It was, as it were, a return of the state of things brought about by the victory of Iganie, and which menaced the enemy with total ruin. Our main army was then near to Warsaw, composed of a force of considerable strength, and which, under the command of Skrzynecki, had been victorious in every battle. New troops had been formed there. Neither provisions nor forage had failed, for they were constantly sent from Warsaw to the army, in whatever quarter it might be.
The Russian army was, in the mean while, suffering under all the disadvantages which we have before described. Wearied and discouraged by the disasters of the campaign, posted in regions which they had devastated, and therefore suffering from scarcity; without hospitals for their sick and their wounded,—for the towns which contained them had been destroyed,—and with the cholera ravaging their ranks, that army was in the most precarious situation. The communications between the Russian provinces and the army were entirely cut off by the Polish Lithuanian corps. They received their provisions exclusively from Prussia; and, but for this assistance of Prussia, no one can doubt that Diebitsch would have been, before this, under the necessity of withdrawing from the country. The reader will also remember that at this time, the brave and skilful general Chrzanowski, had obtained repeated advantages over Rudiger, in the environs of Zamosc, and that the little corps of general Chlapowski which had entered, on the 20th of May, the Russian department of Bialystok, was acting with great advantages. From the Baltic to the Black Sea, the provinces of Podolia, Volhynia, Ukraine, as well as Lithuania and Samogitia, containing a population of twelve millions of inhabitants, were in a state of excitement, and would soon have risen in the holy cause. They were waiting only the arrival of our victorious troops. It cannot but be assumed, therefore, that if general Gielgud, at the head of the Polish corps in Lithuania, had acted with promptness and energy, the most happy results would have been achieved. It is, therefore, with the deepest chagrin, that I have to record that from the moment of the termination of the fortunate battle of Raygrod, all the operations of general Gielgud were not only deficient in energy, but altogether wrongly planned. The first fault which he committed, was not continuing to press the attack upon general Saken, after he had retired from Raygrod. Under the pretext that the soldiers were fatigued, the corps was encamped. This pretext was groundless, for the soldiers themselves demanded to be led in pursuit of the enemy. In this camp we passed the whole night, and left it [Plan XXXIII.] at the hour of nine the following morning; having given fifteen hours to the retreating enemy. We continued our march to Kowno, through the duchy of Augustow. On the 30th of May, we arrived at Suwalki (1) its capital, and remained there a day and a night, without any conceivable reason. The enemy, profiting by the slowness of our movements, escaped the certain destruction with which he had been threatened. On the 1st of June, we arrived at Kalwaryia (2), and at that town our corps was very uselessly divided into two parts, the larger (a), under general Gielgud, took the road to Gielgudyszki (3), on the Niemen,[68] to pass the river at that point. General Dembinski, with the remainder of the corps (b), continued on the main road, and on the 3d of June arrived at Alexota (4).
This separation of our forces into two bodies, to pass the Niemen at Gielgudyszki, was not recommended by any conceivable advantage, and, indeed, operated much to our injury. This plan of operations was also in opposition to the instructions, not only of the general in chief, but of the National Government, and obstructed the rapid execution of the great designs of the campaign.
In any plan for the occupation of a foreign country, the first object should be to get possession of the principal towns, for at those points are chiefly concentrated both the moral and physical resources of the country. Of Lithuania, the town of Wilno (5) is the capital. Against it all our plans should have been directed; and, in fact, the instructions of the government to general Gielgud were all to this effect. By a prompt occupation of that city, we should have unquestionably reaped the greatest advantages. As Wilno was the residence of the principal officers of the government of the province, it would have been there that all the arrangements could best be made for a provisional administration, and for the convocation of a conventional Diet of the people. In regard also to the formation of new forces, Wilno was the place that presented the greatest facilities.
Taking all these circumstances into view, it must be conceded that after the battle of Raygrod, the first object of general Gielgud ought to have been to march upon and to occupy Wilno with the utmost promptness. With this view, his course should have been, after masking his movement at Kowno, to have passed the Niemen (N) at Rumszyski (6), a village which was about sixteen English miles above Kowno (7) and in the direction of Wilno, while Gielgudyszki, on the other hand, was thirty-two miles below Kowno, and forty-eight from Rumszyski, and out of the direction of Wilno. With the exception of that of general Saken, no other Russian force was interposed between us and Wilno. Indeed the corps of general Chlapowski (c), with which he had traversed the department of Bialystok, was at that moment between Kowno and Wilno, and had we passed at Rumszyski, we should have been within but one day's march of him. It is evident, then, that Wilno would have fallen into our hands without a blow. All these advantages were sacrificed by making the passage at Gielgudyszki. General Saken, meeting with no interruption, thus escaped a second time, and marched from Kowno to Wilno. At the same time several other Russian corps began to concentrate themselves at Wilno.
The corps of general Dembinski, having maintained a moderate fire upon Kowno for two days, in order to mask our movements from the enemy, marched for Gielgudyszki, to follow the other corps in the passage of the river, at that point, on the 7th of June. Our troops thus entered the province of Lithuania, an interesting day for us, thus engaged in the effort to re-unite this dissevered portion of our country to its ancient parent. The manner in which the inhabitants of every village received us, expressive of the warmest satisfaction, showed that they regarded us as brothers. This reception deeply affected both soldiers and officers. They hailed us as their deliverers, and it is now a mournful reflection that, owing to the misconduct of our commanders, that enthusiasm, instead of leading to happy results, proved, in the end, only an aggravation of their misfortunes.
Leaving the corps of general Gielgud upon the Niemen, we will return again to the operations of the grand army, and of the different detached corps. Our main body, which, after the battle of Ostrolenka, retired towards Warsaw, was now at Praga, where the head-quarters of the commander in chief were fixed. General Skrzynecki, during the repose of the army, occupied himself with its re-organization.
In the environs of Zamosc, the corps of general Chrzanowski, in which the brave general Romarino commanded a brigade, was sufficient to keep the different Russian corps in check.
On the 3d of June, the Russian army, which, up to the present time, continued in the environs of Ostrolenka, on the left bank of the Narew, commenced its operations upon the right bank of that river. A considerable corps, amounting to 20,000 men, passed that river in the neighborhood of Prasnysz. The principal object of this corps was not to re-ommence hostilities, but to protect the large transports of provisions which were sent daily from Prussia. In the environs of Brzesc was the corps of general Kreutz. The Russian army thus fed by Prussia, remained inactive in their position at Ostrolenka, during which interval, and while he was perhaps contriving new plans for our subjugation, occurred the sudden death of marshal Diebitsch. He died at Kleczkowo, not far from Ostrolenka, on the 9th of June.[69]