Napoleon's Interview with Metternich--Advice of his Ministers and
Generals--Intelligence from Spain--Battle of Vittoria--Congress of
Prague Dissolved--Austria declares War--Battle of Dresden--Death of
Moreau--Battle of Culm--Surrender of Vandamme--Battles of
Grossbeeren, Wahlstadt, and Dennewitz--Napoleon retires from the
Elbe--The Battle of Leipsig--The Battle of Hanau--The Allies on the
Rhine.
England alone refused to send any representative to Prague, alleging
that Buonaparte had as yet signified no disposition to recede from his
pretensions on Spain, and that he had consented to the armistice with
the sole view of gaining time for political intrigue and further
military preparation. It may be doubted whether any of the allied powers
who took part in the congress did so with much hope that the disputes
with Napoleon could find a peaceful end. His recent successes were to
the general view dazzling, however in reality unproductive, and must
have been supposed to quicken the flame of his pride. But it was of the
utmost importance to gain time for the advance of Bernadotte; for the
arrival of new reinforcements from Russia; for the completion of the
Prussian organisation; and, above all, for determining the policy of
Vienna.
Metternich, the Austrian minister, repaired in person to Dresden; and,
while inferior diplomatists wasted time in endless discussions at
Prague, one interview between him and Napoleon brought the whole
question to a definite issue. The Emperor had hitherto seen in
Metternich only a smooth and elegant courtier, and he expected to bear
him down by military violence and rudeness. He assumed at once that
Austria had no wish but to drive a good bargain for herself, and asked
broadly, _What is your price? Will Illyria satisfy you? I only wish you
to be neutral--I can deal with these Russians and Prussians
single-handed._ Metternich stated plainly that the time in which Austria
could be neutral was past; that the situation of Europe at large must be
considered. Napoleon insinuated that he would be happy to dismember
Prussia, and give half her territories to Austria. Metternich replied
that his government was resolved to be gained by no share in the spoils
of others; that events had proved the impossibility of a steadfast
peace, unless the sovereigns of the continent were restored to the rank
of independence; in a word, that the Rhenish Confederacy must be broken
up; that France must be contented with the boundary of the Rhine, and
pretend no longer to maintain her usurped and unnatural influence in
Germany. Napoleon replied by a gross personal insult: _Come,
Metternich_, said he, _tell me honestly how much the English have given
you to take their part against me?_
The Austrian court at length sent a formal document, containing its
_ultimatum_: the tenor of which Metternich had sufficiently indicated in
this conversation. Talleyrand and Fouche, who had now arrived from
Paris, urged the Emperor to accede to the proffered terms. They
represented to him the madness of rousing all Europe to conspire for his
destruction, and insinuated that the progress of discontent was rapid in
France itself. Their arguments were backed by intelligence of the most
disastrous character from Spain. Wellington, on perceiving that Napoleon
had somewhat weakened his armies in that country, when preparing for his
Saxon campaign, had once more advanced from the Portuguese frontier. He
was now in possession of the supreme authority over the Spanish armies,
as well as the Portuguese and English, and had appeared in greater force
than ever. The French line of defences on the Douro had been turned and
abandoned: their armies had concentrated to withstand him at Vittoria,
and there, on the 21st of June, Joseph and Marshal Jourdan had sustained
a total defeat. The "Intrusive King" was now retreating towards the
Pyrenees, chased from post to post by an enemy who, as it seemed, bade
fair to terminate his campaign by an invasion of the south-western
provinces of France. Napoleon was urged by his military, as well as
political advisers, to appreciate duly the crisis which his affairs had
reached. Berthier, and indeed almost all the generals on whose opinions
he had been accustomed to place reliance, concurred in pressing him
either to make peace on the terms proposed, or to draw in his garrisons
on the Oder and Elbe, whereby he would strengthen his army with 50,000
veterans, and retire to the Rhine. There, they said, with such a force
assembled on such a river, and with all the resources of France behind
him, he might bid defiance to the united armies of Europe, and, at
worst, obtain a peace that would leave him in secure tenure of a nobler
dominion than any of the kings, his predecessors, had ever hoped to
possess. _Ten battles lost_, said he, _would not sink me lower than you
would have me to place myself by my own voluntary act; but one battle
gained enables me to seize Berlin and Breslau, and make peace on terms
compatible with my glory._ He proceeded to insult both ministers and
generals by insinuations that they were actuated by selfish motives;
complained haughtily that they seemed disposed to draw distinctions
between the country and the sovereign; and ended by announcing that he
did not wish for any plans of theirs, but their service in the execution
of his.
