The enemy was full of confidence; he fought, he intrigued, he
flattered himself with the hopes of taking the place by storm or
reducing it to ashes; but through the vigilance and intrepidity of
my soldiers all his attempts failed. His incendiary rockets were
wasted on our ramparts; his attacks were repulsed, and his emissaries
discovered. Several of these wretches had already introduced
themselves into our magazines, and were preparing to set them on
fire. I perhaps ought to have made an example of them; but I dreaded
lest this example might be dangerous: I feared that it would give a
knowledge of the crime to those who were then ignorant of it, and that
it would spread alarm amongst the troops. I pretended to believe that
they had endeavoured to pilfer some provisions, and I dismissed them;
but I issued such severe proclamations against theft, that I kept
malevolence at a distance.
After three days of humiliation and fatigue the besiegers succeeded
at last in getting possession of the wood of Ohra. Driven from it
almost immediately, they re-appear with new forces, and drive in our
detachment. The battalion on duty takes a second time its arms, and
rushes to its relief. Major Legros attacks the wood; two companies
of grenadiers march on the village; the troops meet each other, they
charge, they drive, they overthrow: the struggle becomes frightful.
Captain Capgrau seizes by the hair a Prussian officer: whilst he
throws him on the ground, he himself is on the point of being killed;
a soldier already touches him with his bayonet. Lieutenant Sabatier
turns aside the blow, closes on the Cossack, and runs him through with
his sabre; but at the moment he saves his chief, he receives in the
throat a wound which compels him to quit the field of battle. In the
wood, in the village, every where, the Russians are defeated: Captain
Duchat kills four himself; Commandant Charton, Lieutenants Devrine and
Blanchard, mow them down in heaps; a crowd of brave fellows rush into
the midst of them and increase the disorder. Francou, whose valour
a short time afterwards was so famous, Martin, Couture, Rochette,
Schlitz, Lepont, Bennot, Soudè, Paris, Belochio, all sub-officers of
the light troops, the carabineer Richida, the drummer Breiquier rush
even to the centre of their columns, and give them up to the swords of
our soldiers.
Fresh troops take the place of those who are defeated, and establish
themselves in the wood; our heroes led on by Lieutenant Joly Delatour,
rush forward, attack and defeat them. The enemy, nevertheless, do not
lose courage; they form again into ranks, and present themselves a
third time: but always overcome, always cut in pieces, they at last
discontinue their attacks.
Early the next day the enemy throw themselves on Stries and
Heiligenbrun, and take possession of Langfuhr. Our advanced posts
fall back on two block-houses, situated on the right and left of the
village. The Russians pursue them, and prepare to attack them; but
the Poles fire on them with such rapidity and precision that they are
forced to retreat. They return in greater force, they cover, they
inundate the defiles of the Jesch Kental; they threaten Heiligenbrun,
they debouch by Stries; all my line is under fire. These manœuvres
left no doubt as to their intentions; it was clear that they had
serious views on Langfuhr; I determined to anticipate them, and march
out to meet them. I assembled my troops, the left in the village, the
centre in the ravines of Zigangenberg, and the right extending as far
as Ohra. Twenty-four pieces of cannon, commanded by General Lepin,
are placed in the middle between the two wings. They immediately
commence a firing: the enemy's redoubts, his masses, his camp at
Pitzkendorf, every thing is ploughed up by our ball, we dismount two
of his pieces. The Poles, the Bavarians, the Westphalians, and 250
horse, commanded by General Farine, debouch at the same time. The
brave Szembeck, already engaged with the Russians, was driving them
from Duvelkam; as soon as our soldiers perceive this defeat, they
grow warm, and they are encouraged; they rush on the redoubts at
Pitzkendorf. The allies, driven back on their works, endeavour in vain
to defend themselves; young Centurione at the head of his hussars,
overcomes every obstacle, but falls covered with wounds. At the sight
of this excellent officer carried off at so tender an age, the thirst
for vengeance kindles the courage of our men: infantry and cavalry
pour pell-mell on the redoubts. The trumpeter Bernardin, the chasseur
Olire, the Quarter-master Boucher, throw themselves into the midst of
the Russians; Lieutenant Tirion, already wounded, goes straight to the
officer who commands them, and takes him prisoner. From that moment
it is no longer a battle—it is slaughter, it is carnage, all perish
at the point of the bayonet, or only owe their lives to the mercy of
the conquerors. Whilst our soldiers are giving themselves up to the
fire of their courage, a cloud of Cossacks rush on them, and threaten
to cut them in pieces; but General Cavaignac moves up so promptly
with the reserve of cavalry, the troops charge with such zeal, the
Commanding-Adjutant de Erens, the chiefs of squadrons Bel and Zeluski,
Captains Gibert, Fayaux, Vallier, Pateski, and Bagatho, display so
much intelligence and skill that the enemy is completely routed, and
disperses in the most frightful confusion.
