who had been unhorsed, recognising my rank by my epaulets, and
fearing that he might be killed by one of my men, came to take
refuge beside me where, in spite of the excitement of the action,
no one would dare to strike him while he was under my protection.
Although he was on foot, in the clinging mud, he followed for a
quarter of an hour the hurried movements of my horse, supporting
himself by a hand on my knee and repeating all the time "You are
my guardian angel!" I was truly sorry for the old fellow, for
although he was dropping with fatigue he was unwilling to leave
me, so when I saw one of my men leading a captured horse, I had
him lend it to the Prussian colonel, whom I sent to the rear in
the charge of a trusted Sous-officier. You will see that this
enemy officer was not slow in showing his gratitude.
The plateau of Jau‰r now became the theatre for a desperate
struggle. From each of the woods there emerged a horde of
Prussians, so that the plain was soon covered by them. My
regiment, whose pursuit of their opponents I had been unable to
slow down, found itself before long facing a brigade of enemy
infantry, whose muskets put out of action by the rain, could not
fire a shot at us. I tried to break the Prussian square, but our
horses, bogged down in the mud to their hocks, could move only at
a slow walk, and without the weight of a charge it is almost
impossible for cavalry to penetrate the close-packed ranks of
infantry who, calm and well-led, present a hedge of bayonets. We
could go close enough to the enemy to speak with them and strike
their muskets with the blades of our sabres, but we could never
break through their lines, something which we could have done
easily if General Sebastiani had not sent our brigade artillery
elsewhere.
Our situation and that of the enemy infantry was really rather
ridiculous for we were eye to eye without being able to inflict
the least harm, our sabres being too short to reach the enemy,
whose muskets could not be fired. We remained in this state for a
considerable time, until General Maurin, the commander of a
neighbouring brigade, sent the 6th Regiment of Lancers to help
us. Their long weapons, outreaching the bayonets of the
Prussians killed many of them and allowed not only the Lancers
but also the Chasseurs of the 23rd and 24th to get into the enemy
square, where they did great carnage. During the fighting, one
could hear the sonorous voice of Colonel Perquit shouting in a
very pronounced Alsatian accent "Bointez, Lanciers! Bointez!"
The victory which we had won on this part of the vast battlefield
was snatched from us by the unexpected arrival of more than
20,000 of Prussian cavalry who, after overwhelming the Roussel
d'Urbal division, which had been so unwisely sent alone more than
a league ahead of us, now came to attack us with infinitely
greater numbers.
The approach of this enormous body of enemy troops was signalled
by the arrival of General Exelmans who, as I have said, had
briefly left his division to go almost unaccompanied to claim
back from General Sebastiani his battery of artillery, which that
General had so inappropriately despatched to join that of Roussel
d'Urbal. Having been unable to find General Sebastiani, he
arrived close to the leading division only to witness the capture
of Roussel d'Urbal's guns and also his own, and to find himself
involved in the utter rout of his colleague's squadrons. We had a
warning of some disaster in the sight of our General, his
appearance altered by the fact that he had lost his hat and even
his belt! We hastened to recall our soldiers, who were busy
sabring the enemy infantry which we had just broken into, but
while we were engaged in forming them up in good order we were
completely overrun by the many Prussian squadrons who were
pursuing the debris of d'Urbal's division.
Instantly, Sebastiani's cavalry division, consisting at the most
of 5 to 6000 men was confronted by 20,000 enemy horsemen who, as
well as outnumbering us, had the advantage of being almost all of
them Uhlans, that is to say armed with lances, while we had only
a few such squadrons! So in spite of the stiff resistance which
we put up, the groups which we formed were broken up by the
Prussians, who drove us steadily back to the edge of the plain
and to the verge of the steep descent into the gorge, at the
bottom of which ran the river Katzbach.
We were met here by two divisions of French infantry, together
with which we hoped to make a stand; but the muskets of our men
were so wet that they would not fire, and they had no other means
of defence but a battery of six guns and their bayonets, with
which they momentarily arrested the Prussian cavalry; but the
Prussian generals having brought up some twenty cannons, the
French guns were instantly disabled and their battalions crushed!
