One of these three men went into the city, and returned in haste, bringing the news of a great victory. "Vive l'empereur!" cried he; "la bataille est gagnée." When I inquired the particulars, he related, in the most confident manner, that an Austrian prince had been taken, with 30,000 men, and that they were already singing Te Deum in the city. This story seemed extremely improbable to me, as the cannonade was at that moment rather approaching than receding from us. I expressed my doubts of the fact, and told him that the battle could not possibly be yet decided. The man, however, would not give up the point, but insisted that the intelligence was official. When I asked him if he had seen the captive prince and the 30,000 Austrians, as they must certainly have been brought into the city, he frankly replied that he had not. Several persons from the town had seen no more of them than he, so that I could give a shrewd guess what degree of credit was due to the story.
In the afternoon of the 17th marshal Ney suddenly appeared at the door with a numerous retinue, and without ceremony took up his quarters in the house. I saw nothing of the emperor all that day, nor did any circumstance worthy of notice occur. On the 18th, at three in the morning, Napoleon came quite unexpectedly in a carriage. He went immediately to marshal Ney, with whom he remained in conversation about an hour. He then hastened away again, and was soon followed by the marshal, whose servants staid behind. His post must have been a very warm one; for before noon he sent for two fresh horses, and a third was fetched in the afternoon. The cannonade grow more violent, and gradually approached nearer. I became more and more convinced that the pompous story of the victory the day before was a mere gasconade. So early as twelve o'clock things seemed to be taking a very disastrous turn for the French. About this time they began to fall back very fast upon the city. Shouts of Vice l'empereur! suddenly resounded from thousands of voices, and at this cry I saw the weary soldiers turn about and advance. Appearances nevertheless became still more alarming. The balls from the cannon of the allies already fell very near us. One of them indeed was rude enough to kill a cow scarcely five paces from me, and to wound a Pole.
The French all this time could talk of nothing but victories, with which Fortune had, most unfortunately, rendered them but too familiar. One messenger of victory followed upon the heels of another. "General Thielemann," cried an aid-de-camp, "has just been taken, with 6000 men; and the emperor ordered him to be instantly shot on the field of battle."—The most violent abuse was poured forth upon the Saxons, and I now learned that great part of them had gone over to the allies in the midst of the engagement. Heartily as I rejoiced at the circumstance, I nevertheless joined the French officers in their execrations. The concourse kept increasing; the wounded arrived in troops. Towards evening every thing attested that the French were very closely pressed. A servant came at full gallop to inform us that marshal Ney might shortly be expected, and that he was wounded. The whole house was instantly in an uproar. Mon Dieu, mon Dieu!—cried one to another—le prince est blessé—quel malheur! Soon after the marshal himself arrived; he was on foot, and supported by an aid-de-camp. Vinegar was hastily called for. The marshal had been wounded in the arm by a cannon-ball, and the pain was so acute that he could not bear the motion of riding.
The houses in the village were every where plundered, and the inhabitants kept coming in to solicit assistance. I represented their distress to an aid-de-camp, who only shrugged his shoulders, and gave the miserable consolation that it was now impossible for him to put a stop to the evil.
At length, early on the 19th, we appeared likely to get rid in good earnest of the monster by which we had been so dreadfully tormented. All the French hurried in disorder to the city, and our sauvegarde also made preparations to depart. Already did I again behold in imagination the pikes of the Cossacks. All the subsequent events followed in rapid succession. My gens d'armes were scarcely gone when a very brisk fire of sharp-shooters commenced in our neighbourhood. In a few moments Pomeranian infantry poured from behind through the garden into the house. They immediately proceeded, without stopping, to the city. It was only for a few minutes that I could observe with a glass the confused retreat of the French. Joy at the long wished-for arrival of our countrymen and deliverers soon called me away. The galling yoke was now shaken off, probably for ever. I bade a hearty welcome to the brave soldiers; and, as I saw several wounded brought in, I hastened to afford them all the assistance in my power. I may ascribe to my unwearied assiduity the preservation of the life of lieutenant M**, a Swedish officer, who was dangerously wounded; and by means of it I had likewise the satisfaction to save the arm of the Prussian captain Von B***, which, but for that, would certainly have required amputation. On the other hand, all my exertions in behalf of the Swedish major Von Döbeln proved unavailing; I had the mortification to see him expire.
