Military Career of Napoleon the Great Part 16

BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ]

Another division of the French now advanced under cover of the hillocks and broken ground which skirt the village, threw their fire upon the streets and the Russians once more retreated with considerable loss. The town was now once more and finally occupied by the French. Night fell and the combat ceased only to be renewed with increased fury the next day.

The Russians occupied a s.p.a.ce of uneven ground, about two miles in length and a mile in depth, with the village of Serpallen on their left.

In the front of their army lay the town of Preuss-Eylau, situated in a hollow and in possession of the French. The latter occupied Eylau with their left, while their centre and right lay parallel to the Russians, upon a chain of heights which commanded, in a great measure, the ground possessed by the enemy. The French also expected to be reinforced by Ney's division which had not yet come up, and which was destined to form on the extreme left. The s.p.a.ce between the hostile armies was open and flat, covered with snow and intersected with frozen lakes. The soldiers could trace each other's positions by the pale glimmer of watch lights upon the snow.

Napoleon, who slept but three or four hours that night in a chair in the postmaster's house, placed the corps of Marshal Soult at Eylau itself, partly within the town, partly on the right and left of it, Augereau's corps and the Imperial Guard a little in the rear, and all the cavalry upon the wings till daylight should enable him to make his final disposition of the fifty odd thousand men, exclusive of Ney's corps, and which were to meet the ninety thousand Russians and Prussians.

At daybreak on the 8th of February, 1807, two strong columns of the French advanced for the purpose of turning the right and storming the centre of the Russians, who had commenced the firing at one and the same time; but they were driven back in great disorder by the heavy and sustained fire of the Russian artillery. An attack on the enemy's left was equally unsuccessful. The Russian infantry stood like stone ramparts, each time repulsing the French a.s.sault--their cavalry then came to the support, pursued the retiring a.s.sailants and took standards and eagles.

About mid-day a heavy snowstorm set in, which the wind drove right in the faces of the Russians, adding to the obscurity caused by the smoke of the burning village of Serpallen that rolled along the line. The snow having now ceased, a melancholy spectacle presented itself. Thousands of dead and wounded lay on the ground, and several of the divisions were still hors de combat. Augereau's two divisions had been swept down by an unmasked battery of seventy-two pieces, and Augereau, wounded himself, but more affected by the disaster of his corps than by his personal danger, was carried to the cemetery of Eylau to the feet of Napoleon. To the Emperor he complained, not without bitterness, of the failure to send him timely succor. Silent grief pervaded every face in the imperial staff. Napoleon, calm and firm, addressed a few soothing words to Augereau, then sent him to the rear, and took measures for repairing the mischief.

Dispatching in the first place the cha.s.seurs of the Guard and some squadrons of dragoons which were at hand, he sent for Murat and ordered him to make a decisive effort on the line of the infantry which formed the centre of the Russian army, and which, taking advantage of Augereau's disaster began to press forward. At the first summons Murat came up at a gallop: "Well," said Napoleon, "are you going to let those fellows eat us up?" He then ordered the heroic chief of his cavalry to collect the cha.s.seurs, the dragoons, the cuira.s.siers, and to fall upon the Russians with eighty squadrons, to see what effect such a ma.s.s of horse, charging furiously, would have on an infantry reputed not to be shaken. The cavalry of the Guard was brought forward ready to add its shock to that of the cavalry of the army.

The moment was critical, for if the Russian infantry were not stopped it would soon attack the cemetery, the centre of the French position, and Napoleon had but six foot battalions of the Imperial Guard to defend it.

Murat galloped off, collected his squadrons, made them pa.s.s between the cemetery and Rothenen where Augereau's corps had marched to almost certain destruction. Charge after charge was made and successfully resisted. At length one of them, rus.h.i.+ng on with more violence, broke the enemy's infantry at one point and opened the breach through which cuira.s.siers and dragoons rushed, each eager to penetrate first. The Russians' first and second lines being broken, they turned the batteries of their artillery on the confused ma.s.s, killing as many of their own soldiers as those of the French, not caring whether they killed friends or foes so that they got rid of the formidable French force; but their efforts were useless.