Thus blinded by arrogance and self-confidence, and incapable of weighing
any other considerations against what he considered as the essence of
his personal glory, Napoleon refused to abate one iota of his
pretensions--until it was too late. Then, indeed, whether more accurate
intelligence from Spain had reached him, or the accounts of those who
had been watching the unremitting preparations of the allies in his
neighbourhood, had at length found due weight--then, indeed, he did show
some symptoms of concession. A courier arrived at Prague with a note, in
which he signified his willingness to accede to a considerable number of
the Austrian stipulations. But this was on the 11th of August. The day
preceding was that on which, by the agreement, the armistice was to end.
On that day Austria had to sign an alliance, offensive and defensive,
with Russia and Prussia. On the night between the 10th and 11th, rockets
answering rockets, from height to height along the frontiers of Bohemia
and Silesia, had announced to all the armies of the allies this
accession of strength and the immediate recommencement of hostilities.
On neither side had the pending negotiation been permitted for a moment
to interrupt or slacken military preparation. Napoleon had sent
Beauharnois into Italy, to be ready in case of any Austrian
demonstration in that quarter; and General Wrede, with the Bavarian
army, guarded his rear. An Austrian army, 60,000 strong, was now ready
to pass the Alps; and, to watch Wrede, another corps of 40,000, under
the Prince of Reuss, had taken their station. These were minor
arrangements. The forces now assembled around Napoleon himself were
full 250,000 in number, and disposed as follows: Macdonald lay with
100,000 at Buntzlaw, on the border of Silesia; another corps of 50,000
had their headquarters at Zittau, in Lusatia; St. Cyr, with 20,000, was
at Pirna, on the great pass from Bohemia; Oudinot at Leipsig, with
60,000; while with the Emperor himself at Dresden remained 25,000 of the
imperial guard, the flower of France. The reader, on referring to the
map, will perceive that these corps were so distributed as to present a
formidable front on every point where it was likely the allies should
hazard an attack, and, moreover, so that Napoleon could speedily
reinforce any threatened position with his reserve from Dresden. For the
armies to be opposed were thus situated:--Behind the Erzgebirge, or
Metallic Mountains, and having their headquarters at Prague, lay _The
Grand Army of the Allies_ (consisting of 120,000 Austrians and 80,000
Russians and Prussians), commanded in chief by the Austrian general
Schwartzenberg. The French corps at Zittau and Pirna were prepared to
encounter these, should they attempt to force their way into Saxony,
either on the right or the left of the Elbe. The Second Army of the
Allies (consisting of 80,000 Russians and Prussians), called the _Army
of Silesia_, and commanded by Blucher, lay in advance at Breslau. The
French corps at Zittau and Buntzlau were in communication, and could
confront Blucher wherever he might attempt to approach the Elbe. Lastly
the Crown Prince of Sweden was at Berlin, with 30,000 of his own troops,
and 60,000 Russians and Prussians, Oudinot and Macdonald were so
stationed that he could not approach the upper valley of the Elbe
without encountering one or other of them, and they also had the means
of mutual communication and support. The French had garrisons at
Wittemberg, Magdeburg, and elsewhere on the Elbe; and between the main
armies of the Allies were various flying corps of Russian and Prussian
light troops.
