World's Best Histories — Volume 7: France

by François Guizot; Madame de Witt

He was retreating, and every day of their march made them feel more and more the terrible difficulty, while proving its necessity. Napoleon marched at the head of his army with his staff, without joining the main body of the troops, or troubling himself about the fatigue and difficulty experienced at every step by Marshal Davout, who had been appointed to command the rear-guard and protect the retreat. General Grouchy's cavalry were already exhausted, and could not assist him in this painful duty. The marshal's old foot-soldiers alone remained—those who had so long fought under his orders, having been formed under his strict and severe discipline, and loving him while they feared him. At every stage Davout found some carriage or cart had disappeared, left behind by the exhausted horses and drivers, and he heard the cries of the wretched wounded men, henceforward delivered up to the lances of the Cossacks or the severities of the approaching winter. He saw unrolling and lengthening out before him that train behind the army, despised by the soldiers remaining under arms, and reinforced every day by laggards from all the corps. He was the last to arrive at the hindmost posts after the troops defiling past had eaten up all the resources of the villages and farms, burnt the shelters, and sacked what they were unable to carry off. The complaints and demands of the distinguished chief of his rear-guard made no impression on Napoleon. "March quicker!" he kept repeating, without admitting the marshal to see him, without ever going himself towards the rear of his army—apparently indifferent to the sufferings he had produced, absorbed in gloomy silence, surrounded by his lieutenants equally dejected. When passing Borodino, where the battle-field was still covered with the corpses, of which savage beasts were in undisputed possession, the rear-guard were still further encumbered by the transport of the wounded, who had formerly been left at Kolotskoi. Those whose wounds did not allow them to be removed were entrusted by Dr. Larrey to the cares of the Russians, whom he had cured. The army left Ghjat on the 1st November.

In spite of what was constantly being left behind from the baggage train, the difficulty of the march daily increased on account of fatigue, the want of horses, and the rigor of the climate. Marshal Davout often found himself compelled to blow up artillery wagons which he could not take further with him; and the cannon which were still dragged on became for the most part useless. Immediately before him marched Prince Eugène's forces. The viceroy, young and courageous, had not yet gained consummate experience of war: the marshal urged him to make haste first in crossing the Czarewo-Zaimitché and afterwards in the suburbs of Wiazma. Kutuzoff, at first deceived as to our movements, had advanced southwards after the battle of Malo-Jaroslawetz, but soon changed his direction and marched upon Wiazma. A preliminary engagement near the bridge of Czarewo had opened a passage for us. Then the march was again interrupted before Wiazma. The Russian army occupied the ground on the left of the road. Prince Eugène's forces, embarrassed by the convoy, had an engagement with the enemy on the morning of the 2nd November, and the cannon were making havoc in his ranks when Davout came to his assistance, and General Gerard making a dash at the enemy's artillery, quickly cleared the road again. At the noise of the cannon Marshal Ney halted in his march, and advanced behind a small tributary of the Wiazma. The battle began so vigorously on the part of our old soldiers that General Miloradowitch, who commanded the Russians, did not dare longer to intercept their retreat. The regiments defiled into Wiazma, but still continued firing. General Morand, who was in command of the last battalions, was not rid of the pursuing enemy till he reached the very camp, his soldiers presenting their bayonets. The troops, who had thus gained another victory, encamped in the woods, with no resource except the dying horses, which they slaughtered as they required them, roasting the joints at the bivouac fires. The exhausted soldiers slept.

Marshal Ney, in his turn, had charge of the rear-guard. The emperor felt himself condemned by the stern and impassible judgment of Davout, whom he had left alone to bear the heaviest burden; and he blamed the slowness of his movements for the unfortunate battle of Wiazma, and the responsibility of all the hardships undergone by the rear-guard. Like Massena in Portugal, Davout found himself in disgrace because he was blamed with faults which he had not committed, and which he was unable to rectify.

