"I have just had a little glass with the sapper Merlin, sergeant, who
was on duty last night at the general's quarters, and he said nothing
of it."
Then he, closing his eye, said, with a peculiar expression:
"Everything is moving; I feel his presence in the air. You do not yet
understand this, conscript, but he is here; everything says so. Before
he came, we were lame, crippled; only a wing of the army seemed able to
move at once. But now, look there, see those couriers galloping over
the road; all is life. The dance is beginning: the dance is beginning!
Kaiserliks and the Cossacks do not need spectacles to see that he is
with us; they will feel him presently."
And the sergeant's laugh rang hoarsely from beneath his long mustaches.
I had a presentiment that great misfortunes might be coming upon me,
yet I was forced to put a good face upon it. But the sergeant was
right, for that very day, about three in the afternoon, all the troops
stationed around the city were in motion, and at five we were put under
arms. The Marshal Prince of Moskowa entered the town surrounded by the
officers and generals who composed his staff, and, almost immediately
after, the gray-haired Souham followed and passed us in review upon the
square. Then he spoke in a loud, clear voice so that every one could
hear:
"Soldiers!" said he, "you will form part of the advance-guard of the
Third corps. Try to remember that you are Frenchmen. _Vive
l'Empereur!_"
All shouted "_Vive l'Empereur!_" till the echoes rang again, while the
general departed with Colonel Zapfel.
That night we were relieved by the Hessians, and left Erfurt with the
Tenth hussars and a regiment of chasseurs. At six or seven in the
morning we were before the city of Weimar, and saw the sun rising on
its gardens, its churches, and its houses, as well as on an old castle
to the right. Here we bivouacked, and the hussars went forward to
reconnoitre the town. About nine, while we were breakfasting, suddenly
we heard the rattle of musketry and carbines. Our hussars had
encountered the Prussian hussars in the streets, and they were firing
on each other. But it was so far off that we saw nothing of the combat.
At the end of an hour the hussars returned, having lost two men. Thus
began the campaign.
We remained five days in our camp, while the whole Third corps were
coming up. As we were the advance-guard, we started again by way of
Suiza and Warthau. Then we saw the enemy; Cossacks who kept ever
beyond the range of our guns, and the farther they retired the greater
grew our courage.
But it annoyed me to hear Zebede constantly exclaiming in a tone of
ill-humor:
"Will they never stop; never make a stand!"
I thought that if they kept retreating we could ask nothing better. We
would gain all we wanted without loss of life or suffering.
But at last they halted on the farther side of the broad and deep
river, and I saw a great number posted near the bank to cut us to
pieces if we should cross unsupported.
It was the twenty-ninth of April, and growing late. Never did I see a
more glorious sunset. On the opposite side of the river stretched a
wide plain as far as the eye could reach, and on this, sharply outlined
against the glowing sky, stood horsemen, with their shakos drooping
forward, their green jackets, little cartridge-boxes slung under the
arm, and their sky-blue trousers; behind them glittered thousands of
lances, and Sergeant Pinto recognized them as the Russian cavalry and
Cossacks. He knew the river, too, which, he said, was the Saale.
We went as near as we could to the water to exchange shots with the
horsemen, but they retired and at last disappeared entirely under the
blood-red sky. We made our bivouac along the river, and posted our
sentries. On our left was a large village; a detachment was sent to it
to purchase meat; for since the arrival of the Emperor we had orders to
pay for everything.
During the night other regiments of the division came up; they, too,
bivouacked along the bank, and their long lines of fires, reflected in
the ever-moving waters, glared grandly through the darkness.
No one felt inclined to sleep. Zebede, Klipfel, Furst, and I messed
together, and we chatted as we lay around our fire:
"To-morrow we will have it hot enough, if we attempt to cross the
river! Our friends in Phalsbourg, over their warm suppers, scarcely
think of us lying here, with nothing but a piece of cow-beef to eat, a
river flowing beside us, the damp earth beneath, and only the sky for a
roof, without speaking of the sabre-cuts and bayonet-thrusts our
friends yonder have in store for us."
"Bah!" said Klipfel; "this is life. I would not pass my days
otherwise. To enjoy life we must be well to-day, sick to-morrow; then
we appreciate the pleasure of the change from pain to ease. As for
shots and sabre-strokes, with God's aid, we will give as good as we
take!"
"Yes," said Zebede, lighting his pipe, "when I lose my place in the
ranks, it will not be for the want of striking hard at the Russians!"