On the whole, Dresden formed the centre of a comparatively small circle,
completely occupied by the French; while the Allies might be considered
as lying on part of a much wider circle beyond them. Napoleon had
evidently arranged his troops with a view of provoking his enemies to
make isolated assaults, and so beating them in detail. But he was now
opposed by generals well acquainted with his system of tactics, and who
had accordingly prepared a counter-scheme expressly calculated to baffle
the plan of arrangements on which he had reckoned. The commanders of the
three allied armies agreed--that whosoever of them should be first
assailed or pressed by the French, should on no account accept battle,
but retreat; thus tempting Napoleon in person to follow, leaving Dresden
open to the assault of some other great branch of their confederacy, and
so enabling them at once to seize all his magazines, to break the
communications between the remaining divisions of his army, and
interpose a hostile force in the rear of them all--between the Elbe and
the Rhine. The plan of the Allies is supposed to have been drawn up by
two generals who thoroughly understood the military system of
Napoleon--Bernadotte, the Crown Prince of Sweden and Moreau; who had
some time ere this accepted the invitation of the Emperor Alexander, and
returned from his American exile, to take part in the war--which now, in
the opinion of many Frenchmen, had for its object the emancipation of
France itself, as well as of the other countries of Europe. The conduct
of Moreau, in placing himself in the ranks of the Allies, will be
praised or condemned, according as men judge him to have been swayed by
patriotic motives, or by those of personal resentment and ambition.
There can be no question that his arrival brought a great accession of
military skill to their counsels.
Blucher made the first movement; and no sooner did Napoleon understand
that he was threatening the position of Macdonald than he quitted
Dresden (15th August) with his guard and a powerful force of cavalry,
and proceeded to the support of his lieutenant. The Prussian adhered
faithfully to the general plan, and retired across the Katsbach, in the
face of his enemies. Napoleon was still pursuing him in the direction of
the Neiss and Breslau, when he was informed that Schwartzenberg had
rushed down from the Bohemian hills. He instantly abandoned Blucher to
the care of Macdonald, and sent his guards back to Dresden, whither he
himself also began his journey early on the 23rd.
Having driven St. Cyr, and his 20,000 men, before him, Schwartzenberg
(with whom were the Sovereigns of Russia and Prussia in person) made his
appearance on the heights to the south of the Saxon capital, on the
25th. The army of St. Cyr had thrown themselves into the city, and it
was now surrounded with fortifications of considerable strength. Yet had
this vast host attacked it at once, there is every reason to believe it
must have fallen before Napoleon could have returned from Silesia. They
delayed, for whatever reason, until daybreak on the 26th; and then
assailed Dresden in six columns, each more numerous than its garrison.
St. Cyr already began to despair, when the imperial guard made their
appearance crossing the bridge from the Eastern side of the Elbe, and in
the midst of them Napoleon. A German author[63] says: "It was then that,
for the first time, I beheld his face. He came on with the eye of a
tyrant, and the voice of a lion, urging his breathless and eager
soldiers." Two sallies were on the instant executed by these troops, hot
as they were from their long and toilsome march. The Allies were driven
back for some space. Night set in, and the two armies remained in
presence till the morning. Then, amidst a fierce storm of wind and rain,
Napoleon renewed the battle. 200,000 men (such had been the rapid
decision of his orders to his various generals) were now gathered round
him, and he poured them out with such skill, on either flank of the
enemy's line that ere the close of the day, they were forced to withdraw
altogether from their attempt. Ney and Murat on the left flank, and
Vandamme on the right (at Pirna), had taken possession of the two chief
roads into Bohemia, and in consequence they were compelled to retreat by
the comparatively difficult country paths between. On either side 8000
men had been slain or wounded; but with the French there remained from
15 to 20,000 prisoners, and twenty-six cannon; and the ablest of all the
enemy's generals had fallen.
Early in the day Buonaparte himself ordered some half-dozen cannon to be
fired at once upon a group, apparently of reconnoitring officers, and
this was followed by a movement which was thought to indicate that some
personage of importance had been wounded. A peasant came in the evening,
and brought with him a bloody boot and a greyhound, both the property,
he said, of the great man who was no more: the name on the collar was
_Moreau_. Both his legs had been shot off. He continued to smoke a cigar
while they were amputated and dressed, in the presence of Alexander,
and died shortly after; thus, if he had erred, paying the early forfeit
of his errors.
