It is a good thing to know the cost of enterprises begun in folly and pursued through excessive difficulties, whatever may have been the superior genius, the consummate foresight and experience, of the general. Ney counted 36,000 men as they crossed the Niemen, but only 22,000 were in line at Vitebsk. The King of Naples had lost 7000 men out of 28,000. The young guard had seen 10,000 men disappear out of 28,000. Prince Eugène reckoned 45,000 on the banks of the Dwina, and entered Kowno with 40,000. Even Davout, the most skilful in drilling and managing his soldiers, saw his 72,000 men diminished by 20,000. In King Jerome's division, 22,000 were wanting, the number formerly being nearly 100,000 men. The emperor still had at his disposition 255,000 soldiers; but Macdonald on the Baltic, and Oudinot at Polotsk, ought still to have 60,000, and General Reynier remained on the Dnieper with a body of 20,000 soldiers. Napoleon already spoke of calling Marshal Victor, with his 30,000 men of reserve, cantoned between the Niemen and the Rhine. Thirty thousand Austrians advanced towards Minsk under the orders of Prince Schwartzenberg. The emperor sent orders to Paris to despatch all his guard still left in the depots. He rejected the idea of an establishment on the Dnieper and Dwina being a sufficient result of the campaign. Better than all his lieutenants he at last foresaw the dangers and difficulties of the work which he had undertaken, which he still wished, but which he was anxious to finish in a brilliant manner. Europe was waiting for the news of a victory. Napoleon had reached the centre of the Russian empire, but without a battle. The prestige of his glory and his power demanded a decisive blow; and the emperor prepared for it at Vitebsk.
Marshal Macdonald, however, had taken possession of Courland, after one battle before Mittau. The Russians everywhere retreated before him, evacuating even the stronghold of Dunaburg. The marshal laid siege to Riga, but his forces were insufficient to guard this vast territory, and he in vain asked for reinforcements. Everywhere the men succumbed under the extent of the task imposed upon them. Marshal Oudinot, who formerly supported Macdonald at Polotsk, had crossed the Dwina, and was advancing, by the emperor's orders, against Count Wittgenstein. After a brilliant engagement at Jakoubowo on the 20th July, he found it prudent to retreat upon the Drissa. On the 1st August there was another successful battle, but the troops were tired, and had lost many men; the enemy were threatening. Oudinot returned to Polotsk, requiring rest and more soldiers, like Macdonald. The marshal did not succeed in demolishing the entrenched camp at Drissa, as he had been instructed to do.
On the south-east, in the upper part of the course of the Bug, General Reynier found himself at last obliged to retreat, in order to protect the grand duchy of Warsaw, and invade Volhynia. This expedition was at first intended for the Austrians, but the will of the Emperor Francis, as well as that of Napoleon, called them to head-quarters; and Reynier's forces were to replace them in the posts which they held.
Nevertheless, the Russian General Tormazoff threatened the grand duchy, after taking possession of Kobrin, which was badly defended by the Saxons. The Diet of Warsaw took alarm. A large number of wealthy Poles collected their most valuable property, and crossed to the left bank of the Vistula. They asked assistance from the Abbé Pradt, who was as disturbed as the Poles. He wrote to Wilna, where Bassano was installed as the emperor's representative, and at the same time addressed himself to General Reynier. The latter having called Prince Swartzenberg to his assistance, they both advanced upon the Bug, thus protecting the grand duchy, without being able to rejoin the grand army or support the general movement. Admiral Tchitchakoff had just signed the peace with the Turks, and was expected to come to Tormazoff's assistance.
Following Marshal Davout's advice, after mature consideration the emperor resolved at Vitebsk to advance with his main body from the banks of the Dwina upon those of the Dnieper, cross the latter at Rassasna, and ascend quickly to Smolensk. He reckoned upon finding the town without defence, and then by a sudden movement taking the Russian in flank, and so at last inflicting upon his enemies a great military disaster. The movements of the French army were to be concealed from the enemy behind the forests abounding everywhere. It was important to conceal our march from the Russians, who were about to form their junction at Smolensk.
