Napoleon halted two weeks at Witepsk. He felt that if he could not find
the Russian army, it was necessary to make a conquest that would end the
campaign with substantial glory. Now, more than ever the idea of
capturing the ancient Moscow entered his head, and he quickly decided to
advance. Already full of the plan, which was to crown him with success,
he ran to his maps. There he saw nothing but Smolensko and Moscow.
“At the sight of them,” says Hazlitt, “he appeared inflamed by the
genius of war. His voice became harsh; his glance fiery, and his whole
air stern and fierce. His attendants retired from his presence, through
fear as well as respect; but at length his mind was fixed, his
determination taken, and his line of march traced out. Immediately
after, the tempest was calmed, and having given consistency and
utterance to his great conceptions, his features resumed their wonted
character of placidity and cheerfulness.” He did all in his power to
gain over his officers to his purposes, and redoubled his attentions to
his soldiers. The latter soon displayed a spirit of heroic devotion to
his person.
The column of advance consisted of one hundred and eighty-five thousand
men; not one half of the complement of the vast army which had entered
Russia on the 23d of June.
It must be remembered that the great tract of country already passed was
now occupied by his army, and necessarily expended a force, amounting
perhaps to nearly eighty thousand men; but it is computed that in
addition to this diminution of his army engaged in actual service, he
had lost one-third of his original numbers by desertion, wounds, or
death, either from fatigue or disease, or in the field of battle.
Numbers of his hospital wagons, pontoons, and provision wagons, also,
were far in the rear. Still, all these considerations gave way before
his ardent desire to hurry the war to a termination, and the exertions
he made at Witepsk were all with a view to an advance. Several actions,
occurred between his generals and the different divisions of the Russian
army during the period in which he held his head-quarters at Witepsk.
Schwartzenberg conquered Tormazoff at Gorodeczna; Barclay retreated
before Ney at Krasnoi; and Oudinot defeated Witgenstein near Polotsk, in
a second combat,—the first in which they encountered was indecisive. It
was at this moment that Napoleon received news of the conclusion of
peace between Russia and Turkey, an event which much more than
counterbalanced these successes.
During the first week of August, intelligence reached Witepsk, that the
advanced guard, led by Prince Eugene, had obtained some advantages near
Suraij; but that, in the centre, at Tukowo, near the Dnieper, Sebastiani
had been surprised, and conquered by superior numbers. This information,
together with the march of Barclay upon Rudnia, decided Napoleon. He
conjectured that the whole Russian army was united between the Dwina and
the Dnieper, and was marching against his cantonments. His conjecture
proved to be perfectly correct. The Russian commander-in-chief
conceiving that the French army at Witepsk lay considerably more
dispersed than his own, had resolved to attempt a surprise. The utmost
activity now pervaded head-quarters. On the 10th of August, Napoleon was
observed to write eight letters to Davoust, and nearly as many to each
of his commanders. “If the enemy defends Smolensko,” he said, in one of
his letters to Davoust, “as I am tempted to believe he will, we shall
have a decisive engagement there, and we cannot have too large a force.
Orcha will become the central point of the army. Every thing induces me
to believe that there will be a great battle at Smolensko.” Barclay
having laid a plan for the surprise of Napoleon, the latter by a daring
manœuvre avoided it, and almost succeeded in an attempt to turn the
very same plan of surprise upon his enemy. Allowing the skirmishing to
continue on the advanced posts, he changed his line of operations, and
turning the left of the Russians instead of their right, which was
expected by Barclay, he gained the rear of their army, and endeavored to
occupy Smolensko, and act upon their lines of communication with Moscow.
To effect this, he had withdrawn his forces from Witepsk and the line of
the Dwina, with equal skill and rapidity, and throwing four bridges
across the Dnieper, made a passage for Ney, Eugene Beauharnais, and
Davoust, with Murat at the head of two large bodies of cavalry. They
were supported by Poniatowski and Junot, who advanced in different
routes. The attack was led by Ney and Murat, who bore down all
opposition till they reached Krasnoi, where a battle was fought on the
14th of August. He had thus suddenly changed his line of operations from
the Dwina to the Dnieper, and the manœuvre has been the subject of
much admiration and criticism among French and Russian tacticians.
The Russian general, Newerowskoi, who commanded at Krasnoi, finding
himself attacked by a body of infantry stronger than his own, and two
large bodies of cavalry besides, retreated upon the road to Smolensko.