But Fortune had only revisited the banners of her ancient favourite with
a momentary gleam of sunshine. The fatigues he had undergone between the
15th and the 28th of August would have broken any other frame, and they,
for the time, weakened his. It is said that a mess of mutton and garlic,
the only food he had tasted on the 26th, had besides deranged his
stomach. Unable to remain with the columns in the rear of
Schwartzenberg, he returned to Dresden weary and sick; and thenceforth
evil tidings awaited him.
Vandamme continued the pursuit on the Pirna road. Seduced by the
enormous prize which lay before him at Toeplitz, where the chief
magazines of the Allies had been established, and on which all their
broken columns were now endeavouring to reassemble, this rude and
hot-headed soldier incautiously advanced beyond the wooded heights of
Peterswald into the valley of Culm. A Russian corps suddenly turned on
him, and formed in line of battle. Their General, Count D'Osterman,
assured them that the life of "their Father" depended on their
steadfastness; and no effort could shake them. The battle continued till
night, when Vandamme ought undoubtedly to have retired to Peterswald. He
lingered till the morning of the 30th;--when behind him, on those very
heights, appeared the Prussian corps of Kleist, who had been wandering
and lost their way amidst the forests. The French rushed up the hill in
despair, thinking they were intercepted by design. The Prussians, on
their part, doubted not that some other division of Napoleon's force was
hard behind them, and rushed down--with the same fear, and the same
impetuosity. The Russians advanced and completed the disarray. The field
was covered with dead: Vandamme and nearly 8000 men laid down their
arms. Many eagles were taken--the rest of the army dispersed in utter
confusion among the hills.
This news reached Napoleon still sick at Dresden. "Such," said he to
Murat, "is the fortune of war--high in the morning--low ere night.
Between triumph and ruin there intervenes but a step." A map lay
stretched on the table before him; he took his compasses, and measuring
distances on it with an idle hand, repeated the lines of one of his
favourite poets:
"J'ai servi, commande, vaincu quarante annees;
Du monde, entre mes mains, j'ai vu les destinees;
Et j'ai toujours connu qu'en chaque evenement
Le destin des etats dependait d'un moment."
Hard on the tidings of Culm followed others of the same complexion. No
sooner did Blucher perceive that Napoleon had retired from Silesia, than
he resumed the offensive, and descended from the position he had taken
up at Jauer. He encountered Macdonald, who was by no means prepared for
this boldness, on the plains between Wahlstadt and the river Katsbach,
on the 26th of August, and after a hard fought day gained a complete
victory.[64] The French lost 15,000 men and 100 guns, and fell back on
Dresden. Oudinot, meanwhile, had advanced from Leipsig towards Berlin,
with the _view_ of preventing Bernadotte from effecting a junction with
Blucher, or overwhelming the French garrisons lower down the Elbe. The
Crown Prince, however, met and defeated him at Grossbeeren, on the 23rd
of August; took Luckau, where 1000 men were in garrison, on the 28th;
and continued to advance towards Wittemberg, under the walls of which
city Oudinot at length concentrated all his forces. Napoleon, perceiving
the importance of this point, sent Ney with new troops, and gave him the
chief command, with strict orders to force his way to Berlin; so placing
Bernadotte between the Leipsig army and himself at Dresden. Ney
endeavoured to pass the Swedes without a battle, but failed in this
attempt. A general action was forced on him on the 7th of September, at
Dennewitz. He also was wholly defeated; 10,000 prisoners and forty-six
guns remained in the hands of Bernadotte; and Ney retreated in confusion
upon Torgau.
Napoleon had now recovered his health and activity; and the exertions
which he made at this period were never surpassed, even by himself. On
the 3rd of September he was in quest of Blucher, who had now advanced
near to the Elbe; but the Prussian retired and baffled him as before.