Napoleon, graver than usual, in a gray riding-coat and Polish cap, sat motionless in the cemetery, in which were heaped bodies of a great number of his officers; his Guard was behind him and before him the cha.s.seurs, the dragoons, the cuira.s.siers; they formed anew and were ready to devote themselves as he might direct. The Emperor waited long before determining definitely on his last attack. Never had he nor his soldiers been engaged in such a hotly contested fight. The bullets whistled around and a sh.e.l.l burst within a few paces of him. Augereau's arm was broken and Lannes was wounded but not severely.

Under cover of darkness six columns of the French now advanced with artillery and cavalry and were close on the Russian position ere they were opposed. Bennigsen, at the head of his staff, brought up the reserve in position, and, on uniting with the first line bore the French back at the point of the bayonet. Their columns, partly broken, were driven again to their own position where they rallied with difficulty. A French regiment of cuira.s.siers, which during this part of the action had made an opening in the Russian line, were charged by the Cossacks, and found their defensive armor no protection against the lance. All but eighteen were slain.

At the moment when the Russians appeared to be the victors Davoust's division, which had been manoeuvring since the beginning of the action to turn the left and gain the rear of the Russian line, now made its appearance on the field. The effect was sudden and demoralizing to the Russians; Serpallen was lost, the Russian left wing, and a portion of its centre were thrown into disorder, and forced to retire and change front.

At this point in the contest the Prussian reinforcements, long expected, appeared in turn suddenly on the field, and pa.s.sing the left of the French and right of the Russians, pushed down in three columns to redeem the battle on the Russian centre and rear. The Prussians, under their gallant leader L'Estocq, never fired until within a few paces of the enemy and then used the bayonet with fearful effect. They redeemed the ground which the Russians had lost and drove back in their turn the troops of Davoust and Bernadotte who had lately been victorious. Ney, in the meantime appeared on the field with his advanced guard and occupied Schnaditten, a village on the road to Konigsberg. As this endangered the communication of the Russians with that town, it was thought necessary to carry it by storm; a resolution which was successfully executed, the enemy's rear-guard retreating in disorder.

This was the last act of that b.l.o.o.d.y day at Eylau. It was ten o' clock at night and darkness put an end to the combat. After fourteen hours of fighting both armies occupied the same positions taken in the morning.

It was in fact the longest and by far the severest battle Napoleon had yet been engaged in. At the beginning of the contest, Augereau was scarcely in his senses, from the severity of rheumatic pain to which he was subject; but the sound of the cannon awakens the brave: he flew at full gallop at the head of his corps, after causing himself to be tied to his horse! He was constantly exposed to the hottest of the fire, and was only slightly wounded.

A few days after the battle Napoleon sent to Paris sixteen stands of colors taken on that occasion and ordered the cannon to be melted down and made into a statue of General d' Haulpoult, in the uniform of his regiment, he having gallantly commanded the second division of cuira.s.siers, when he was killed in the action.

In three letters which the Emperor wrote to Josephine during the month of February he alluded with the deepest affection to the horrors of this engagement. "We had yesterday," he said, "a great battle. The victory was mine, but I have been deprived of a great many men. The loss of the enemy, still more considerable, does not console me." "The land is covered with dead and wounded," he adds in a second letter; "This is not the n.o.ble portion of war. One is pained, and the soul is oppressed at the sight of so many victims."

In the biting frost, in face of thousands of dead and dying, when the gloomy day was sinking into a night of anguish, the Emperor had said: "This sight is one to fill rulers with a love of peace and a horror of war," and in his bulletin of the engagement he said: "Imagine, on a s.p.a.ce of a league square, nine or ten thousand corpses, four or five thousand dead horses, lines of Russian knapsacks, fragments of guns and sabres; the earth covered with bullets, sh.e.l.ls, supplies; twenty-four cannon, surrounded by their artillerymen, slain just as they were trying to take their guns away; and all that in plainest relief on the stretch of snow!"

Twelve of Napoleon's eagles were in the hands of the Russians, and the field between them was covered with 50,000 corpses, of whom at least half were French. Each leader claimed the victory. The Russians retired from Eylau towards Konigsberg the very night after the battle, and the French made no effort to pursue but remained on the field nine days to allow the troops some repose.