The cannonade grew warmer and warmer. The Russians still occupied
the Johanisberg, the ground in front of Pitzkendorf, and made a
furious attack on Langfuhr. I detached against them a battalion of
the Vistula, which was supported by the Neapolitans commanded by
General Détrées, having under his orders General Pépé, who has since
been rendered so famous by the events which have occurred in his own
country. The brave Szembeck commenced the attack; it was made with
great regularity and impetuosity. The Russians, routed at the point of
the bayonet, overthrown by destructive charges, seek safety by flight.
The Poles pursue them with increased boldness; the drummer Hhade
seizes one of them by the cartouche-box, pulls him from the ranks and
disarms him. Captain Fatczinsky forgets that he is wounded, rushes
into a house which they occupy, kills their chief, and makes thirty of
them prisoners.
The Neapolitans are not less impetuous; they press forward in pursuit
of the fugitives, drive them on and fire upon them. General Pépé,
Colonel Lebon, the Commandants Balathier, and Sourdet, Captains
Chivandier and Cianculli direct and excite their courage, and give at
once both precept and example.
On the opposite side of the mountain the conflict was not less
obstinate or bloody. At the appointed signal, Colonel Kaminsky had
marched on the Russians and had dislodged them; he drove them before
him—the pursuit was hot. Reinforcements arrive; our adversaries
endeavour to stem the torrent, but the Poles pursue them with
impetuosity. Roseizensky, Drabizclwsky, Doks, Zaremba, Zygnowicz,
followed by men devoted to their leaders, rush on them and cut them in
pieces.
We were masters of Johanisberg. The weather was terrible; the enemy
was flying at a distance. I ordered a retreat to be sounded—it was
done in the most perfect order. At six o'clock every thing was
tranquil. But the Russians were not long before they made their
appearance again. They attack at the same time the Belvedere and the
heights of Heiligenbrun; they keep up a very smart firing; but they
are nevertheless unable to obtain the slightest advantage. Colonel
Kaminsky, and Commander Szembeck display a courage and skill which
disconcert them. They withdraw, but at the same time two battalions,
supported by a numerous cavalry, march on the village of Stries.
Kaminsky rushes to its defence. The Russians return immediately to
the charge; they scale the heights, they attack the Belvedere, push
on, and press their attacks. All their attempts fail against the
excellent arrangements of Major Deskur, and the valour of the chiefs
of battalion Johman and Robiesky.
This was not the first diversion they had tried. They had already
driven in our advanced posts from Schidlitz to Ohra: Major Schneider,
attacked in front and flank, only maintained this suburb by courage.
He perceived a numerous column which imprudently entered the great
broad-street: he charged it, poured a shower of grape-shot on it, and
destroyed it. General Husson came up with the reserve. We resumed the
offensive; in an instant the wood and the village are taken, and the
Russians thrown into dreadful confusion. The chief of battalion,
Boulanger, disarmed eight of them; a sergeant who had been wounded
by a musquet-ball, the brave Vestel, disarmed three: the sub-officer
Cornu rescued one of our men, and took his escort prisoners.
I was once more master of the Johanisberg and of Langfuhr, but this
success could not be durable; it was evident that the Russians,
continually returning to the charge with fresh troops, must in the
end succeed. Moreover, these two positions were so far separated from
each other, that they could neither injure me much, nor be of much use
to me. I gave, in consequence, orders to evacuate them, if the Allies
presented themselves in force. But their audacity had given place to
timidity. They were afraid of removing from the heights; they dared
not take possession of a village that had been abandoned. Impatient,
nevertheless, to get possession of it, they engage in a general action
to make themselves masters of a post which I had resolved not to
defend. The troops take arms; the fleet supports them. The whole of
my line is attacked: eighty gun-boats fire in concert, and pour their
shot on Neufahrwasser. Schelmulle, New-Schottland, Ohra, Zigangendorf
became a prey to the flames. The enemy's troops spread themselves as
a torrent in the plain; they overthrow or set fire to every thing
that opposes their passage: I came up in the midst of this terrible
confusion. But already the courage of the Russians had declined; they
were repulsed by a handful of brave men under the command of Major
Poyeck, and left the approaches of Kabrun filled with heaps of dead
bodies. I gave orders to pursue them: the impetuous Gibert rushed
forward with his chasseurs. Captain Maisonneuve joined him; they
charged: the disorderly multitude was repulsed and driven back on
Schelmulle. This party of the Russians, joined by the troops which
occupied the village, received, without being broken, the destructive
vollies of Captain Ostrowsky; but almost immediately turned by Captain
Marnier, one of the bravest officers in the French army, they fled,
disbanded themselves, and sought for refuge amidst the ruins of
buildings which they had given to the flames.
