_Napoleon reaches Leipsic on 15th of October--Statement of the
French and Allied Forces--BATTLE OF LEIPSIC, commenced on 16th, and
terminates with disadvantage to the French at nightfall--Napoleon
despatches General Mehrfeldt (his prisoner) to the Emperor of
Austria, with proposals for an armistice--No answer is returned--The
battle is renewed on the morning of the 18th, and lasts till night,
when the French are compelled to retreat, after immense loss on both
sides--They evacuate Leipsic on the 19th, the Allies in full
pursuit--Blowing up of one of the bridges--Prince Poniatowski
drowned in the Elster--25,000 French are made prisoners--The Allied
Sovereigns meet in triumph, at noon, in the Great Square at
Leipsic--King of Saxony sent under a Guard to Berlin--Reflections._
The last act of the grand drama, so far as the scene lay in Germany, was
now fast approaching.
During the two first weeks of October, the various movements of the
troops had been of an indecisive character; but after the 14th, when the
belligerent powers became aware of each other's plans, the corps of the
allies, as well as those of the French, streamed towards Leipsic as to a
common centre.
Leaving Duben, the Emperor reached Leipsic early on the 15th of October,
and received the agreeable information that his whole force would be in
twenty-four hours under the walls; that the grand army of Austria was
fast approaching; but that his demonstration against Berlin had alarmed
Blucher, and therefore that maréchal might be longer of advancing, from
his anxiety to protect the Prussian capital. An opportunity of fighting
the one army without the presence of the other, was what Napoleon most
anxiously desired.
In the meantime, cannon were heard, and shortly after Murat brought an
account of a desperate cavalry skirmish, in which each party claimed the
victory. He himself, marked by the splendour of his dress, had with
difficulty escaped from a young Prussian officer, who was killed by an
orderly dragoon that waited upon the King of Naples. Another remarkable
circumstance in this skirmish was, the distinguished behaviour of a
Prussian regiment of cuirassiers. When complimented on their behaviour,
they replied, "Could we do otherwise?--this is the anniversary of the
battle of Jena." Such a spirit prevailed among the allies, nor is it to
be supposed that that of the French was inferior. If the one had wrongs
to avenge, the other had honours to preserve.
The venerable town of Leipsic forms an irregular square, surrounded by
an ancient Gothic wall, with a terrace planted with trees. Four
gates--on the north those of Halle and Ranstadt, on the east the gate of
Grimma, and on the south that called Saint Peter's gate--lead from the
town to the suburbs, which are of great extent, secured by walls and
barriers. Upon the west side of the town, two rivers, the Pleisse and
the Elster, wash its walls, and flowing through meadows, divide
themselves into several branches, connected by marshy islands. Leipsic
cannot, therefore, be esteemed capable of approach by an enemy in that
direction, excepting by a succession of bridges which cross those rivers
and their connecting streams. The first of these bridges leads to a
village called Lindeneau, and thence to Mark-Ranstadt. It is close to
the gate of the city which takes its name from that village. This road
forms the sole communication betwixt Leipsic and the banks of the Rhine.
On the east side, the river Partha makes a large semicircular bend
around the city, enclosing extensive plains, with various heights and
points of elevation, which make it well adapted for a military position;
on the south the same species of ground continues, but more broken into
eminences, one of which is called the Swedish Camp, from the wars,
doubtless, of Gustavus Adolphus; another is called the Sheep-walk of
Meusdorf; it is then bounded by the banks of the Pleisse. This line is
marked by a variety of villages, which, in the fearful days which we are
now to describe, gained a name in history. About the village of
Connewitz begins the marshy ground, inundated by the Pleisse and Elster.
[Sidenote: FRENCH AND ALLIED FORCES.]
It was on this last line that, on the 15th October, the columns of the
grand army of the allies were seen hastily advancing. Napoleon
immediately made his arrangements for defence. Lindenau, through which
ran the Mark-Ranstadt road, by which the French must retreat, was
occupied by Bertrand. Poniatowski, advancing to the right bank of the
Pleisse, held all the villages along the side of the river--Connewitz,
Lofsnig, Dooblitz, and so on to Markleberg. As the line of defence swept
to the eastward, Augereau was established on the elevated plain of
Wachau. He was supported by Victor and Lauriston at a considerable
village called Leibertwolkowitz. Cavalry were posted on the wings of
these divisions. The Imperial Guards were placed in the rear as a
reserve, at a village named Probstheyda; and Macdonald occupied a gentle
and sweeping rising-ground, extending from Stoetteriz to Holzhausen.