It was in truth a drawn battle. The point of superiority on this dreadful day would have been hard to decide, but the victory, if rightly claimed by either party, must be p.r.o.nounced to have remained with Napoleon; for Bennigsen retreated and left him master of the field of battle where he slept and remained for days; but it was a ghastly triumph. During the whole time the contest lasted Napoleon's countenance was never observed to change; nor did he show any emotion whatever; but all accounts agree that he was deeply impressed with the horrors of the succeeding night.

Finally, on the 19th of February, Napoleon left Eylau and retreated with his whole army to Osterode on the Vistula. Here he established his headquarters, living in a sort of barn, governing his Empire and controlling Europe. The doubtful issue of the battle of Eylau had given a shock to public opinion and it required all the Emperor's prudence and address to overcome it. Great despondency was produced in Paris by the bulletin of the battle and a marked depression took place in the funds.

VIII

FRIEDLAND AND PEACE OF TILSIT

Napoleon soon decided that it would be fatal rashness to engage in another campaign in Poland while several fortified towns, and above all, Dantzic, held out in his rear. He determined to capture all these places and to summon new forces from France before again meeting in the field such enemies as the Russians had proved themselves to be.

Dantzic was at length compelled to surrender on May 7th 1807, Marshal Lefebvre receiving the t.i.tle of Duke of Dantzic in commemoration of his important success, after which event Napoleon's extraordinary exertions in hurrying supplies from France, Switzerland and the Rhine country, and the addition of the division of 25,000 men which had captured Dantzic, enabled him to take the field again by the first of June at the head of not less than 280,000 men. The Russian general had also done all in his power to recruit his army which was now reinforced by 90,000 men, during this interval.

The Russians were in the field by the 5th of June and were the first a.s.sailants; but nothing but skirmishes resulted until the Russian army was forced to retire towards Heilsberg where they halted, and there concentrating their forces, made a most desperate stand. They were, however, overpowered by superior numbers, after maintaining their position during a whole day. The battle had continued until midnight upon terms of equality, and when the morning dawned the s.p.a.ce between the Russians and French was literally sheeted over with the bodies of the dead and wounded.

The Russians retired after the battle, crossing the river Aller, and on the 13th of June reached Friedland, a town of some importance on the west side of the stream, communicating with the eastern, or right bank of the river by a long wooden bridge. It was the intention of Napoleon to induce the Russian general to pa.s.s by this narrow bridge by the left bank, and then to decoy him into a general action, in a position where the general difficulty of defiling through the town, and over the bridge, must render retreat almost impossible. For this purpose he showed only such portion of his forces as induced General Bennigsen to believe that the French troops on the western side of the Aller consisted only of Oudinot's division, which had been severely handled in the battle of Heilsberg, and which he now hoped to altogether destroy.

Under this deception Bennigsen ordered a Russian division to pa.s.s the bridge, defile through the town and march to the a.s.sault. The French took great care to offer no such resistance as would show their real strength, and Bennigsen supposing he had only a single division of the French army before him, and forgetting the usual prompt.i.tude of combination for which Napoleon was distinguished, had pushed on and brought an action which he believed he could terminate quickly and triumphantly. He was soon led to reinforce this first division with another. This was followed by other still divisions, and as the engagement was now becoming heated the Russian general at length transported all his army, one division excepted, to the left bank of the Aller, by means of the wooden bridge and three pontoons, and arrayed them in front of the town of Friedland, to overpower, as he supposed, the crippled division of the French to which alone he believed himself exposed. But no sooner had he taken this irretrievable step than the mask was dropped.

Napoleon was at first unable to believe that Bennigsen would venture to leave any part of his army for any period in so perilous a position as that in which he had placed it, maintaining a doubtful combat with no means of retreat but through the entanglement of the town of Friedland, and across the long narrow bridge of the Aller. His astonishment was great, therefore, when he learned from the officers he sent to reconnoitre that the whole Russian army was crossing the bridge, with the exception of one small division, and forming in front of the town.

He had secured a victory by his numbers and position, but his remark to Savary, who carried him the information of the Russian movement, was characteristic, "Well," said he, "I am ready now, I have an hour's advantage of them, and will give them the battle, since they wish for it."