Then, cheering loudly, the twenty thousand enemy cavalry advanced
on our troops and drove them in confusion towards the Katzbach.
This river, which we had crossed in the morning with so much
difficulty although it was not very deep, had been transformed
into a raging torrent by the pouring rain which had continued
ceaslessly throughout the whole day. The water, surging between
the two banks, covered almost entirely the parapet of the bridge
at Chemochowitz and made it impossible to discover if the ford at
that point was still passable. However it was by those two points
we had crossed in the morning, and it was to them that we went.
The ford proved impassable for the infantry and a number were
drowned there, but the great majority were saved by the bridge.
I gathered together my regiment, as much as was possible, and
having been formed into tight-packed half-platoons which could
give each other mutual support, they entered the water in
reasonably good order and gained the other bank with the loss of
only two men. All the other cavalry units took the same route,
for in spite of the confusion inseparable from such a retreat,
the troopers realised that the bridge had to be left for the
infantry. I must confess that the descent of the slope was one of
the most critical moments in my life... The very steep hillside
was slippery under our horses' feet, and they stumbled at every
pace over numerous outcrops of rock; in addition the constant
hail of grape-shot which was hurled from the enemy guns made our
position highly precarious. I came out of this without any
personal accident, thanks to the courage, determination, and
skill of my excellent Turkish horse, which by walking along the
edge of precipices like a cat on a roof, saved my life, not only
on this occasion but on several others. I shall mention this
admirable creature later.
The French infantry and cavalry who had been driven down from the
Jau‰r plateau thought themselves safe from their enemies once
they had crossed the river, but the Prussians had sent a strong
column to a bridge upstream of that at Chemochowitz, where they
had crossed the Katzbach, so that having arrived on the bank
which we had quitted in the morning, we were astonished to be
attacked by squadrons of Uhlans. However, in spite of the
surprise, several regiments, among which Marshal Macdonald in his
report mentioned mine, unhesitatingly attacked the enemy...
Nonetheless, I do not know what would have happened without the
arrival of the division of General Saint-Germain. He had remained
on the left bank of the river in the morning, and having in
consequence taken no part in the fighting, found himself in full
readiness to come to our aid. This division composed of two
regiments of carabiniers, a brigade of Cuirassiers, and with six
twelve pounders, fell furiously on the enemy and drove back into
the river all those who had crossed with the aim of cutting off
our retreat, and as there is nothing so terrible as troops who,
having suffered a setback, resume the offensive, the troopers of
Exelmanns' and d'Urbal's divisions slaughtered all whom they
could reach.
This counter-attack did us much good, for it halted the enemy
who, for that day, did not dare to follow us across the Katzbach.
However, the French army suffered an immense disaster, for
Marshal Macdonald having crossed the river by all the bridges and
fords which there were between Liegnitz and Goldberg, that is to
say on a line of more than five leagues, and now finding nearly
all these crossing points cut off by flooding, the French army
was extended in a long cordon with the Prussians at their back
and facing an almost uncrossable river, and so the frightful
scenes which I had witnessed on the Jau‰r plateau were reproduced
at all points of the field of battle. Everywhere the rain
prevented our infantry from firing and aided the attacks of the
Prussian cavalry, four times more numerous than ours; everywhere
retreat was made highly perilous by the difficulty of crossing
the flooded Katzbach. Most of the men who tried to swim across
were drowned, Brigadier-general Sibuet being among their number;
we were able to save only a few pieces of artillery.
Chap. 27.
After the unhappy affair at the Katzbach, Marshal Macdonald, in
an attempt to re-unite his troops, indicated as rallying points
the towns of Bunzlau, Lauban, and Gorlitz. A pitch-dark night,
rutted roads, and continuous torrential rain made movement slow
and very difficult; and many soldiers, particularly those of our
allies, went astray or lagged behind.