On the opposite, that is, the northern side of the city, Marmont
occupied a line betwixt Moeckern and Euterizt. His troops were intended
to make head against Blucher, whose approach from the north was
momentarily to be apprehended. Almost all along the ground thus
defended, but especially on the south front, the allies had prepared
columns of attack; and the sentinels of both armies were, when evening
fell, in some places within musket-shot of each other. Neither side,
however, seemed willing to begin the battle, in which the great question
was to be decided, whether France should leave other nations to be
guided by their own princes, or retain the unnatural supremacy with
which she had been invested by the talents of one great soldier.
The number of men who engaged the next morning, was said to be 136,000
French, omitting the corps of Souham, who was not engaged, and of
Regnier, who was not yet come up. The allies are by the same accounts
rated at 230,000, without counting the division of the Crown Prince, or
that of Bennigsen, which had not as yet joined. Almost all the
statements assign a predominating force to the allies of 80,000 or
100,000 men superior to their enemy. It thus appears that they had at
last acted according to Napoleon's own idea of the art of war, which he
defined as the art of assembling the greatest number upon a given point.
Napoleon himself visited all the posts, gave his last orders, and took
the opportunity, as he frequently did on the eve of battle, to
distribute eagles to those regiments of Augereau's division, which,
being new levies, had not yet received these military emblems. The
ceremony, performed with warlike pomp, may remind the reader of the
ancient fashion of making knights on the eve of a battle. The soldiers
were made to swear never to abandon their eagles; and the Emperor
concluded by saying, in a loud voice, "Yonder lies the enemy. Swear that
you will rather die than permit France to be dishonoured."--"We swear
it!" exclaimed the battalions. "Long live the Emperor!" And
unquestionably they kept their word in the tremendous series of actions
which followed.
Napoleon's preparations were made chiefly upon the southern side of
Leipsic. It has been supposed, though, we think, with small probability,
that he scarce expected a serious attack upon the northern side at all.
In the evening, however, of the 15th, three death-rockets (_feux de
mort_,) displaying long brilliant trains of white light, were observed
to rise high in the southerly quarter of the heavens, and they were
presently answered by four of a red colour, which were seen in the
distant north. It was concluded that these were signals of communication
between the grand army of the allies, and those of the Crown Prince and
Blucher. The latter, therefore, must be at no incalculable distance.
Napoleon remained in the rear of his own guards, behind the central
position, almost opposite to a village called Gossa, which was occupied
by the allies.
At break of day, on the 16th October, the battle began. The French
position was attacked along all the southern front with the greatest
fury. On the French right, the village of Markleberg was fiercely
assaulted by Kleist, while the Austrian division of Mehrfeldt, making
their way through the marshes to the left bank of the Pliesse,
threatened to force themselves across that river. Poniatowski, to whom
the defence was confided, was obliged to give ground, so that the
Emperor was compelled to bring up the troops under Souham, which had
joined during the night, and which had been designed to support Marmont
on the north of Leipsic. Maréchal Victor defended the village of Wachau,
in front of the position, against Prince Eugene of Wirtemberg. The town
of Leibertwolkowitz was made good by Lauriston against Klenau. The
allies made six desperate attempts on these points, but all were
unsuccessful. They were now something in the condition of wrestlers who
have exhausted themselves in vain and premature efforts; and Napoleon in
turn assuming the offensive, began to show his skill and power.
[Sidenote: BATTLE OF LEIPSIC.]
Macdonald was ordered to attack Klenau, and beat him back from
Leibertwolkowitz, with the cavalry of Sebastiani; while two divisions
descended to sustain General Lauriston. It was about noon when this
general advance took place along the centre of the French. It was for
some time fearfully successful. The village of Gossa, hitherto occupied
by the allies, and in the very centre of their line, was carried by the
bayonet. The eminence called the Sheepwalk was also in danger of being
lost, and the exertions of Macdonald put him in possession of the
redoubt called the Swedish Camp. The desperate impetuosity of the French
had fairly broken through the centre of the allies; and Napoleon, as if
desirous not to lose a moment in proclaiming his supposed victory, sent
the tidings to the King of Saxony, who commanded all the church-bells in
the city to be rung for rejoicing, even while the close continued roar
of the cannon seemed to give the lie to the merry peal. The King of
Naples, in the meantime, with Latour Maubourg, and Kellermann, poured
through the gap in the enemy's centre, and at the head of the whole body
of cavalry thundered forward as far as Magdeburg, a village in the rear
of the allies, bearing down General Rayefskoi, with the grenadiers of
the reserve, who threw themselves forward to oppose their passage.