Returning to Dresden he received the news of Dennewitz, and immediately
afterwards heard that Witgenstein had a second time descended towards
Pirna. He flew thither on the instant; the Russian also gave way,
according to the general plan of the campaign; and Buonaparte once more
returned to Dresden on the 12th. Again he was told that Blucher, on the
one side, and Witgenstein on the other, were availing themselves of his
absence, and advancing. He once more returned to Pirna: a third time the
Russian retired. Napoleon followed him as far as Peterswald, and, having
contemplated with his own eyes the scene of Vandamme's catastrophe, once
more returned to his centre-point.
Not all Ney's exertions could prevent Bernadotte and Blucher from at
length effecting their junction to the west of the Elbe. The Marshal,
having witnessed the combination of these armies, retreated to Leipsig.
Napoleon ordered Regnier and Bertrand to march suddenly from Dresden on
Berlin, in the hope of recalling Blucher; but the veteran persisted.
Meantime Schwartzenberg was found to be skirting round the hills to the
westward, as if for the purpose of joining Blucher and Bernadotte, in
the neighbourhood of Leipsig. It became manifest to all that Dresden had
ceased to be the key of Napoleon's defence: yet he clung to the Elbe, as
he had done to the Kremlin.
He lingered at Dresden at least three weeks after all rational hope of
holding that river was gone; and even at the last, when he perceived the
necessity of transferring his person to Leipsig, he could not be
persuaded to call in his garrisons scattered down the valley, which he
still hoped some turn of events would enable him to revisit in triumph.
Towards Leipsig, however, as on a common centre, the forces of France,
and all her enemies, were now at length converging. Napoleon reached
that venerable city on the 15th of October, and almost immediately the
heads of Schwartzenberg's columns began to appear towards the south. It
was necessary to prepare on the northern side also, in case Bernadotte
and Blucher should appear ere the grand army was disposed of; and,
lastly, it was necessary to secure effectually the ground to the west of
Leipsig;--a series of marshy meadows interfused with the numerous
branches of the Pleiss and the Elster, through which lies the only road
to France. Napoleon having made all his preparations, reconnoitred every
outpost in person, and distributed eagles, in great form, to some new
regiments which had just joined him. The ceremonial was splendid: the
soldiers knelt before the Emperor, and in presence of all the line:
military mass was performed, and the young warriors swore to die rather
than witness the dishonour of France. Upon this scene the sun descended;
and with it the star of Napoleon went down for ever.
At midnight three rockets, emitting a brilliant white light, sprung into
the heavens to the south of the city; these marked the position on which
Schwartzenberg (having now with him the Emperor of Austria, as well as
Alexander and Frederick William) had fixed his headquarters. They were
answered by four rockets of a deep red colour, ascending on the instant
from the northern horizon; and Napoleon doubted not that he was to
sustain on the morrow the assault of Blucher and Bernadotte, as well as
of the grand army of the Allies. Blucher was indeed ready to co-operate
with Schwartzenberg; and though the Crown Prince had not yet reached his
ground, the numerical superiority of the enemy was very great.
Buonaparte had with him, to defend the line of villages to the south and
north of Leipsig, 136,000 men; while, even in the absence of Bernadotte,
who might be hourly looked for, the Allies mustered not less than
230,000.
The battle commenced on the southern side, at daybreak of the 16th. The
Allies charged the French line there six times in succession, and were
as often repelled. Napoleon then charged in his turn, and with such
effect, that Murat's cavalry were at one time in possession of a great
gap between the two wings of the enemy. The Cossacks of the Russian
imperial guard, however, encountered the French horse, and pushed them
back again. The combat raged without intermission until nightfall: three
cannon shots, discharged at the extremity of either line, then marked as
if preconcertedly, the pause of battle; and both armies bivouacked
exactly where the morning light had found them. Such was the issue on
the south, where Napoleon himself commanded. Marmont, his lieutenant on
the northern side, had been less fortunate. Blucher attacked him with a
vast superiority of numbers: nothing could be more obstinate than his
defence; but he lost many prisoners and guns, was driven from his
original ground, and occupied, when the day closed, a new line of
positions, much nearer the walls of the city.