Napoleon's army lost at the battle of the Katzbach 13,000 men
killed or drowned, 20,000 prisoners, and 50 cannons. A veritable
calamity! Marshal Macdonald, whose faulty tactics had led to this
irreparable catastrophe, although he forfeited the confidence of
the army, was able to retain his personal esteem by the frankness
and loyalty with which he admitted to his mistakes; for the day
following the disaster he called together all the generals and
colonels, and after engaging us to do all we could to maintain
order, he said that every officer and man had done his duty, and
there was only one person who was responsible for the loss of the
battle, and that was himself; because, in view of the rain, he
should not have left a well-broken terrain to go and attack, in a
vast open space, an enemy who squadrons greatly outnumbered our
own, nor, during a rain-storm, have put a river at his back. This
contrite admission disarmed the critics, and everyone buckled to
in order to help save the army, which retreated towards the Elbe
via Bautzen.
Fate now seemed to be against us; for a few days after Marshal
Oudinot had lost the battle of Gross-Beeren, Macdonald that of
the Katzbach, and Vandamme that of Kulm, the French forces
suffered another major reverse. Marshal Ney, who had succeeded
Oudinot in command of the troops who were destined to march on
Berlin, not having a sufficiently powerful force to accomplish
this difficult task, was defeated at Jutterbach (Juterbog) by the
turncoat Bernadotte, and compelled to quit the right bank of the
Elbe.
The Emperor came back to Dresden with his Guard. The various
units under the command of Macdonald took up positions not far
from that town, while Marshal Ney, having pushed back the Swedes
to the right bank, concentrated his troops on the left bank at
Dassau and Wittemberg. For almost a fortnight, between the end of
September and the beginning of October, the French army remained
almost motionless around Dresden. My regiment was in bivouac
close to Veissig on the heights of Pilnitz, which were occupied
by a division of infantry supported by the cavalry of Sebastiani
and Exelmans.
Although there was no official armistice, the weariness of both
sides led to a de facto suspension of hostilities, from which
both parties profited to prepare for new and more terrible
conflicts.
While we were in camp at Pilnitz, I received a letter from the
colonel of Prussian cavalry to whom I had lent a horse after he
had been captured and injured by the men of my regiment at the
start of the battle of the Katzbach. This senior officer, named
M. de Blankensee, who had been freed by his own troops when
things turned against us, was nonetheless grateful for what I had
done, and to prove it he sent me ten Chasseurs and a lieutenant
belonging to my regiment who had been left wounded on the
battlefield and taken prisoner. M. de Blankensee had seen that
their wounds were dressed, and after caring for them for a
fortnight he had obtained permission to have them led to the
French outposts, with a thousand thanks to me, for having, as he
assured me, saved his life. I believe he was right, but I was
still touched by this expression of thanks from one of the
leaders of our opponents.
During the time we were in this camp there took place a strange
event which was witnessed by all the regiments. A corporal of the
4th Chasseurs, while drunk, had shown disrespect to an officer,
and a Lancer of the 6th whose horse had bitten him and would not
let go had struck it in the belly with some scissors which led to
its death. Certainly the two men deserved to be punished, but
only by proper disciplinary procedures. General Exelmans
condemned them both to death on his own authority, and having
ordered that the division should mount their horses, he drew them
up in a huge square, one side of which was left open, where two
graves were dug, to the side of which the two convicted men were
led.
I had been away all night and returned to the camp in time to see
these lugubrious preparations. I had no doubt that the prisoners
had been tried and condemned, but I soon learned that this was
not the case, and drawing near to a group formed by General
Exelmans, the two brigadiers and all the regimental commanders, I
heard M. Devence, Colonel of the 4th Chasseurs, and Colonel
Perquit of the 6th Lancers beg General Exelmans to pardon the two
culprits. General Exelmans refused to do so.
I have never been able to see an act which I consider unjust
without expressing my indignation. It was perhaps wrong of me,
but I addressed Colonels Devence and Perquit saying that it was
an affront to their dignity that men of their regiments should be
paraded through the camp as criminals when they had not had a
proper trial, and I added, "The Emperor has given no one the
power of life or death, and has reserved for himself the right to
grant pardon."