Meantime they had approached Smolensk. Alarming news awaited Napoleon at Dorogobouje. He had long reckoned on the assistance of the 9th corps, which Marshal Victor was bringing him from Germany. Scarcely had the new troops arrived at Smolensk, according to the emperor's order, than they found themselves obliged to go to the assistance of our left wing, which was threatened by Count Wittgenstein. A large reinforcement had joined the Russian army at this point. After a conference at Abo, in Finland (28th August, 1812), between the Prince Royal of Sweden and the Emperor Alexander, the Russian forces promised to Bernadotte for the conquest of Norway had advanced from Finland into Livonia. Marshal Macdonald was compelled to abandon the siege of Riga in order to support the Prussians on the lower Dwina. Marshal St. Cyr, in his turn, found himself threatened on the 18th October by forces superior to his own, and had fought a second battle before Polotsk, and successfully defended the town; but when attacked by Wittgenstein and the forces arrived from Finland, on both banks of the Dwina, he was compelled to withdraw behind the Oula (connected with the Berezina by the Lepel canal). Being severely wounded in the last engagement, he had given up the command to Marshal Oudinot, who was anxiously waiting for Marshal Victor's arrival. The approach of Admiral Tchitchakoff was already announced; returned from Turkey with a large army, the negotiator of the treaty of Bucharest had, with Tormazoff's assistance, driven General Reynier and Prince Schwartzenberg behind the marshes of Pinsk; and, after leaving General Sacken with 25,000 men to keep the allies in check, was now advancing towards the upper Berezina, to support Count Wittgenstein. Thus, on reaching Smolensk, Napoleon was about to find the place almost destitute of troops, while the left wing was in very great danger, attacked at the same time by Wittgenstein, the Finland troops, and Tchitchakoff. The supplies even were smaller than was expected, on account of the difficulty of conveyance. The soldiers were delighted as they came near Smolensk. The emperor knew that the halt must be short; nevertheless, he ordered Victor to join Oudinot immediately in order to make a joint attack upon Wittgenstein; and wrote General Reynier and the Austrians to pursue Admiral Tchitchakoff. He also asked for one of the divisions of Marshal Augereau to be sent from Germany; and separating the troops which still remained, in order to facilitate the food-supply during their journey, he continued his march upon Smolensk, whilst Prince Eugène took the road for Doukhowtchina, with instructions to protect Vitebsk if necessary.

The main army resumed its march on the 6th November. On the 7th and 8th the cold became so keen, and the ice on the roads so dangerous, that the horses could not advance, and it was necessary to leave behind some cannon. On the 9th the viceroy reached the banks of the Vop, a small stream which in winter becomes a rapid torrent, its channel being already choked with ice. Before the engineers had completed a bridge, the crowd of the soldiers and runaways rushed headlong upon it and broke it down. The cavalry forded the stream, the troops following them with the water up to their shoulders. The field-pieces, the baggage, and ammunition-wagons, one after another crushed down the banks and ploughed through the channel, frequently plunging into the mire, and being left there. It became impossible to cross; and the wretches who were following the army found themselves left behind, and delivered up to the vengeance of the Russians or the cruelties of the Cossacks, who ran up in eager hordes. In despair and terror, they struggled to cross the river, leaving behind them the wagons which still afforded them some supplies, and many perished. Even the soldiers who had fallen behind the army pillaged the baggage which had been abandoned on the bank. Blood flowed also in the midst of this horrible confusion, for the Cossacks, eager for booty, joined with the disbanded soldiers. Some brave men several times braved the dangers of crossing the stream to save the lives of the defenceless women and children.

On reaching Doukhowtchina, Prince Eugène learned that Vitebsk had fallen into the hands of Wittgenstein. Thus the cruel day's march just made by the army of Italy proved useless. The viceroy set fire to the small town where he found temporary shelter and a few supplies, and then advanced towards Smolensk, where Napoleon had arrived on the evening of the 9th.

There also there was nothing but discontent, dejection, and, for a short time, disorder. The emperor had only allowed the guard to enter the town, and both lodgings and provisions were reserved for this favorite corps, the only remnant saved from shipwreck, who had only undergone the hardships of the campaign without any share in the battles. The mob of camp-followers, deaf to discipline, forced open the gates, and general pillage had commenced when the emperor's order was modified. The troops lay down in the streets and squares, overpowered by fatigue, and fell down exhausted beside the fires which had been lighted. Then arrived Prince Eugène's troops, more decimated than all the others by the frightful disaster on the banks of the Vop. Marshal Ney had been fighting since they left Dorogobouje, sustaining all his soldiers by his indomitable courage and the steadiness of his physical and mental energy, playing in turns the part of general, captain, and soldier, seizing the musket as it fell from the hands of a dying grenadier to fire, himself, upon the enemy, and purposely slackening the march of the rear-guard in order to give time to all to reach Smolensk. The news brought there from all quarters, like bulletins of some deadly agony, no longer allowed even the soldiers the vain hope of several days of rest. General Hilliers, who had advanced according to orders on the Jelnia road, was surprised by the Russians, and having lost 2000 men, returned to Smolensk, to find himself degraded in the eyes of all the army, and was sent back to France, to be tried there by court-martial. Prince Schwartzenberg was doubtful, he said, about leaving Warsaw unprotected; and Admiral Tchitchakoff advanced unchecked, and was already threatening Minsk, where the great bulk of our supplies was collected together. Victor and Oudinot had not dared to risk a decisive engagement; and the two Russian armies were about to combine in order to bar our passage over the Berezina, the only way of safety to return to Poland. There was not a moment more to be lost in effecting that fatal junction. The emperor resolved to march immediately towards Vilna, still intending to make an attack upon Admiral Tchitchakoff, and entrusting the leaders of his left wing with the duty of at last defeating Wittgenstein. But by one of those blunders which seemed to indicate some failure in his genius and foresight, he ordered the marshals to follow him one after another; and taking no account of Kutuzoff's army, he left Smolensk on the 14th November. Prince Eugène, Davout, and Ney were to evacuate their cantonments on the 15th, 16th, and 17th respectively, and the gallant leader of the rear-guard was to bury the cannon, destroy the ammunition, and blow up the walls surrounding the town. The great army by this time scarcely amounted to 36,000 fighting men; and the cavalry, entirely under the orders of General Latour-Maubourg, only counted 1800 horse. Napoleon followed on the left bank the road from Smolensk to Orscha, without taking the precaution to place between him and General Kutuzoff the rapid current of the Dnieper. He was soon to pay dearly for this fault. Scarcely had he reached Krasnoe than he found General Sebastiani, who had preceded him, blockaded in a church by a body of the enemy. Kutuzoff was approaching with 50,000 soldiers, and making ready, with the assistance of several bands of Cossacks, to cut our long columns. On his march Napoleon found at every step ambulance-wagons, and those of runaways, half buried in the snow, and still containing frozen corpses. The emperor halted to wait for those corps which were to rejoin him, and were seriously exposed by their isolation. Prince Eugène had already forced a passage before Krasnoe upon the Lossmina, being therefore compelled to sacrifice Broussier's division, which remained in battle order, threatening the Russian army with a renewal of the attack upon the heights which had been vainly attempted on the evening before. All the rest of the main army succeeded in escaping, with the assistance of the darkness, and the snow, which deadened the noise of the footsteps. The troops left in the rear could only be saved by the approach of Davout and Ney.