But at this imminent moment of peril, while the French cavalry were
disordered by their own success, Alexander ordered the Cossacks of his
guard, who were in attendance on his person, to charge. They did so with
the utmost fury, as fighting under the eye of their sovereign,
disconcerted Buonaparte's manœuvre, and bore back with their long
lances the dense mass of cavalry who had so nearly carried the day.
In the meantime, while the carnage was continuing on the southern side
of Leipsic, a similar thunder of artillery commenced on the right, where
Blucher had arrived before the city, and suddenly come into action with
Marmont, with at least three men for one. Breathless aides-de-camp came
galloping to reclaim the troops of Souham, which, for the purpose of
supporting Poniatowski, had been withdrawn from their original
destination of assisting Marmont. They could, not however, be replaced,
and Blucher obtained, in consequence, great and decided results. He took
the village of Moeckern, with twenty pieces of artillery, and two
thousand prisoners; and when night separated the combat, had the
advantage of having greatly narrowed the position of the enemy.
But the issue on the south side of Leipsic continued entirely
indecisive, though furiously contested. Gossa was still disputed, taken
and retaken repeatedly, but at length remained in possession of the
allies. On the verge of the Pleisse, the combat was no less dreadful.
The Austrians of Bianchi's division poured on Markleberg, close to the
side of the river, with the most dreadful yells. Poniatowski, with
Augereau's assistance, had the utmost difficulty in keeping his
ground. From the left side of the Pleisse, Schwartzenberg manœuvred
to push a body of horse across the swampy river, to take the French in
the rear of the position. But such of the cavalry as got through a very
bad ford, were instantly charged and driven back, and their leader,
General Mehrfeldt, fell into the hands of the French. An Austrian
division, that of Guilay, manœuvred on the left bank of the Pleisse,
as far down as Lindenau, and the succession of bridges, which, we have
said, forms on the western side the sole exit from Leipsic towards the
Rhine. This was the only pass which remained for retreat to the French,
should they fail in the dreadful action which was now fighting. Guilay
might have destroyed these bridges; but it is believed he had orders to
leave open that pass for retreat, lest the French should be rendered
utterly desperate, when there was no anticipating what exertions they
might be goaded to.
The battle, thus fiercely contested, continued to rage till nightfall,
when the bloody work ceased as if by mutual consent. Three cannon-shot,
fired as a signal to the more distant points, intimated that the
conflict was ended for the time, and the armies on the southern line
retired to rest, in each other's presence, in the very positions which
they had occupied the night before. The French had lost the ground which
at one period they had gained, but they had not relinquished one foot of
their original position, though so fiercely attacked during the whole
day by greatly superior numbers. On the north their defence had been
less successful. Marmont had been forced back by Blucher, and the whole
line of defence on that side was crowded nearer to the walls of
Leipsic.[286]
Napoleon, in the meantime, had the melancholy task of arranging his
soldiers for a defence, sure to be honourable, and yet at length to be
unavailing. Retreat became inevitable; yet, how to accomplish it through
the narrow streets of a crowded city; how to pass more than 100,000 men
over a single bridge, while double that number were pressing on their
rear, was a problem which even Buonaparte could not solve. In this
perplexity, he thought of appealing to the sentiments of affection which
the Emperor of Austria must necessarily be supposed to entertain for his
daughter and grandchild. The capture of General Mehrfeldt served
opportunely to afford the means of communication with the better grace,
as, after the battle of Austerlitz, this was the individual, who, on the
part of the Emperor of Germany, had solicited a personal interview, and
favourable terms from Napoleon. In a private interview with this
officer, Napoleon received the confirmation of what he had long
apprehended, the defection of the King of Bavaria, the union of his army
with that of Austria, and their determination to intercept him on his
return to the Rhine. This fatal intelligence increased his desire of
peace, and he requested, yet in terms of becoming dignity, the
intercession of his father-in-law. He was now willing to adopt the
terms proposed at Prague. He offered to renounce Poland and Illyria. He
would consent to the independence of Holland, the Hanse towns, and
Spain; but he wished this last to be delayed till a general peace.