General Exelmans was sufficiently influenced by the effect
produced by my outburst to announce that he would pardon the
Chasseur of the 4th, but that the Lancer would be shot; that is
to say he would pardon the soldier who had been disrespectful to
his officer, but condemn to execution the one who had killed a
horse.
In order to carry out this execution each regiment was asked to
provide two N.C.O.s., but as they did not carry muskets, they
would have to use those belonging to other soldiers. When this
order reached me, I did not reply to my regimental
sergeant-major, who took my meaning; so that no one from the 23rd
presented himself to take part in the execution. General Exelmans
noticed this but said nothing! Eventually a shot rang out, and
all those present muttered with indignation! Exelmans ordered
that, as was usual, the troops would be marched past the corpse.
The march began. My regiment was second in the column and I was
in some doubt whether I should make it march past the unlucky
victim of Exelmans' severity when a great burst of laughter was
heard from the 24th Chasseurs, who were in front of me and had
already arrived at the scene of the execution. I sent a warrant
officer to find out the cause of this unseemly mirth in the
presence of the dead, and I soon discovered that the dead man was
in remarkably good health!
The truth was that all that had happened was a theatrical
performance staged to scare any soldiers who were tempted to
indiscipline; a performance which included shooting a man with
blanks; and to keep the operation secret from the rank and file,
our chief had formed the firing squad of sous-officiers, to whom
he had issued the blank cartridges. However, to complete the
illusion it was necessary for the troops to view the body, and
Exelmans had told the Lancer who was to play the part to throw
himself on his face at the sound of the shots and pretend to be
dead, then to leave the army the next night, dressed as a peasant
and with a sum of money which he had been given for the purpose;
but the soldier who was a sharp-witted Gascon, had understood
perfectly well that General Exelmans was exceeding his authority,
and had no more right to have him shot without trial than he had
to dismiss him from the army without a proper discharge, and so
he remained standing when the shots were fired and refused to
leave the camp without a pass which would guarantee him from
arrest by the gendarmerie.
When I learned that it was this discussion between the General
and the dead man which had produced the shouts of laughter from
the 24th Chasseurs at the head of the column, I thought it better
that my regiment did not take part in this comedy which seemed to
me to be as much contrary to discipline as the misdemeanors it
was supposed to punish or prevent. I therefore turned my
squadrons about, and setting off at the trot I left this
unhelpful scene and, returning to the camp, I ordered them to
dismount. My example having been followed by all the brigadiers
and regimental commanders of the division, Exelmans was left
alone with the "dead man", who set off calmly down the road to
the bivouac where he tucked into a meal with his comrades, amid
much more laughter.
During our stay on the plateau of Pilnitz, the enemy, and above
all the Russians, received many reinforcements, the main one, led
by General Benningsen was of not less than 60,000 men, and was
composed of the corps of Doctoroff and Tolsto‹ and the reserve of
Prince Labanoff. This reserve came from beyond Moscow and
included in its ranks a large number of Tartars and Baskirs,
armed only with bows and arrows.
I have never understood with what aim the Russian government
brought from so far and at such great expense these masses of
irregular cavalry, who having neither sabres nor lances nor any
kind of firearm, were unable to stand up against trained
soldiers, and served only to strip the countryside and starve the
regular forces, which alone were capable of resisting a European
enemy. Our soldiers were not in the least alarmed at the sight of
these semi-barbarous Asiatics, whom they nicknamed cupids,
because of their bows and arrows.
Nevertheless, these newcomers, who did not yet know the French,
had been so indoctrinated by their leaders, almost as ignorant as
themselves, that they expected to see us take flight at their
approach; and so they could not wait to attack us. From the very
day of their arrival in sight of our troops they launched
themselves in swarms against them, but having been everywhere
repulsed by gunfire, the Baskirs left a great number of dead on
the ground.