Gallant as the behaviour of his troops had been, the result satisfied
Napoleon that he must finally retreat from Leipsig; and he now made a
sincere effort to obtain peace. General Mehrfeldt, the same Austrian
officer who had come to his headquarters after the battle of Austerlitz,
to pray for an armistice on the part of the Emperor Francis, had been
made prisoner in the course of the day, and Napoleon resolved to employ
him as his messenger. Mehrfeldt informed him that the King of Bavaria
had at length acceded to the alliance. This intelligence added to his
perplexities, already sufficiently great, the prospect of finding a new
enemy stationed on the line of his march to France. He entreated the
Austrian to request for him the personal intercession of Francis. "I
will renounce Poland and Illyria," said he, "Holland, the Hanse Towns,
and Spain. I will consent to lose the sovereignty of the kingdom of
Italy, provided that state remain as an independent one--and I will
evacuate all Germany. Adieu! Count Mehrfeldt, when on my part you name
the word armistice to the two Emperors, I doubt not the sound will
awaken many recollections."
It was now too late: the Allied Princes had sworn to each other to
entertain no treaty while one French soldier remained on the Eastern
side of the Rhine. Napoleon received no answer to his message; and
prepared for the difficult task of retreating with 100,000 men, through
a crowded town, in presence of an enemy already twice as numerous, and
in early expectation of being joined by a third great and victorious
army.
During the 17th the battle was not renewed, except by a distant and
partial cannonade. The Allies were resolved to have the support of
Bernadotte in the decisive contest.
At eight in the morning of the 18th it began, and continued until
nightfall without intermission. Buonaparte had contracted on the south,
as well as on the north, the circuit of his defence; and never was his
generalship, or the gallantry of his troops, more brilliantly displayed
than throughout this terrible day. Calm and collected, the Emperor again
presided in person on the southern side, and again, where he was
present, in spite of the vast superiority of the enemy's numbers, the
French maintained their ground to the end. On the north, the arrival of
Bernadotte enabled Blucher to push his advantages with irresistible
effect; and the situation of Marmont and Ney (now also stationed on that
side) was further perplexed by the shameful defection of 10,000 Saxons,
who went over with all their artillery to the enemy, in the very midst
of the battle. The two marshals, therefore, were compelled to retire
from point to point, and at nightfall lay almost close to the walls of
Leipsig. Three cannon shot, as before, marked the general termination of
the battle.
The loss on either side had been great. Napoleon's army consisted
chiefly of very young men--many were merely boys--the produce of his
forestalled conscriptions: yet they fought as bravely as the guard. The
behaviour of the Germans, on the other hand, at length considering their
freedom and independence as hanging on the fortune of a single field,
had been answerable to the deep enthusiasm of that thoughtful people.
The burghers of Leipsig surveyed from their towers and steeples one of
the longest, sternest, and bloodiest of battles: and the situation of
the King of Saxony, who remained all the while in the heart of his
ancient city, may be imagined.
Napoleon gave orders at midnight for the commencement of the inevitable
retreat; and while the darkness lasted, the troops continued to file
through the town, and across the two bridges, over the Pleisse, beyond
its walls. One of these bridges was a temporary fabric, and it broke
down ere daylight came to show to the enemy the movement of the French.
The confusion necessarily accompanying the march of a whole army,
through narrow streets and upon a single bridge, was fearful. The Allies
stormed at the gates on either side, and, but for the heroism of
Macdonald and Poniatowski, to whom Napoleon entrusted the defence of the
suburbs, it is doubted whether he himself could have escaped in safety.
At nine in the morning of the 19th, he bade farewell for ever to the
King of Saxony, who remained to make what terms he could with the allied
sovereigns. The battle was ere then raging all round the walls.
At eleven o'clock the Allies had gathered close to the bridge from
either wing; and the walls over against it had been entrusted to Saxons,
who now, like their brethren of the day before, turned their fire on the
French. The officer to whom Napoleon had committed the task of blowing
up the bridge, when the advance of the enemy should render this
necessary, conceived that the time was come, and set fire to his train.