Italy, he proposed, should be considered as independent, and preserved
in its integrity. Lastly, as the price of the armistice to be
immediately concluded, he was willing to evacuate Germany and retreat
towards the Rhine.
These terms contained what, at an early part of the campaign, and
voluntarily tendered, would have been gladly accepted by the allies. But
Buonaparte's own character for ability and pertinacity; the general
impression, that, if he relinquished his views for a time, it was only
to recur to them in a more favourable season; and his terrible power of
making successful exertions for that purpose, hardened the hearts of the
allied sovereigns against what, from another (could any other save
Buonaparte be supposed in his situation) would, in the like
circumstances, have been favourably received. "Adieu, General
Mehrfeldt," said Napoleon, dismissing his prisoner; "when, on my part,
you name the word armistice to the two Emperors, I doubt not that the
voice which then strikes their ears will awaken many recollections."
Words affecting by their simplicity, and which, coming from so proud a
heart, and one who was reduced to ask the generosity which he had
formerly extended, cannot be recorded without strong sympathy.
General Mehrfeldt went out, like the messenger from the ark, and long
and anxiously did Buonaparte expect his return. But he was the raven
envoy, and brought back no olive branch. Napoleon did not receive an
answer until his troops had recrossed the Rhine. The allies had engaged
themselves solemnly to each other, that they would enter into no treaty
with him while an individual of the French army remained in Germany.
[Sidenote: PREPARATIONS FOR RETREAT.]
Buonaparte was now engaged in preparations for retreat; yet he made them
with less expedition than the necessities of the time required. Morning
came, and the enemy did not renew the attack, waiting for Bennigsen and
the Prince-Royal of Sweden. In the meanwhile, casks, and materials of
all kinds being plenty, and labourers to be collected to any extent, it
seems, that, by some of the various modes known to military
engineers,[287] temporary bridges might have been thrown over the Elster
and the Pleisse, which are tranquil still rivers, and the marshes
betwixt them rendered sufficiently passable. Under far more
disadvantageous circumstances Napoleon had bridged the Beresina within
the space of twelve hours. This censure is confirmed by a most competent
judge, the general of engineers, Rogniat, who affirms that there was
time enough to have completed six bridges, had it been employed with
activity. The answer, that he himself, as chief of the engineer
department at the time, ought to have ordered and prepared these means
of retreat, seems totally insufficient. Napoleon did not permit his
generals to anticipate his commands on such important occasions. It is
said, indeed, that the Emperor had given orders for three bridges, but
that, in the confusion of this dreadful period, that was seldom
completely accomplished which Napoleon could not look after with his own
eyes. Nothing of the kind was actually attempted, except at a place
called the Judges' Garden; and that, besides having its access, like the
stone bridge, through the town of Leipsic, was constructed of too slight
materials. Perhaps Napoleon trusted to the effect of Mehrfeldt's
mission; perhaps he had still latent hopes that his retreat might be
unnecessary; perhaps he abhorred the thought of that manœuvre so
much, as to lead him entirely to confide the necessary preparations to
another; but certain it is, the exertion was not made in a manner
suitable to the occasion. The village of Lindenau, on the left side of
the rivers, was nevertheless secured.
The 17th, as we have said, was spent in preparations on both sides,
without any actual hostilities, excepting when a distant cannonade, like
the growling of some huge monster, showed that war was only slumbering,
and that but lightly.
At eight o'clock on the 18th of October, the battle was renewed with
tenfold fury. Napoleon had considerably contracted his circuit of
defence; on the external range of heights and villages, which had been
so desperately defended on the 16th, the allies now found no opposition
but that of outposts. The French were posted in an interior line nearer
to Leipsic, of which Probtshedya was the central point. Napoleon
himself, stationed on an eminence called Thonberg, commanded a prospect
of the whole field.