So we lay wakeful for two or three hours. Leger lay stretched out in
his great-coat, his feet to the fire, asleep, when the sentinel cried:
"Who goes there?"
"France!"
"What regiment?"
"Sixth of the Line."
It was Marshal Ney and General Brenier, with engineer and artillery
officers, and guns. The Marshal replied "Sixth of the Line," because
he knew beforehand that we were there, and this little fact rejoiced us
and made us feel very proud. We saw him pass on horseback with General
Souham and five or six other officers of high grade, and although it
was night we could see them distinctly, for the sky was covered with
stars and the moon shone bright; it was almost as light as day.
They stopped at a bend of the river and posted six guns, and
immediately after a pontoon train arrived with oak planks and all
things necessary for throwing two bridges across. Our hussars scoured
the banks collecting boats, and the artillerymen stood at their pieces
to sweep down any who might try to hinder the work. For a long while
we watched their labor, while again and again we heard the sentry's
"_Qui vive!_" It was the regiments of the Third corps arriving.
At daybreak I fell asleep, and Klipfel had to shake me to arouse me.
On every side they were beating the reveille; the bridges were
finished, and we were going to cross the Saale.
A heavy dew had fallen, and each man hastened to wipe his musket, to
roll up his great-coat and buckle it on his knapsack. One assisted the
other, and we were soon in the ranks. It might have been four o'clock
in the morning, and everything seemed gray in the mist that arose from
the river. Already two battalions were crossing on the bridges, the
officers and colors in the centre. Then the artillery and caissons
crossed.
Captain Florentin had just ordered us to renew our primings, when
General Souham, General Chemineau, Colonel Zapfel, and our commandant
arrived. The battalion began its march. I looked forward expecting to
see the Russians coming on at a gallop, but nothing stirred.
As each regiment reached the farther bank it formed a square with
ordered arms. At five o'clock the entire division had passed. The sun
dispersed the mist, and we saw, about three-fourths of a league to our
right, an old city with its pointed roofs, slated clock-tower,
surmounted by a cross, and, farther away, a castle; it was Weissenfels.
Between us and the city was a deep valley. Marshal Ney, who had just
come up, wished to reconnoitre this before advancing into it. Two
companies of the Twenty-seventh were deployed as skirmishers and the
squares moved onward in common time, with the officers, sappers, and
drums in the centre, the cannon in the intervals and the caissons in
the rear.
We all mistrusted this valley--the more so since we had seen, the
evening before, a mass of cavalry, which could not have retired beyond
the great plain that lay before us. Notwithstanding our distrust, it
made us feel very proud and brave to see ourselves drawn up in our long
ranks--our muskets loaded, the colors advanced, the generals in the
rear full of confidence--to see our masses thus moving onward without
hurry, but calmly marking the step; yes, it was enough to make our
hearts beat high with pride and hope! And I said to myself: "Perhaps
at sight of us the enemy will fly, which will be the best for them and
for us."
I was in the second rank, behind Zebede, and from time to time I
glanced at the other square, which was moving on the same line with us,
in the centre of which I saw the Marshal and his staff, all trying to
catch a glimpse of what was going on ahead.
The skirmishers had by this time reached the ravine, which was bordered
with brambles and hedges. I had already seen a movement on its farther
side, like the motion of a cornfield in the wind, and the thought
struck me that the Russians, with their lances and sabres, were there,
although I could scarcely believe it. But when our skirmishers reached
the hedges, the fusillade began, and I saw clearly the glitter of their
lances. At the same instant a flash like lightning gleamed in front of
us, followed by a fierce report. The Russians had their cannon with
them; they had opened on us. I know not what noise made me turn my
head, and there I saw an empty space in the ranks to my left.
At the same time Colonel Zapfel said quietly:
"Close up the ranks!"
And Captain Florentin repeated:
"Close up the ranks!"
[Illustration: "Close up the ranks!"]
All this was done so quickly that I had no time for thought. But fifty
paces farther on another flash shone out; there was another murmur in
the ranks--as if a fierce wind was passing--and another vacant space,
this time to the right.
And thus, after every shot from the Russians, the colonel said, "Close
up the ranks!" and I knew that each time he spoke there was a breach in
the living wall! It was no pleasant thing to think of, but still we
marched on toward the valley. At last I did not dare to think at all,
when General Chemineau, who had entered our square, cried in a terrible
voice:
"Halt!"