These losses, far from calming their frenzy, seemed to excite
them still more, for without any order and in all directions,
they buzzed around us like a swarm of wasps, flying all over the
place and being very hard to catch, but when our cavalry did
catch them they effected a fearful massacre, our lances and
sabres being immensely superior to their bows and arrows. All the
same, as the attacks by these barbarians were incessant and the
Russians supported them with detachments of Hussars to profit
from the confusion which the Baskirs could create at various
points on the line, the Emperor ordered the generals to be doubly
watchful, and to make frequent visits to our advance posts.
Now both sides were preparing to renew hostilities which, as I
have already said, had not been suspended by any agreement, but
simply de facto. All was completely peaceful in my camp, and I
had as usual taken off my coat and was preparing to shave in the
open air before a little mirror nailed to a tree, when I was
given a slap on the shoulder. As I was in the middle of my
regiment, I turned round sharply to see who had used this
familiarity with his commanding officer... I found myself facing
the Emperor, who, wishing to examine some neighbouring positions
without arousing the enemy, had arrived with only one
aide-de-camp. As he was not accompanied by a detachment of his
Guard, he was followed by squadrons chosen in equal numbers from
all the regiments in the division, and having, on his orders,
taken command of this escort, I spent the entire day at his side,
and have nothing but praise for his kindliness.
When we were preparing to return to Pilnitz, we saw a horde of
Baskirs hurrying towards us, with all the speed of their little
Tarter horses. The Emperor, who had never before seen troops of
this sort, stopped on a hillock and asked for the capture of some
prisoners. To this end, I ordered two squadrons of my regiment to
hide behind a clump of trees, while the remainder continued their
march. This well-known ruse would not have deceived Cossacks, but
it succeeded perfectly with the Baskirs, who have not the
slightest notion of tactics. They passed close to the wood
without sending anyone to inspect it, and were continuing to
follow the column when they were unexpectedly attacked by our
squadrons who, falling on them suddenly, killed a great number
and took some thirty prisoners.
I had these brought to the Emperor, who, after examining them
expressed his surprise at the spectacle of these wretched
horsemen who were sent, with no other arms than bows and arrows,
to fight European soldiers armed with sabres, lances, guns, and
pistols!... These Tarter Baskirs had Chinese features and wore
extravagant costumes. When we got back to the camp, my Chasseurs
amused themselves by giving wine to the Baskirs who, delighted
with this novel reception, got drunk and expressed their joy by
such extraordinary grimaces and capers that all the watchers,
including Napoleon, were in fits of laughter.
On the 28th of September, after reviewing our army corps, the
Emperor treated me with quite exceptional benevolence, for
although he very rarely gave more than one reward at a time, he
created me an officer of the Legion of Honour, a Baron, and
awarded me a grant of money!... He loaded favours on the
regiment, saying that it was the only one of Sebastiani's corps
which had maintained good order at the Katzbach, had captured
some enemy guns and had driven off the Prussians whenever they
met them.
The 23rd Chasseurs owed this distinction to the high praise of
its conduct received by the Emperor from Marshal Macdonald, who,
after the debacle at the Katzbach, had sought refuge in the ranks
of my regiment and had taken part in the fierce charges it made
to drive the enemies back across the river.
After the review, when the troops were on the road to their camp,
General Exelmans came to the front of the regiment and loudly
complemented them for the recognition given by the Emperor to
their courage. Then, turning to me, he embarked on a veritable,
and exaggerated, eulogy of their colonel.
The French army now was concentrated in the area of Leipzig. All
the enemy forces also proceeded to the town, around which their
great number allowed them to form a huge circle, which contracted
every day, and whose aim was obviously to hem in the French
troops and cut off all means of retreat.
On the 14th of October there was a sharp encounter between the
Austro-Russian advance-guard and our own; but after an indecisive
result, both sides returned to their previous positions, and the
action ended with one of the most ridiculous features of war, a
cannonade which went on until nightfall, with no result but the
loss of many men's lives.
The Emperor, after leaving at Dresden a garrison of 25,000 men
commanded by Marshal Saint-Cyr, came to Leipzig, where he arrived
on the morning of the 15th.
Chap. 28.