Masses were drawn up behind the villages, which relieved their defenders
from time to time with fresh troops; cannon were placed in their front
and on their flanks, and every patch of wooded ground which afforded the
least shelter, was filled with tirailleurs. The battle then joined on
all sides. The Poles, with their gallant general, Poniatowski, to whom
this was to prove the last of his fields, defended the banks of the
Pleisse, and the villages connected with it, against the Prince of Hesse
Homberg, Bianchi, and Colleredo. In the centre, Barclay, Witgenstein,
and Kleist, advanced on Probtsheyda, where they were opposed by the King
of Naples, Victor, Augereau, and Lauriston, under the eye of Napoleon
himself. On the left, Macdonald had drawn back his division from an
advanced point called Holtzhausen, to a village called Stoetteritz,
which was the post assigned to them on the new and restricted line of
defence. Along all this extended southern line, the fire continued
furious on both sides, nor could the terrified spectators, from the
walls and steeples of Leipsic, perceive that it either advanced or
recoiled. The French had the advantage of situation and cover, the
allies that of greatly superior numbers; both were commanded by the
first generals of their country and age.
About two o'clock afternoon, the allies, under General Pirch and Prince
Augustus of Prussia, forced their way headlong into Probtsheyda; the
camp followers began to fly; the noise of the tumult overcame almost the
fire of the artillery. Napoleon in the rear, but yet on the verge of
this tumult, preserved his entire tranquillity. He placed the reserve of
the Old Guard in order, led them in person to recover the village, and
saw them force their entrance, ere he retreated to the eminence from
which he observed the action. During the whole of this eventful day, in
which he might be said to fight less for victory than for safety, this
wonderful man continued calm, decided, collected, and supported his
diminished and broken squadrons in their valiant defence, with a
presence of mind and courage, as determined as he had so often exhibited
in directing the tide of onward victory. Perhaps his military talents
were more to be admired, when thus contending at once against Fortune
and the superiority of numbers, than in the most distinguished of his
victories, when the fickle goddess fought upon his side.
The allies, notwithstanding their gallantry and their numbers, felt
themselves obliged to desist from the murderous attacks upon the
villages which cost them such immense loss; and drawing back their
troops as they brought forward their guns and howitzers, contented
themselves with maintaining a dreadful fire on the French masses as they
showed themselves, and throwing shells into the villages. The French
replied with great spirit; but they had fewer guns in position, and,
besides, their ammunition was falling short. Still, however, Napoleon
completely maintained the day on the south of Leipsic, where he was
present in person.
On the north side of Leipsic, the superiority of numbers, still greater
than that which existed on the south, placed Ney in a precarious
situation. He was pressed at once by the army of Blucher, and by that of
the Crown Prince, which was now come up in force. The latter general
forced his way across the Partha, with three columns, and at three
different points; and Ney saw himself obliged to retreat, in order to
concentrate his forces nearer Leipsic, and communicate by his right with
the army of Napoleon.
The Russians had orders to advance to force this new position, and
particularly to drive back the advanced guard of Regnier, stationed on
an eminence called Heiterblick, betwixt the villages of Taucha and
Paunsdorf. On a sudden, the troops who occupied the French line on that
point, came forward to meet the allies, with their swords sheathed, and
colours of truce displayed. This was a Saxon brigade, who, in the midst
of the action, embraced the time and opportunity to desert the service
of Napoleon, and declare for independence. These men had an
unquestionable right to espouse the cause of their country, and shake
off the yoke of a stranger, which Saxony had found so burdensome; but it
is not while on the actual battle-ground that one side ought to be
exchanged for the other; and those must be in every case accounted
guilty of treachery, who, bringing their swords into the field for one
party, shall suddenly, and without intimation given, turn them against
the power in whose ranks they had stood.
The Russians, afraid of stratagem, sent the Saxon troops, about 10,000
in number, to the rear of the position. But their artillery were
immediately brought into action; and having expended during that morning
one half of their ammunition on the allies, they now bestowed the other
half upon the French army. By this unexpected disaster, Ney was obliged
to contract his line of defence once more. Even the valour and exertions
of that distinguished general could not defend Schoenfeld. That fine
village forms almost one of the northern suburbs of Leipsic. It was in
vain that Buonaparte despatched his reserves of cavalry to check the
advance of the Crown Prince. He defeated all opposition that presented
itself, and pressed Ney into a position close under the walls of
Leipsic. The battle once more ceased on all points; and after the solemn
signal of three cannon-shot had been heard, the field was left to the
slain and the wounded.[288]
Although the French army kept its ground most valiantly during the whole
of this tremendous day, there was no prospect of their being able to
sustain themselves any longer around or in Leipsic. The allies had
approached so close to them, that their attacks might, on the third day,
be expected to be more combined and simultaneous than before. The
superiority of numbers became more efficient after the great carnage
that had taken place, and that for the simple reason, that the army
which had greatest numbers could best afford to lose lives. It is said
also by Baron Fain,[289] that the enormous number of 250,000
cannon-bullets had been expended by the French during the last four
days, and that there only remained to serve their guns about 16,000
cartridges, which could scarce support a hot fire for two hours. This
was owing to the great park of artillery having been directed on Torgau,
another circumstance which serves to show how little Buonaparte dreamed
of abandoning the Elbe when he moved from Dresden. To this the
increasing scarcity of provisions is to be added; so that every thing
combined to render Napoleon's longer stay at Dresden altogether
impossible, especially when the Bavarian general, now his declared
enemy, was master of his communications with France.