The Emperor Napoleon was not alone in his enthusiastic ardor for battle. Prince Bagration was, like him, fervently wishing for the moment of conflict. The soldiers of high rank who were of Russian birth and manners, were greatly vexed and prejudiced against Barclay de Tolly, and his prudent tactics, every day accusing him of cowardice, and suspecting his patriotism. Born of a Scottish family which had long been settled in Russia, Barclay was ardently devoted to his adopted country, and could scarcely endure their unjust reproaches. The passion of the Russian generals at last gained the day, and the council of war resolved to take the offensive against the French cantonments. The projected march of our armies was unknown to the enemy when, on the 9th August, their vanguard made an attack upon General Sebastiani, who was badly defended. He at once called General Montbrun, and they both charged the Russian squadrons forty times in the course of the day, and then fell back upon Marshal Ney's forces. The Russians observed the solidity of our lines, saw the large force under Prince Eugène, and believed there were indications of a march towards St. Petersburg. Barclay took advantage of the uneasiness which he saw around him, and fell back upon Smolensk. The Emperor Napoleon now commenced the march.
On the morning of the 14th August, the whole army had crossed the Dnieper. With 175,000 men under the flags, an immense artillery, wagons and innumerable troops, the vast solitude of the ancient Borysthenes was suddenly transformed into a camp. The march continued towards Smolensk: before Krasnoe, after a rather keen fight, General Névéroffskoi was driven back to the town of Korytnia. Nearly all the corps had rejoined the emperor when, on the 16th August, the advance guard debouched before Smolensk. At a single glance of the eye, the generals were convinced that the town was in a state of defence. A useless attempt was made to take the citadel by storm; Ney, who had imprudently advanced, fell into an ambush, and was only with difficulty rescued by his light cavalry. The Russians were already seen occupying the heights on the right bank of the Dnieper, in the suburbs, and above the new town. Barclay had taken up his position there, and a large force occupied the old town on the left bank, both parts of the town being connected by a bridge. Prince Bagration had advanced beyond Smolensk, to protect the banks of the Dnieper, and prevent Napoleon, on crossing the river, from attacking the town and its defenders from behind.
Though the taking of Smolensk formed no part of his original plan, Napoleon was obliged to make the attack. The possession of that ancient and venerable town had great importance in the eyes of Russians. Nevertheless the emperor had the river sounded some distance off, hoping to find a ford which would allow of a surprise. It was impossible to throw over bridges, on account of the nearness of Prince Bagration, whose troops lay on the banks of the Kolodnia, a tributary of the Dnieper; and, so far as these observations were taken, the river was not fordable. Napoleon waited for a day, hoping that Barclay would leave the heights of the new town to offer him battle; and, on the Russian making no movement, the assault was ordered.
The fighting was continued a whole day on the 17th. The suburbs of the old town were in our hands, but the old enclosure, with its irregular brick towers, still resisted our attack. The Russians no longer made sallies, but defended themselves heroically behind the walls. Most of the emperor's lieutenants had been opposed to the siege, and Murat, it is said, wished to be killed. He went to a part which was incessantly battered by the guns from the ramparts, and said to his aides-de-camp, "Leave me alone here." Napoleon gave orders to cease the assault. Marshal Davout sent a party to reconnoitre, General Haxo braving a storm of fire to discover the weak point of the enclosure: and the attack was to begin again next morning at daybreak. "I must have Smolensk," said the emperor.
The Russians had already seen Napoleon's obstinacy, and felt that they could no longer repulse the efforts of our arms. The bombshells had already set fire to several parts, and during the night the whole of the town was in flames, kindled by the Russians. Their battalions were withdrawn, and the old town gradually evacuated. Barclay de Tolly prepared to follow their example. At sunrise Davout entered without difficulty into Smolensk in flames. The women and children, collected in the ancient Byzantine cathedral, seemed the mere remnant of a wretched population. Many men had fled; and the bridge, which joined both banks, being cut, the Russian army had started before us on the road to Moscow, without any possibility of our at once pursuing them. Napoleon passed on horseback through the smoking and blood-stained streets. Surgeon Larrey, faithful to the sentiments of humanity which always distinguished him, had the Russian wounded collected as well as the French.