Jealous of the maritime greatness and naval ascendency of England, and swayed by a chivalrous admiration of Napoleon, the capricious Czar changed his politics, allied himself with France, seized the British ships in his ports, and organized the Northern Confederacy, which was dissolved by the victory of Copenhagen. But ere the news of that event could reach his ear, Paul had met a terrible fate; for his tyrannies had so provoked his courtiers, that they declared his death to be essential to the welfare of the empire. At dead of night, in March 1801, the Emperor, in his regimentals, was reposing on a sofa, when the conspirators glided into his apartments. A hussar, who kept guard, opposing their entrance, was cut down with the stroke of a sabre; and the Emperor, awakening at the noise, sprang to his feet, and endeavored to intrench himself behind chairs and tables. Finding his assailants resolute, the Emperor implored mercy, and even promised to make them all princes; but observing that they were inexorable, he sprang forward to escape through a high window. At length a blow prostrated him on the floor, and a young Hanoverian, twining his sash round the victim’s neck, and giving one end to an accomplice, twisted with all his might till the life of the miserable Emperor was extinct. The conspirators then retired, without molestation, from the palace. At early morn the intelligence was bruited about that Paul had died of appoplexy; and, in the course of the day, his eldest son, Alexander, was proclaimed Emperor of all the Russias.
The new Czar, for awhile, maintained neutrality between contending nations; but in 1804, when the Duke d’Enghien was seized at Ettenheim, carried to Paris, and shot in the wood of Vincennes, he assumed an attitude of hostility toward Bonaparte, formed a coalition with Austria and England, and undertook a campaign. The rapid successes of the French so bewildered Mack that he capitulated at Ulm; and Napoleon, after his entry into Vienna, marching into Moravia to meet the Russians, encountered their army, with the remains of the Austrians, at Austerlitz, and obtained one of the most glorious victories on record. Another coalition was soon formed; and Napoleon, appearing in Poland, fought at Eylau a battle bloody and indecisive; but at Friedland he completely vanquished the Russians, and forced the Czar to sue for peace. On a raft on the river Niemen, a conference was held between Napoleon and the vanquished sovereigns of Prussia, Russia, and Austria. This resulted in the Peace of Tilsit, in the erection of the Duchy of Warsaw, and in the acknowledgment of the elector of Saxony as its sovereign.
Continental Europe was now at Napoleon’s feet; but against his prodigious power and inordinate ambition another confederation was formed; and, in this league, Russia took a conspicuous part. The Emperor of the French thereupon repaired to Dresden, and fruitlessly attempted to lure back the Czar to his interests. But failing in that object, Napoleon took the field at the head of four hundred thousand men, crossed the Niemen, and advanced to Wilna. The Diet of Warsaw, after proclaiming the liberation of their country, demanded that the invader should recognize the independence of Poland; and Napoleon, returning an evasive answer, drove the Russians before him to Smolensko, where preparations had been made to arrest his progress.
On the 16th of August, 1812, Napoleon was before the ancient city, and at noon next day the conflict began. The French, at the point of the bayonet, drove the Russians within the walls, and the battle raged fiercely till sunset; but, when night set in, the city was in flames. Next morning the French, entering without resistance, found the place abandoned, save by men who were yielding their latest breath amidst the glare of the conflagration; and Smolensko was soon a heap of ruins. The Russians, laying waste the country, retreated towards Moscow, and the command of their army was transferred to Prince Kutosoff, a hoary and experienced general, whose arrival was hailed with delight. He announced that no more retrograde movements should be made, encouraged the troops by his presence, and exhorted them to defend Moscow to the last. This place was the ancient and venerable capital of their Empire; and its vast suburbs, its magnificent buildings, its towers, its domes, its spires, and its terraces, rendered Moscow one of the most interesting places in Europe, and the pride of the Russian Empire.
Both leaders exercised their utmost ingenuity, and made their dispositions with military skill. Along the Russian lines priests bore the sacred relics that had been saved at Smolensko, and inspired the soldiers with religious enthusiasm; and while their breasts were yet glowing with excitement, Prince Kutosoff implored them, in lofty and inspiriting words, ‘to think of their wives, their children, and their Emperor, and to write their faith and fealty on the field of their country with the life’s blood of the invader and his legions.’
On the morning of the 7th of September, Napoleon, who, aware of his veteran antagonist’s genius, had become more cautious in his operations, issued from his tent, and addressed his officers and soldiers in befitting terms. The hostile armies then met at Borodino, and the contest was maintained for hours with desperate valor. At one time the victor of Austerlitz had the mortification to see the choicest of his troops driven from the field. Bayonets and sabres flashed, and artillery thundered till night arrived, when both parties laid claim to the victory. But the Russian general decided on leaving Moscow to its fate; the inhabitants precipitately abandoned their houses; and the governor formally evacuated the city at the head of forty thousand persons.
Next morning the French, glowing with exultation, presented themselves at the gate, and forced an entrance; but scarcely had they done so, when they became aware that Moscow was in a blaze. The Exchange, an extensive building, containing warehouses stored with valuable merchandise, was first consigned to the flames, and, subsequently, a strong wind prevailing, the whole city was a sheet of fire, and the sky was obscured by volumes of smoke. The pillage soon commenced, and Napoleon’s camp in the fields was filled with rich spoil.
But now, deprived of the prospect of wintering at Moscow, the position of the Emperor of the French became perilous in the extreme; for he had penetrated into the heart of a hostile country; the cold season was approching; and the ruined city offered no asylum from the rigor of the climate. He, therefore, humbled his pride so far as to commence negotiations with Alexander; but finding his efforts fruitless, after forty days he abandoned his scheme of conquest, and issued orders for a retreat. But the Russians, believing the conqueror of Europe to be at length in their power, were bent upon revenge; and Kutosoff remarked—‘The French have proclaimed the campaign terminated at Moscow, but on our part the warfare is about to begin.’
The retreat of Napoleon was disastrous beyond all precedent. The Russian armies seized every opportunity of attacking his troops; the winter set in with unusual severity and the troops were paralyzed with cold. The Cossacks, whose sole delight was war, under their celebrated leader, the Hetman Platoff, now mercilessly assailed the retiring legions, wrought fearful havoc, broke down bridges in the line of march, and harassed them on all sides. Scarcely had the French, after a day’s toilsome march, stretched themselves on the ground to enjoy a little repose, when these vigilant foes rushed impetuously into the camp, and, ere the sleepers could resist, slaughtered them in heaps, and carried off stores and artillery. A scene of unparalleled horrors ensued; and the situation of the French forces became quite desperate. Cold and famine preyed upon the troops; flights of ravens hovered over their line of march; and troops of dogs followed in the rear to consume their remains. The horses perished by thousands; the cannon and wagons were abandoned; and all military order was at an end.
With his army in this evil plight, Napoleon, on the 23d of November, had to cross the Beresina in presence of the enemy, and a scene, replete with horrors, occurred. The river, though covered with floating ice, was not yet frozen over, and rafts had to be constructed and launched under the enemy’s fire. Multitudes were engulfed in the waters; and the passage of the Beresina proved more fatal than the most sanguinary field.