I was incessantly engaged with my wounded patients, while more numerous bodies of troops continued to hasten towards the town. We now thought ourselves fortunate in being already in the rear of the victorious army; but the universal cry was, 'What will become of poor Leipzig?' which was at this moment most furiously assaulted. Various officers of distinction kept dropping in. The Swedish adjutant-general Güldenskiöld arrived with the captive general Reynier, who alighted and took up his abode in the apartment in which the emperor had lodged. He was followed by the Prussian colonel Von Zastrow, a most amiable man, and soon after the Prussian general Von Bülow arrived with his suite.
Our stock of provisions was almost entirely consumed, and you may conceive my vexation at being unable, with the best will in the world, to treat our ardently wished-for guests in a suitable manner. I had long been obliged to endure hunger myself, and to take it as an especial favour if the French cooks and valets had the generosity to allow me a small portion, of the victuals with which they were supplied.
At the very moment when marshal Ney arrived, a fire had broken out in the neighbourhood, through the carelessness of the French. I hastened to the spot, to render assistance, if possible. It was particularly fortunate, considering the violence of the wind, and the want of means to extinguish the flames, that only two houses were destroyed. The fire-engines and utensils provided for such purposes had been carried off for fuel to the bivouacs. Such of the inhabitants of the village as had not run away, just now kept close in their houses, not daring to venture abroad. A number of unfeeling Frenchmen stood about gazing at the fire, without moving a finger towards extinguishing it. I called out to them to lend a hand to check the progress of the conflagration. A scornful burst of laughter was the only reply: the scoundrels would not stir, and absolutely could not contain their joy whenever the flames burned more furiously than usual. At the same time I witnessed proceedings, of which the wildest savage would not have been guilty. I saw these same wretches, who, a few days afterwards, voraciously devoured before my face the flesh of dead horses, and even human carcasses, wantonly trample bread, already so great a rarity, like brute beasts in the dirt.
For six or eight nights I had not been able to get a moment's sleep or rest, so that at last I reeled about like one drunk or stupid. The only wonder is that my health was not impaired by these super-human exertions. My dress and general appearance were frightful. When the wounded Swedish officer was brought in, he of course wanted a change of linen. Not a shirt was to be procured any where, and I cheerfully gave him that which I had on my back; so that I was obliged to go without one myself for near three days. Several times during the stay of the French I had assisted in extinguishing fires: even the presence of marshal Ney was not sufficient to make the French in our houses at all careful in the use of fire. Those thoughtless fellows took the first combustible that fell into their hands, and lighted themselves about with it in every corner. They ran with burning wisps of straw among large piles of trusses, and this was often done in the house where the marshal lay, without its being possible to prevent the practice. A French aid-de-camp, in my presence, took fifty segars out of my bureau, just at the moment when I was too busy to hinder him. Whether he likewise helped himself to some fine cravats which lay near them, and which I afterwards missed, I will not pretend to say.
I have suffered a little, you see; but yet I have fortunately escaped the thousands of dangers in which I was incessantly involved. Never while I live shall I forget those days. That same divine Providence which was so manifestly displayed in that arduous conflict, and which crowned the efforts of the powers allied in a sacred cause with so glorious and so signal a victory, evidently extended its care to me. After the battle of Jena, in 1806, Napoleon declared in our city that Leipzig was the most dangerous of his enemies. Little did he imagine that it would once prove so in a very different sense from that which he attached to those words. Here the arm of the Most High arrested his victorious career, of which no mortal eye could have foreseen the termination. I would not exchange the glory—which I may justly assume—the glory of having saved the property of my worthy employer, as far as lay in my power, during those tremendous days of havoc and devastation, for the laurel wreath with which French adulation attempts most unseasonably to entwine the brow of the imperial commander, on account of the battle of Leipzig.