The French skirmishers advanced in force, heavy columns of infantry began to show themselves, batteries of cannon were placed in position, and Bennigsen found himself in the presence of the whole French army.

His position, a sort of plain surrounded by woods and broken ground, was difficult to defend; with the town and a large river in the rear it was dangerous to attempt a retreat, and an advance was prevented by the inequality of his force. Bennigsen found it expedient to detach 6,000 men to defend the bridge at Allerberg, some six miles from Friedland on the Aller, and with the rest of his forces he resolved to maintain his present position until night, hoping for Prussian reinforcements from General L'Estocq, via the town of Wehlau.

At about 10 o'clock on the morning of the 14th the French advanced to the attack. "This is the 14th of June; it will be a fortunate day for us," said Napoleon, recurring to the most glorious day of his life; "it is the anniversary of the battle of Marengo." The broken and wooded country which the French occupied enabled them to maintain and renew their efforts at pleasure, while the Russians in their exposed position could not make the slightest movement without being observed. At about noon the French seemed to be sickening of the contest and about to retire. This, however, was only a feint to give repose to such of the forces as had been engaged, and to bring up reinforcements. The cannonading continued until after 4 o'clock, the Russian line having sustained charge after charge and had neither recoiled or broken before infantry or cavalry. Napoleon, from his point of observation near the battlefield, had witnessed the failure of every strategem and the charge of every division, and at last finding the day waning, drew up his full force in person for the purpose of making one of those desperate and generally irrisistible efforts to which he often resorted to force a decision of a doubtful day.

There was not a marshal in his Empire under whom the troops would not behave gallantly, but when the Emperor put himself at the head of his army and led them to the charge, nothing could resist the shock. The brave Oudinot, hastening up with coat perforated by b.a.l.l.s, and his horse covered with blood, exclaimed to the Emperor: "Make haste, sire, give me a reinforcement, and I will drive all the Russians into the water!" The day was far advanced, and some of Napoleon's lieutenants were of the opinion that they ought to defer the final and decisive movement till the morrow. "No! No!" replied Napoleon. "One does not catch an enemy twice in such a sc.r.a.pe." He then made his disposition of the several corps for the final attack.

Surrounded by his lieutenants, he explained to them, with energy and precision, the part which each of them had to act. Grasping the arm of Marshal Ney, and pointing to Friedland, the bridges, the Russians crowded together in front, he said: "Yonder is the goal, march to it without looking about you; break into that thick ma.s.s whatever it costs you; enter Friedland, take the bridges, and give yourself no concern about what may happen on your right, on your left or on your rear. The army and I shall be there to attend to that."

Ney at once set out at a gallop to accomplish the formidable task.

Struck with his martial att.i.tude Napoleon, addressing Marshal Mortier, said with much satisfaction: "That man is a lion!"

The order for attack all along the line with cavalry, infantry and artillery was now given, and simultaneously the Russians began to yield, the French advancing at the same time with shouts of a.s.sured victory.

The Russians were now obliged to retreat in front of the enemy, and in half an hour the rout was complete. In vain did the enemy make all their reserves advance; Friedland was at last carried, but in the midst of a horrible carnage. The enemy left 20,000 men on the field, of whom 15,000 were killed and 5,000 wounded, and among the number thirty generals.

Dupont, who had been sent to a.s.sist Ney, met him in the heart of Friedland, then in flames, and they congratulated one another on the glorious success: Ney had continued to march straight forward, and Napoleon, placed in the centre of the divisions which he kept in reserve, had never ceased to watch his progress. It was now half past ten at night. Napoleon in his vast career had not gained a more splendid victory. He had for trophies eighty pieces of cannon, few prisoners, it is true, for the Russians chose rather to drown themselves than surrender. Twenty-five thousand Russians were killed as against 8,000 French. Out of 80,000 French 25,000 had not fired a shot. Meanwhile the bridge and pontoons were set on fire to prevent the French who had forced their way into the town, from taking possession of them. The smoke rolling over the scene increased the horror of the surroundings.