The retreat, however necessary, was doomed inevitably to be disastrous,
as is evident from the situation of the French army, cooped up by
superior forces under the walls of a large town, the narrow streets of
which they must traverse to reach two bridges, one of recent and hasty
construction, by which they must cross the Pleisse, the Elster, and the
marshy ground, streams, and canals, which divide them from each other;
and then, added to this was the necessity of the whole army debouching
by one single road, that which leads to Lindenau, and on which it would
be impossible to prevent dreadful confusion. But there was no remedy for
these evils; they must necessarily be risked.
[Sidenote: LEIPSIC.]
The retreat was commenced in the night time; and Buonaparte, retiring in
person to Leipsic, spent a third exhausting night in dictating the
necessary orders for drawing the corps of his army successively within
the town, and transferring them to the western bank of the two rivers.
The French troops accordingly came into Leipsic from all sides, and
filling the town with the ineffable confusion which always must attend
the retreat of so large a body in the presence of a victorious enemy,
they proceeded to get out of it as they best could, by the way
prescribed. Macdonald and Poniatowski, with their corps, were appointed
to the perilous honour of protecting the rear. "Prince," said Napoleon,
to the brave Polish prince, "you must defend the southern
suburbs."--"Alas, sire," he answered, "I have but few soldiers
left."--"Well, but you will defend them with what you have?"--"Doubt
not, sire, but that we will make good our ground; we are all ready to
die for your Majesty's service."--Napoleon parted with this brave and
attached prince, upon whom he had recently bestowed a maréchal's baton.
They never met again in this world.
The arrival of daylight had no sooner shown to the allies the
commencement of the French retreat, than their columns began to advance
in pursuit on every point, pushing forward, with all the animation of
victory, to overtake the enemy in the suburbs and streets of Leipsic.
The King of Saxony, the magistrates, and some of the French generals,
endeavoured to secure the city from the dangers which were to be
expected from a battle in the town, betwixt the rear-guard of the French
and the advanced guard of the allies. They sent proposals, that the
French army should be permitted to effect their retreat unmolested, in
mercy to the unfortunate town. But when were victorious generals
prevented from prosecuting military advantages, by the mere
consideration of humanity? Napoleon, on his side, was urged to set fire
to the suburbs, to check the pressure of the allies on his rear-guard.
As this, however, must have occasioned a most extensive scene of misery,
Buonaparte generously refused to give such a dreadful order, which,
besides, could not have been executed without compromising the safety of
a great part of his own rear, to whom the task of destruction must have
been committed, and who would doubtless immediately have engaged in an
extensive scene of plunder. Perhaps, also, Napoleon might be influenced
by the feeling of what was due to the confidence and fidelity of
Frederick Augustus of Saxony, who, having been so long the faithful
follower of his fortunes, was now to be abandoned to his own. To have
set fire to that unhappy monarch's city, when leaving him behind to make
terms for himself as he could, would have been an evil requital for all
he had done and suffered in the cause of France; nor would it have been
much better had Napoleon removed the Saxon King from his dominions, and
destroyed all chance of his making peace with the irritated sovereigns,
by transporting him along with the French army in its calamitous
retreat.
At nine o'clock Napoleon had a farewell interview with Frederick
Augustus, releasing him formally from all the ties which had hitherto
combined them, and leaving him at liberty to form such other alliances
as the safety of his states might require. Their parting scene was
hurried to a conclusion by the heavy discharge of musketry from several
points, which intimated that the allies, forcing their way into the
suburbs, were fighting hand to hand, and from house to house, with the
French, who still continued to defend them. The King and Queen of Saxony
conjured Buonaparte to mount his horse, and make his escape; but, before
he did so, he discharged from their ties to France and to himself the
King of Saxony's body guard, and left them for the protection of the
royal family.