The struggle was not less warm at Langfuhr: attacked by 12,000
Russians, our posts fought and struggled in the very midst of the
immense columns of the enemy. Sergeant Szhatkowsky stood in need of
all his courage to escape from the Cossacks. Employed on a work in
front of the village, with thirteen men, he was surrounded by these
irregular troops; he immediately rallied his workmen, faced on one
side, attacked on the other, and constantly marching and fighting, at
last disengaged himself without losing a man.
The Russians, humiliated by their losses, marched on the village.
Two houses, which I had put in a state to resist a _coup de main_,
defended its entrance: our adversaries attacked them in flank, pressed
on, and attempted an escalade; but a destructive fire threw them
into confusion, and compelled them to retreat. To increase their
misfortunes, the Neapolitans appear, and attack them. Colonels Lebon
and Dégennero pressed on, broke through the cavalry, and penetrated
into Langfuhr. The cavalry returned to the charge with greater numbers
and audacity; it took advantage of impediments, seized the right
moment, and charged our battalions as they were scattered up and
down the streets. A bloody conflict ensued; the brave Paliazzi fell,
pierced with ten lance wounds: Captains Nicolaü, Angeli, Dégennero,
are covered with wounds, and are compelled to leave the field of
battle. In vain the intrepid Grimaldi, in vain Lieutenants Amato,
Legendre, Hubert, Pouza, Gomez, and Zanetti endeavoured to stem the
torrent; numbers prevailed: we were compelled to retreat. A few brave
fellows, engaged too far in front, were unable to follow, and were
cut off; but far from giving way to despair, their courage increased
at the sight of danger; they rallied round the Adjutant-major Odiardi.
They advance, they turn, they retrograde, and at last reach the
fortified houses. Already were they attacked for the second time;
the Allies, enraged at the resistance, threw themselves on the
pallisadoes; tore them from the ground, and appeared about to triumph
over all these obstacles: but, laid in the dust as soon as they were
open to our fire, they soon despaired of success: unable to take the
houses, they set fire to them. Our brave fellows are not disconcerted:
some continued the firing, others subdue the flames; and the enemy is
not advanced farther than before. A thick smoke hid from our view the
two houses; I was still ignorant whether our troops occupied them,
or whether the Allies had made themselves masters of them. Reports
announced the latter; I resolved, nevertheless, to make an attempt
to know; but the balls, fired from off the houses, were falling on
us in showers: I concluded that they were lost. One circumstance
in particular rendered it probable: the firing had ceased, while
the flames were still raging. I was unwilling, however, to believe
that they had been given up; I ordered a fresh reconnoissance. The
neighbourhood of these two posts was heaped with dead bodies, clad
in white capotes. Deceived by the colour of the dress, the officers
whom I had sent were persuaded that the Bavarians had perished; all
asserted it, all were convinced of it. The loss of such brave men was
melancholy, and deserved not to be admitted on appearances. I charged
one of my aides-de-camp, Captain Marnier, to ascertain the real state
of the case: this mission could not be disagreeable to him; he had,
at the battle of Uclès, summoned a Spanish division to lay down its
arms, and had taken it: the spears of the Cossacks would not stop
him. At daybreak he set out from Kabrun, with eight men who requested
to follow him; he proceeded, running, to the house on the right.
Immediately the barriers were opened, the detachment joined him, and
made its retreat, in spite of the Russians who rushed forward to
intercept it.