On this occasion, once more, Napoleon recovered that unconquerable resolution which had carried him to the summit of power. Determined not to leave his army and lieutenants, he marched before them on the Smolensk road with his guards, who were henceforward subjected to all the hazards of battle. The village Koutkowo, occupied by the Russians, was retaken, the emperor himself being on foot, because the icy ground made riding impossible. The Russian batteries ploughed up the ground held by the French, and the noise of the battle was heard. Davout was at hand, after rallying the poor remainder of the Broussier division, and the artillery with Generals Lariboisière and Eblé; and dashing in dense columns with his four divisions upon General Miloradowitch, who defended the valley of the Lossmina, he soon opened a bloody passage, and rejoined the guard grouped round Napoleon. Krasnoe was thus surrounded by a semicircle of our troops, disputing the enemy's positions step by step; but Admiral Tormazoff was now on our rear, in order to hold the Orscha road. The emperor saw that he should be speedily hemmed in, and resolved to resume his march, without waiting for Ney's regiments. He thus devoted him to certain loss; but in the stern necessity which compelled him, Napoleon had not the courage to accept the responsibility of the act which he was about to accomplish. Ordering Mortier to start with the guards, he imposed on Davout the double duty of waiting for Ney and not separating himself from Mortier. In presence of these contradictory instructions, and with an overwhelming sense of their responsibility, Davout made an effort to hold his ground, his divisions having replaced on the plateau of Krasnoe the regiments of the young guard, which had now begun defiling towards Orscha. Napoleon marched in front with the old guard, undergoing as they went a deadly fire from the Russians. Tormazoff's columns seemed to wait for the final orders to cut the passage of what were left of the great army. Kutuzoff resisted the urgent advice of Tormazoff as well as the arguments and excitement of General Wilson, who had been sent to him by the English Government. "You think the old man is a fool," he said repeatedly, "that he is timid, and without energy: you are young, and don't understand. If Napoleon turned back, none of us dare meet him; he is still terrible. If I bring him back to the Berezina, ruined and without an army, I shall have accomplished my task." Thus protected by the terrible renown of his name, the emperor advanced to Liady.

Davout resisted to the last moment; but Marshal Mortier, who was hurrying to leave Krasnoe, urged him to start. The roads were about to be barred; the bullets were falling in showers on the little town; the marshal's three divisions only amounted to 5000 men, and all the rest of the army were being withdrawn. As he left the plateau of Krasnoe, Mortier ordered the guard to keep step. "You hear, soldiers?" cried General Laborde; "the general orders the ordinary step. Slow time, soldiers. March!" It was in the same way that Davout's troops defiled, constantly turning round to fire at the squadrons of the enemy's cavalry, closely pursuing them. When the exhausted corps were again brought together at Liady, the faces of all were still more gloomy than on the previous evening. Besides their physical sufferings, there was now added the burden of a bitter regret. Their desertion of Marshal Ney weighed on the consciences of all.

Ney had been warned neither of the danger which threatened him nor of the isolation in which he was to be left, because a courier sent by Davout was taken by the enemy. When he came face to face with Kutuzoff's army, before Krasnoe, he still felt sure of passing there, where his comrades had gone before him. A determined attack under a rain of shot having been unsuccessful, the marshal saw the uselessness of the attempt, and without for an instant losing his presence of mind or his courage, he resolved to effect a movement during the night towards the Dnieper, cross the river, and escape by the right bank, in order to regain the main army. "But if the Dnieper is not frozen, what shall we do?" said some of the officers. "It will be frozen!" retorted the general, curtly; "besides, frozen or not, we shall do as we can—but we shall cross."