[Sidenote: BRIDGE OF LEIPSIC.]
When Napoleon attempted to make his way to the single point of exit, by
the gate of Ranstadt, which led to the bridge, or succession of bridges,
so often mentioned, he found reason for thinking his personal safety in
actual danger. It must be remembered, that the French army, still
numbering nearly 100,000, were pouring into Leipsic, pursued by more
than double that number, and that the streets were encumbered with the
dead and wounded, with artillery and baggage, with columns so wedged up
that it was impossible for them to get forward, and with others, who,
almost desperate of their safety, would not be left behind. To fight his
way through this confusion, was impossible even for Napoleon. He and his
suite were obliged to give up all attempts to proceed in the direct road
to the bridge, and turning in the other direction, he got out of the
city through Saint Peter's Gate, moved on until he was in sight of the
advancing columns of the allies, then turning along the eastern suburb,
he found a circuitous by-way to the bridges, and was enabled to get
across. But the temporary bridge which we have before mentioned had
already given way, so that there remained only the old bridge on the
road to Lindenau, to serve as an exit to the whole French army. The
furious defence which was maintained in the suburbs, continued to check
the advance of the allies, otherwise the greater part of the French army
must inevitably have been destroyed. But the defenders themselves, with
their brave commanders, were at length, after exhibiting prodigies of
valour, compelled to retreat; and ere they could reach the banks of the
river, a dreadful accident had taken place.
The bridge, so necessary to the escape of this distressed army, had been
mined by Buonaparte's orders, and an officer of engineers was left to
execute the necessary measure of destroying it, so soon as the allies
should approach in force sufficient to occupy the pass. Whether the
officer to whom this duty was intrusted had fled, or had fallen, or had
been absent from his post by accident, no one seems to have known; but
at this critical period a sergeant commanded the sappers in his stead. A
body of Swedish sharp-shooters pushed up the side of the river about
eleven o'clock, with loud cries and huzzas, firing upon the crowds who
were winning their way slowly along the bridge, while Cossacks and
Hulans were seen on the southern side, rushing towards the same spot;
and the troops of Saxony and Baden, who had now entirely changed sides,
were firing on the French from the wall of the suburbs, which they had
been posted to defend against the allies, and annoying the retreat which
they had been destined to cover. The non-commissioned officer of
engineers imagined that the retreat of the French was cut off, and set
fire to the mine, that the allies might not take possession of the
bridge for pursuing Napoleon.[290] The bridge exploded with a horrible
noise.
This catastrophe effectually intercepted the retreat of all who remained
still on the Leipsic side of the river, excepting some individuals who
succeeded by swimming through the Pleisse and the Elster. Among these
was the brave Maréchal Macdonald, who surmounted all the obstacles
opposed to his escape. Poniatowski, the gallant nephew of Stanislaus,
King of Poland, was less fortunate. He was the favourite of his
countrymen, who saw in their imagination the crown of Poland glittering
upon his brow. He himself, like most of the Poles of sense and
reflection, regarded these hopes as delusive; but followed Napoleon with
unflinching zeal, because he had always been his friend and benefactor.
Besides a thousand other acts of valour, Poniatowski's recent defence of
the extreme right of the French position was as brilliant as any part of
the memorable resistance at Leipsic. He had been twice wounded in the
previous battles. Seeing the bridge destroyed, and the enemy's forces
thronging forward in all directions, he drew his sabre, and said to his
suite, and a few Polish cuirassiers, who followed him, "Gentlemen, it is
better to fall with honour than to surrender." He charged accordingly,
and pushed through the troops of the allied army opposed to him, in the
course of which desperate attempt he was wounded by a musket shot in the
arm. Other enemies appeared; he threw himself upon them with the same
success, making his way amongst them also, after receiving a wound
through the cross of his decoration. He then plunged into the Pleisse,
and with the assistance of his staff-officers, got across that river, in
which his horse was lost. Though much exhausted, he mounted another
horse, and seeing that the enemy were already occupying the banks of the
Elster with riflemen, he plunged into that deep and marshy river, to
rise no more. Thus bravely died a prince, who, in one sense, may be
termed the last of the Poles.[291]
The remainder of the French army, after many had been killed and drowned
in an attempt to cross these relentless rivers, received quarter from
the enemy. About 25,000 men were made prisoners, and as Napoleon seems
only to have had about 200 guns at the battle of Hannau, many must have
been abandoned in Leipsic and its neighbourhood.[292] The quantity of
baggage taken was immense.
