twenty generals; yet, notwithstanding all this, more than half our troops regret their not having fired a single shot * * * Soldiers, the Russians boast of coming to meet us, but we will advance to encounter, and save them half their march; they shall meet another Austerlitz in the heart of Prussia. A nation that can so soon forget our generous treatment after that battle,--owed their safety only to the capitulation we granted them,--is a power that cannot successfully contend against us. We will not again be the dupes of a treacherous peace."

Before leaving Berlin Napoleon received a deputation of the Senate, sent from Paris to congratulate him on the success of his campaign.

Accompanied by representatives from the army, he made them the bearer of the trophies of his recent victories. He then prepared to extinguish whatever resistance existed in a few garrisons of the Prussian monarchy and to meet, before they could reach the soil of Germany, those Russians who were now advancing, too late, to the a.s.sistance of Frederic William.

VII

THE BATTLE OF EYLAU

Before opening the great campaign with Russia Napoleon received the explanation of the Elector of Saxony, who truly stated that Prussia had forced him to take part in the war. The apology was accepted, and from this time the Elector adhered to the league of the Rhine and was a faithful ally of Napoleon. On November 25th, 1806, the Emperor of France left Berlin and established himself on the 27th at Posen, a central town of Poland, which country began to manifest an agitation arising from the animating prospect of restored independence. The unfortunate but brave Poles entreated his aid; but Napoleon could not make them a positive promise of their restoration as a kingdom. His observation on the subject was, "that, if the match should once be lighted, there was no knowing how long it might continue to burn."

From the headquarters at Posen, Napoleon addressed his soldiers on December 2nd, saying: "It is a year ago to-day, at this very hour, that you were on the battlefield of Austerlitz. The dismayed Russian battalions fled in disorder, or, surrounded, gave up their arms to their victors. The next day they sued for peace, but we were imposed on: scarcely escaped by our, perhaps, overweening generosity, from the disasters of a third coalition, they ventured upon a fourth....

Soldiers, we will not lay down our arms until the general peace shall have fixed and a.s.sured the power of our allies and restored to our commerce its safety and its colonies." The proclamation produced an exhilarating effect on the soldiers and throughout Germany.

In the meantime Warsaw was put in a state of defense, and the auxiliary forces of Saxony and the new confederates of the Rhine were brought up by forced marches, while strong reinforcements from France repaired the losses of the early part of the campaign.

The French army at length advanced in full force and crossed successively the rivers Vistula, the Narew and Bug, forcing a pa.s.sage wherever it was disputed, the Russian detachments being repulsed as often as they presented themselves. But it was not the intention of Bennigsen, the Russian general, to give battle to forces superior to his own, and he therefore retreated behind the Wkra. On the 23rd of December Napoleon arrived in person upon the Wkra and ordered the advance of his army in three divisions. He was fully aware that he was approaching a conflict of a very different kind from that which he had maintained with Austria, and more lately against Prussia. These troops, however highly disciplined, wanted that powerful and individual feeling which was a strong characteristic of the Russians,--a feeling that induces the soldier to resist to the last moment, even when resistance can only a.s.sure him of revenge. They were, in fact, those same Russians of whom Frederick the Great said, "that he could kill, but could not defeat them." They were also of strong const.i.tution and inured to the iron climate in which Frenchmen were now fighting for the first time. The Cossacks are trained from early childhood to the use of the lance and sword, and familiarized to a horse peculiar to the country,--tractable, hardy, swift and sure-footed, beyond any breed perhaps in the world. On the actual field of battle the Cossack's mode of attack is singular; instead of acting in line, a body of them about to charge disperse at the word of command, and joining in a loud yell and hurrah, each acting individually upon the object of attack, whether infantry, cavalry or artillery, to all of which they have been in this wild way of fighting most formidable a.s.sailants.

In this campaign the Cossacks took the field in great numbers, under their celebrated hetman Platoff. The Russians also had in their service Tartar tribes who resemble the Cossacks in warfare; but they were little better than hordes of roving savages. On the plain between the town of Pultusk and the wood the right of the Russian position was formed, and on December 26th they were attacked by the French division of Lannes and Davoust with but partial success. The French lost nearly 8,000 men, killed and wounded, while the Russian loss amounted to about 5,000. The French retreated after nightfall. On the same day another division engaged in action at Golymin, driving back the French after which the Russian commander retreated for the purpose of concentrating his forces with the Grand Army. Both engagements were without immediate results, and instead of pressing their operations, the French retreated into winter quarters, Napoleon withdrawing his guard as far as Warsaw, while the other divisions were cantoned in the towns to the eastward.

Bennigsen was now placed in supreme command of the Russian forces, amounting to 90,000 men, and he at once resolved not to wait for Napoleon's onset, but chose rather to antic.i.p.ate him, wisely concluding that his enemy's desire of desisting from active operation, as evinced by cantoning his troops in winter quarters, ought to be a signal to the Russians to again take the field. Thus the French Emperor found himself forced into a winter campaign, and he at once issued general orders for drawing out his forces for the purpose of concentrating them at Willenberg, in the rear of the Russians, who were then stationed at Mohringen. The duration of the winter quarters, in which the French troops had been placed, lasted no longer than the weather would permit.

The army reposed almost the whole of the month of December, and towards the beginning of January 1807, movements on both sides seemed to indicate more serious operations. It appeared the Russians had adopted a vast plan of defense. Their generals seemed to have regained confidence, on seeing Napoleon stop amidst the advantages he had acquired, and imputed that to fear which arose in him from motives of prudence. They could not imagine what other reason he could possibly have for going into cantonments upon the Vistula.

Napoleon now proposed to force his enemies eastward towards the Vistula, as at Jena he had compelled the Prussians to fight with their rear turned to the Rhine. Bernadotte had orders to engage the attention of Bennigsen upon the right, and detain him in his present situation; or rather, if possible, to induce him to advance eastward so as to facilitate the operations he meditated.

The Russian commander learned Bonaparte's intention from an intercepted dispatch, and changed his purpose of advancing on Ney and Bernadotte.

Marches and counter-marches took place, through a country at all times difficult, and now covered with snow. Bennigsen was aware that it was to his advantage to protract the campaign in this manner, as he was near his reinforcements, and the French were distant from theirs:--every loss therefore telling more in proportion to the enemy than to his own army.

Notwithstanding this apparent advantage, the distress of the Russian army was so extreme from the lack of suitable provisions that it induced General Bennigsen, against his judgment, to give battle at all risks, and for this purpose to concentrate his forces at Preuss-Eylau, which was decided upon as the field which he proposed to contest with Napoleon.

It had been the intention to maintain the town itself which Bennigsen had entered on the 7th of February, and a body of troops had been left for that purpose; but in the confusion attending the movement of so large an army, the orders had been misunderstood, and the division designed for this service evacuated the place as soon as the rear-guard had pa.s.sed through it. A Russian division was hastily ordered to re-occupy the town; but they found the French already in possession, and although they dislodged them, they were themselves driven out in turn by another division of French to whom Napoleon had promised unusual rewards. A third division of Russians now advanced, Bennigsen being desirous of protracting the contest for the town until the arrival of his heavy artillery which joined him by a different route. When it came up he would have discontinued the struggle for Eylau but it was impossible to control the ardor of the Russian columns who persevered in advancing, with drums beating, rushed into the town and surprised the French in the act of sacking it,--putting many of them to death by the bayonet.

[Ill.u.s.tration: From a Painting by F. Gerard