That on the left still remained; but the greatest difficulty was
overcome. I was certain that it still existed: I issued orders
that it should be relieved. A battalion advanced; no sooner was it
perceived by these admirable soldiers, than they placed their wounded
in the midst of it, and rushed forth on the Allies. Several received
wounds; the brave Dalwick was struck by a ball, which shattered his
left shoulder, but he continued to fight with ardour. The contest
became more and more bloody. The Bavarians, inflamed with the noble
desire to save their countrymen, and animated by the example of two
intrepid officers, Adjutant-major Seiferlitz and Lieutenant Muck,
threw themselves precipitately on the enemy, broke through them, and
at last brought off in safety this handful of devoted soldiers. They
made a kind of triumphal entry: every one was anxious to see them, and
to congratulate them: all spoke of their constancy, and boasted of
their resignation. Alone, abandoned to their own resources, without
provisions, without ammunition, parched with thirst, suffocated
by the smoke, they had braved the threats, repulsed the summons,
and rejected with disdain the insinuations of the enemy. Captain
Fahrebeck in particular was loaded with encomiums; his _sang-froid_
was admired, his courage extolled; his firmness and his prudence
were the subject and the theme of every one's conversation. It was
natural that I should testify to these brave fellows how much I was
satisfied with them: I inserted in the order of the day the perils
that they had faced, the risks they had run; and I lodged the wounded
in my own hotel. Every day I visited them; every day I made myself
acquainted with their situation, and assured myself that their wants
were supplied. An officer, who was in my confidence, M. Romeru, was
moreover instructed to lavish on them the cares and the consolation
which I was not able to give them myself.
As soon as the enemy was master of Langfuhr, he began to labour; works
upon works were constructed: his exertions were unremitted. His design
was to narrow my position more and more, and ultimately to compel me
to shut myself up in the fortress. This plan was admirable; the only
question was how to execute it; this was a more difficult affair.
I had covered the fronts of Oliwa and Hagelsberg by a formidable
entrenched camp; nine works composed it: the lunette of Istria
occupied the culminating point of the heights, which command the fort
and defile of Hagelsberg; it was flanked by the batteries Kirgeur
and Caulincourt. A selection was afterwards made among the hillocks
situated between these works and the road of Langfuhr, of those
which were most advantageously situated, and they were fortified.
The following was the arrangement of these redoubts: going on the
right from Caulincourt, the redoubt Romeuf, the battery Grabowsky,
the redoubt Deroy, the battery Montbrun. In fine, to complete this
line of fortifications and to extend it as far as the Vistula, two
batteries more were established; the one called Fitzer, across the
road of Langfuhr, the other known by the name of Gudin, was little
farther distant; it rested on an artificial inundation, which extended
as far as the dyke on the left of the Vistula, and formed the right
of all our line, which still enclosed two batteries which were placed
on the other side of the river. All these works were palisadoed,
provided with barracks, and powder magazines. I ordered moreover two
barrack camps to be erected; the one to hold four hundred men, towards
the extreme left behind Kirgeur, and the other a hundred and fifty,
behind Montbrun. The part of this line which extends from Montbrun to
Gudin was connected by a kind of covered road; that which extended to
the left was sufficiently protected by the badness of the ground. I
thought, moreover, that it was necessary to secure the power of acting
on the offensive in a part of these works.
Ohra was also put in a state of defence. A mass of houses, which
communicated with each other, and the doors and windows of which had
been carefully walled up; parapets and palisadoes, which had no other
outlet but a tongue of land, bounded by two beds of water, rather
deep, formed an advanced retrenchment, known under the name of the
_first entrenchment_ of Ohra; the second, situated four hundred yards
in its rear, was composed of the same materials, and was supported on
a large Jesuit's convent, which had been fortified. The heights and
defiles which approach the suburb were fortified; the redoubt with
which they were surmounted prevented the enemy from turning us, and
soon became famous under the name of the batteries and lines of Friuli.
Whilst we were executing these works the enemy frequently skirmished
with our advanced posts: Schidlitz, Ohra, Stolzenberg, were in turn
the object of his attacks, Repulsed at every point, he attempted to
surprise Heubade; but he there met with more than his match. The
Commandant Carré, an old soldier, full of vigilance, and acquainted
with all kinds of stratagems, perceived his columns, succeeded in
making them engage each other, and retired without loss from a
critical situation.
Quite ashamed at this cruel mystification, the Russians flatter
themselves with the prospect of taking revenge at Kabrun. They
surround it, they scale it, but received by a destructive firing,
directed by Captain Nazzewski, they withdrew leaving the ditches
filled with dead. They march once more on Schidlitz: put to
flight the first time, they return to the charge with fresh vigour
and impetuosity; but Adjutant-major Bouttin, Captains Kleber and
Feuillade, raise to such a degree the courage of our soldiers, that
they throw themselves on the Allies, and defeat them.