The triumph of the allied monarchs was complete. Advancing at the head
of their victorious forces, each upon his own side, the Emperor of
Russia, the King of Prussia, and the Crown Prince of Sweden, met and
greeted each other in the great square of the city, where they were soon
joined by the Emperor of Austria. General Bertrand, the French
commandant of the city, surrendered his sword to these illustrious
personages. No interview took place between the allied monarchs and the
King of Saxony. He was sent under a guard of Cossacks to Berlin, nor was
he afterwards restored to his throne, until he had paid a severe fine
for his adherence to France.
When reflecting upon these scenes, the rank and dignity of the actors
naturally attract our observation. It seems as if the example of
Buonaparte, in placing himself at the head of his armies, had in some
respects changed the condition of sovereigns, from the reserved and
retired dignity in which most had remained, estranged from the actual
toils of government and dangers of war, into the less abstracted
condition of sharing the risk of battle, and the labours of negotiation.
Such scenes as those which passed at Leipsic on this memorable day,
whether we look at the parting of Napoleon from Frederick Augustus, amid
the fire and shouting of hostile armies, or the triumphant meeting of
the allied sovereigns in the great square of Leipsic, had been for
centuries only to be paralleled in romance. But considering how
important it is to the people that sovereigns should not be prompt to
foster a love of war, there is great room for question whether the
encouragement of this warlike propensity be upon the whole a subject for
Europe to congratulate itself upon.
Policy and the science of war alike dictated a rapid and close pursuit
after the routed French; but the allied army had been too much
exhausted, by the efforts required to gain the battle, to admit of its
deriving the full advantage from success. There was a great scarcity of
provisions around Leipsic; and the stores of the city, exhausted by the
French, afforded no relief. The bridge which had been destroyed was as
necessary for the advance of the allies as the retreat of Napoleon.
Besides, it must be admitted that an allied army is always less decided
and rapid in its movements than one which receives all its impulses from
a single commander of strong and vigorous talents. Of this we shall see
more proofs. But, in the meantime, a great point was gained. The
liberation of Germany was complete, even if Napoleon should escape the
united armies of Austria and Bavaria, which still lay betwixt him and
the banks of the Rhine. And indeed the battles which he fought for
conquest terminated at Leipsic. Those which he afterwards waged were for
his own life and the sceptre of France.
FOOTNOTES:
[286] Jomini, tom. iv., pp. 450, 462; Baron Fain, tom. ii., p. 384;
Baron d'Odeleben, tom. ii., p. 32; Savary, tom. iii., p. 117.
[287] See Sir Howard Douglas's work on Military Bridges.--S.
[288] Jomini, tom. iv., pp. 465, 480; Baron Fain, tom. ii., p. 403.
[289] Manuscript de 1813, par le Baron Fain, tom. ii., p. 420.
[290] This story was at first doubted, and it was supposed that Napoleon
had commanded the bridge to be blown up, with the selfish purpose of
securing his own retreat. But, from all concurring accounts, the
explosion took place in the manner, and from the cause, mentioned in the
text. There is, notwithstanding, an obscurity in the case. A French
officer of engineers, by name Colonel Monfort, was publicly announced as
the person through whose negligence or treachery the post was left to
subordinate keeping. Nevertheless, it is said, that the only officer of
that name, in the engineer service of Buonaparte's army, was actually at
Mentz when the battle of Leipsic took place. This is alluded to by
General Grouchy, who, in a note upon his interesting Observations on
General Gourgaud's Account of the Campaign of 1815, has this remarkable
passage.--"One would wish to forget the bulletin, which, after the
battle of Leipsic, delivered to the bar of public opinion, as
preliminary to bringing him before a military commission, Colonel
Monfort of the engineer service, gratuitously accused of the breaking
down the bridge at Leipsic." Neither the colonel nor the
non-commissioned officer was ever brought to a court-martial.--S.
[291] His body was found, and his obsequies performed with great
military pomp; both the victors and vanquished attending him to the
tomb, with every honour which could be rendered to his remains.--S.
[292] "The French were computed to have lost 50,000 men, including the
sick abandoned in the hospitals at Leipsic, and 250 guns."--LORD
BURGHERSH, _Operations_, &c., p. 28.