The Russian centre and right, which remained on the west side of the Aller, effected a retreat by a circuitous route, leaving on the right the town of Friedland with its burning bridges no longer practicable for friend or foe, and pa.s.sed the Aller by a ford found in the very moment of extremity further down the river. Napoleon sent no cavalry in pursuit, though he had forty squadrons who might have cut them to pieces. Many animadversions have been cast upon him for not improving his victory in this manner; but the reason appeared clear: his object was to make peace with the Emperor Alexander, and the butchery of the broken battalions of the Russian guard would in no way have forwarded that object, and no power remained to oppose itself to the immense force under France's victorious warrior.

Thus ended the great battle of Friedland. "My children," wrote Napoleon to Josephine, "have worthily celebrated the battle of Marengo. The battle of Friedland will be equally celebrated and glorious for my people.... It is a worthy sister of Marengo, Austerlitz and Jena."

Napoleon visited the battlefield the next morning and beheld a frightful spectacle. The order of the Russian squares could be traced by a line of heaps of slain; and the position of their artillery might be guessed by the dead horses. As Savary well says: "It might be truly said that sovereigns ought to have great interests of their subjects at stake to justify such dreadful sacrifices."

The Emperor Alexander, overawed by the genius of Napoleon which had triumphed over troops more resolute than had ever before opposed him, and alarmed for the consequences of some decisive measure towards the reorganization of the Poles as a nation, began to think seriously of peace. On the 21st of June General Bennigsen asked for an armistice and to this the victor of Friedland gave an immediate a.s.sent on his arrival at Tilsit. On the 22nd of June a proclamation was addressed by Napoleon to his army in which he said; "From the banks of the Vistula, we have arrived upon those of the Niemen with the rapidity of the eagle's flight. You celebrated at Austerlitz, the anniversary of the coronation, and you have this year celebrated, in an appropriate manner, the battle of Marengo, which put a period to the second coalition. Frenchmen, you have proved worthy of yourselves and me. You will return to France covered with laurels after having obtained a glorious peace, which carries with it the guarantee for its duration."

It was known that the Emperor Alexander was on the other side of the Niemen, at a village not far distant, and Napoleon addressed his reply to the sovereign in person. Its purport was to the effect that he was quite ready to make peace but would not consent to an armistice, if war were to continue. The result was a proposal on the part of Alexander that an interview should take place between the Emperor of France and himself, which was accepted. The armistice was ratified on the 23rd of June and on the 25th the Emperors of France and Russia met personally, each accompanied by a few attendants, on a raft moored midstream in the river Niemen, near Tilsit, the town which gave its name to the secret treaty agreed upon at this time. The sovereigns embraced as they met, with their armies on the two banks of the river and retiring under a canopy, amid the cheers of the troops, had a long conversation, to which no one was a witness.

At its termination the appearance of mutual good will and confidence was marked, and the two Emperors established their courts there and lived together, in the midst of the lately hostile armies, more like old friends than enemies and rivals, attempting by diplomatic means the arrangement of differences which had for years been deluging Europe with blood. By this treaty the King of Prussia was admitted as a party, Napoleon restoring to Frederick William ancient Prussia and the French conquests in Upper Saxony,--the king agreeing to adopt the "Continental System."

The beautiful and fascinating Queen of Prussia also arrived at Tilsit, but too late to obtain more favorable terms for her country than had already been granted her husband. "Forgive us," she said, as Napoleon received her, "forgive us this fatal war; the memory of the great Frederick deceived us; we thought ourselves his equal because we are his descendants; alas! we have not proved such!"

The Queen used every strategem which wit and genius could devise, and every fascination to which beauty could lend a charm, but without avail.

Foiled in her ambition she died soon after, it is said, of chagrin.

No single episode in the career of Napoleon Bonaparte has been more adversely commented on than his alleged breach of faith with the Queen of Prussia, when the domain of her husband was absolutely at his feet.

He always denied that he had broken his word, and according to his own story, as told after his final retirement, the Queen had no cause of complaint.

"The Queen of Prussia was still a beautiful woman," he said, "but she had lost many of the charms of youth. She evidently expected to use her powers of persuasion on me for the benefit of Prussia. At dinner I took a beautiful rose from the table and presented it to her. She took it, smiled sweetly, and exclaimed: 'At least with Magdeburg, I hope.' I answered: 'Your majesty will observe that I am doing the giving and you are receiving what I give.'