The fleet also was not idle: on the 4th, at daybreak, it appeared,
drawn up in line of battle; it had failed two days before in two
consecutive attacks, and completely wasted more than seven thousand
rounds of cannon-shot. Shame, thirst after vengeance, every thing
incited it to fight: it was the explosion of a volcano. The frigates
and the gun-boats thundered forth at once, and covered us with a
shower of shells: but far from being discomposed, our batteries are
managed with increased coolness and regularity. Officers and soldiers,
all soar above danger, and only think on victory. A gunner, engaged
in spunging a gun, had an arm carried off; Captain Pomerenski takes
up the spunging-rod and performs duty. Sergeant Viard serves a piece
which fires red-hot balls, and points it as at the polygon; Lieutenant
Milewski manages and superintends his own, sinks one gun-boat, damages
others, and compels them to leave the scene of action. Captain
Leppigé, Sergeant-major Zackowski, Sergeant Radzmiski, Corporal
Multarowski, set the most admirable examples of coolness and skill.
Captain Henrion, Lieutenant Hagueny, Captain of the frigate Rousseau,
the seamen Despeistre and Costo, the Corporals Davis and Dubous stick
to their cannon, and do not cease to fight them till the enemy fly.
The fleet, convinced of the inutility of its efforts, makes to sea,
with the satisfaction of having fired nine thousand rounds in order
to kill two men. It had also dismounted two of our pieces; but it
had lost two gun-boats, nine others were seriously damaged, and its
frigates were full of holes from our shells and ball.
We very soon had a more formidable enemy to contend with. The Vistula
suddenly rises, overflows, or breaks down the dykes, and escapes
with impetuosity. The place, the fortifications, become a prey to
the waves. The bridges are carried away, the sluices destroyed, and
the banks broken up; the waters, now without impediment, rush into
the ditches, and undermine the bastions. Those of Bœren, and Braunn
Ross were in ruins, and it was to be feared, that, when the Vistula
should return to its natural bed, the inundation could not be kept
up; but the engineer department was not negligent in this critical
juncture, they succeeded in re-establishing the breaches, by means
of great dexterity and perseverance; and when the water subsided,
the inundation kept up by the branches which run through the Werder
scarcely experienced any change of level.
The turn of the Russians had now arrived: they had profited by the
embarrassment which the swelling of the waters caused us; they had
raised battery on battery; and on the 15th of November they unmasked
a score lined with guns of the largest calibre. The fleet also came
up to try its powers against our forts. Masses of infantry were ready
to give the assault as soon as the palisadoes should be destroyed;
three bomb-vessels and forty gun-boats pour in a dreadful fire
upon Newfahrwasser. Danger, far from dejecting, only animates our
soldiers; they swear they will conquer, they swear they will punish
the assailants. The troops of the line keep close to the cannon, the
artillery points them, as at a review; they damage and dismast a crowd
of gun-boats. Of a sudden, a terrible explosion is heard: a ball had
pierced the Sainte-Barbe, the sloop disappeared. The same explosion
was repeated. We congratulate, and encourage each other, we are eager
to imitate the heroes who fire with such admirable precision. Three
vessels become nearly at the same time a prey to the flames, and the
first line of ships retires all covered with wreck. The second takes
its place, without being more successful, and the divisions thus
succeed each other every three hours, without slackening the fire.
At last, disheartened by the obstacles which were opposed to it, by
the courage of our soldiers, the excellent arrangements of Colonel
Rousselot, and the vigilance of Major François, the fleet retires to
repair its losses. Twelve hours fighting, and 20,000 discharges of
cannon, had no other result than the killing and wounding of half a
dozen of our men, and the damaging of three of our gun-carriages.
This was the last attempt. A few months earlier it would have been
infallible, but in war the very moment should be seized.
The troops were more successful. They attacked our posts in advance
of Ohra, and got possession of that of the Etoile on the heights at
the right of the village. Major Legros does not allow them time to
establish themselves; four chosen companies, under the command of
Captains Valard and Aubry, march without delay to the point of attack.
They take the Russians by surprise, and cut them in pieces. In vain do
they appear with fresh troops; repulsed, put to flight, they disperse,
though without losing courage; they make a fresh attempt, but met
by a destructive discharge of musquetry, they disband and fall under
the fire of two companies placed in the village of Stadtgebieth which
annihilate them.