The crowd of men, urging each other on the point of safety, could not at
once be stopped. Soldiers and horses, cannons and wains, rolled headlong
into the deep though narrow river; which renewed, though on a smaller
scale, the horrors of the Beresina. Marshal Macdonald swam the stream in
safety: the gallant Poniatowski, the hope and pride of Poland, had been
twice wounded ere he plunged his horse into the current, and he sank to
rise no more. Twenty-five thousand Frenchmen, the means of escape
entirely cut off, laid down their arms within the city. Four Princes,
each entering at the head of his own victorious army, met at noon in the
great market-place at Leipsig: and all the exultation of that solemn
hour would have been partaken by the inhabitants, but for the fate of
their own sovereign, personally esteemed and beloved, who now vainly
entreated to be admitted to the presence of the conquerors, and was sent
forthwith as a prisoner of war to Berlin.
Napoleon, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, lost at Leipsig at least
50,000 men.
The retreat of the French through Saxony was accompanied with every
disaster which a hostile peasantry, narrowness of supplies, and the
persevering pursuit of the Cossacks and other light troops could inflict
on a disordered and disheartened mass of men. The soldiers moved on,
while under the eye of Napoleon, in gloomy silence: wherever he was not
present, they set every rule of discipline at nought, and were guilty of
the most frightful excesses. The Emperor conducted himself as became a
great mind amidst great misfortunes. He appeared at all times calm and
self-possessed; receiving, every day that he advanced, new tidings of
evil.
He halted for two days at Erfurt, where extensive magazines had been
established, employing all his energies in the restoration of
discipline: and would have remained longer, had he not learned that the
victors of Leipsig were making progress on either flank of his march,
while the Bavarians (so recently his allies), reinforced by some
Austrian divisions, were moving rapidly to take post between him and the
Rhine. He resumed his march, therefore, on the 25th. It was here that
Murat quitted the army. Notwithstanding the unpleasant circumstances
under which he had retired to Naples in January, Joachim had reappeared
when the Emperor fixed his headquarters at Dresden in the summer, and
served with his usual gallantry throughout the rest of the campaign. The
state of Italy now demanded his presence; and the two brothers-in-law,
after all their differences, embraced each other warmly and repeatedly
at parting--as if under a mutual presentiment that they were parting to
meet no more.
The Austro-Bavarians had taken up a position amidst the woods near Hanau
before the Emperor approached the Mayne. He came up with them in the
morning of the 30th, and his troops charged on the instant with the fury
of desperation. Buonaparte cut his way through ere nightfall; and
Marmont, with the rear, had equal success on the 31st. In these actions
there fell 6000 of the French; but the enemy had 10,000 killed or
wounded, and lost 4000 prisoners, and these losses would have been far
greater but for the ready wit of a patriotic miller, who, watching the
tide of battle, suddenly let the water into his mill-stream, and thus
interposed a seasonable obstacle between the French cavalry and some
German infantry, whom they had been driving before them; a service which
the King of Prussia subsequently rewarded with munificence.
The pursuit on the road which Napoleon adopted had been entrusted to the
Austrians, who urged it with far less vigour than the Prussians under
the fiery guidance of Blucher would probably have exerted. No
considerable annoyance, therefore, succeeded to the battle of Hanau. The
relics of the French host at length passed the Rhine; and the Emperor
having quitted them at Mentz, arrived in Paris on the 9th of November.
The armies of Austria and Prussia at length halted on the Rhine. To the
Germans of every age this great river has been the object of an
affection and reverence scarcely inferior to that with which an Egyptian
contemplates the Nile, or the Indian his Ganges. When these brave bands
having achieved the rescue of their native soil, came in sight of this
its ancient landmark, the burden of an hundred songs, they knelt, and
shouted _the Rhine! the Rhine!_ as with the heart and voice of one man.
They that were behind rushed on, hearing the cry, in expectation of
another battle.
[Footnote 63: Hoffman's Account of his own Life.]
[Footnote 64: Blucher was created Prince of Wahlstadt.]