This road being favorable for the action of cavalry, he was hotly
pressed by Murat, who led the pursuit in full splendor of attire, and
with all the reckless valor which characterised him. He also dispatched
some of his light squadrons to alarm if not attack the front of the
retreating corps, while he made furious onsets upon their flank and
rear. Newerowskoi, however, effected a skilful and gallantly-conducted
retreat, availing himself of a double row of trees on the high road to
Smolensko, by which he evaded the charges of the cavalry, and was
enabled to pour in a heavy fire. He made good his retreat into
Smolensko, with the loss of four hundred men.
The day on which the combat at Krasnoi was fought, happened to be the
Emperor’s birth-day. There was no intention of keeping it in these
immense solitudes, and under the present circumstances of peril and
anxiety. There could be no heartfelt festival without a complete
victory. Murat and Ney, however, on giving in the report of their recent
success, could not refrain from complimenting the Emperor on the
anniversary of his nativity. A salute from a hundred pieces of artillery
was now heard, fired according to their orders. Napoleon, with a look of
displeasure, observed, that in Russia it was important to be economical
of French powder. But he was informed in reply, that it was Russian
powder, and had been taken the night before. The idea of having his
birth-day celebrated at the expense of the Russians made Napoleon smile.
Prince Eugene also paid his compliments to the Emperor on this occasion;
but was cut short by Napoleon saying, “Every thing is preparing for a
battle. I will gain that, and then we will see Moscow.”
While Newerowskoi was intrenched in Smolensko, the generals, Barclay and
Bagration, who were stationed towards Inkowo, between the Dnieper and
Lake Kasplia, hesitated whether to attack the French army, which they
believed to be still in their front. But when they heard of the
situation of Newerowskoi, the question of forcing the French lines was
superseded by the necessity of hurrying to the rescue of Smolensko.
Murat had already commenced an attack on the city. Ney had attempted to
carry the citadel by a _coup de main_, but was repulsed with the loss of
two or three hundred men, and was himself slightly wounded. He withdrew
to an eminence on the river’s bank, to examine the various positions,
when on the other side of the Dnieper he thought he could discern some
large masses of troops in motion. He hastened to inform the Emperor.
Napoleon was presently on the spot, and distinguished, amidst clouds of
dust, long dark columns which seemed electric with the intermittent
glancing of innumerable arms. These masses were advancing with rapidity.
It was Barclay and Bagration at the head of a hundred and twenty
thousand men. At this sight, Napoleon clapped his hands for joy,
exclaiming,—“At last I have them!” The moment that was to decide the
fate of Russia or the French army, had apparently arrived.
Napoleon passed along the line, and assigned to each commander his
station, leaving an extensive plain unoccupied in front, between himself
and the Dnieper. This he offered to the enemy as a field of battle. The
French army in this position was backed by defiles and precipices; but
Napoleon had no anxiety about retreat, so certain felt he of victory.
Instead, however, of accepting the challenge to a decisive battle,
Barclay and Bagration were seen next morning in full retreat towards
Elnia; a movement which was so bitterly disappointing to Napoleon that
he for some time refused to credit the fact. Various plans were
contemplated by the Emperor for partially cutting off their retreat, but
could not be brought into operation. He instantly ordered the storming
of Smolensko, inferring that it should be considered as a mere passage
through which he would force his way to Moscow. It appears that Murat
was very anxious to dissuade him from this attempt, but finding his
efforts in vain, the King of Naples was so exasperated that he rode in
front of the most formidable of the Russian batteries while it was in
full play upon the French; and having dismounted, remained standing
immoveable, while the balls were cutting down men on all sides. The
storming proceeded with success, except in the attack made by Ney upon
the citadel, which repulsed him with loss. One battalion happening to
present itself in flank before the Russian batteries, lost the entire
row of a company by a single ball, which thus killed twenty-two men at
the same instant. In the mean time, the main army, on an amphitheatre of
hills, surveyed in anxiety the struggles of their comrades in arms, and
occasionally applauded them with loud clapping hands as in a theatre,
while they made good any fresh onset, dashing through a maze of balls
and grape-shot which shadowed the air.
The troops were drawn off as night came on, and Napoleon retired to his
tent. Count Lobau, having obtained possession of the ditch, ordered some
shells to be thrown into the city, to dislodge the enemy. Almost
immediately were seen rising thick and black columns of smoke, with
occasional gleams of light; then sparks and burning flakes; and at
length pyramids of flame, which ascended from every part. These distinct
and distant fires soon became united in one vast conflagration, which
rose in whirling and destructive grandeur,—hung over nearly the whole of
Smolensko, and consumed it amidst ominous and awful crashes. This
disaster, which Count Lobau very naturally attributed to his shells,
though it was the work of the Russians, threw him into great
consternation. Napoleon, seated in front of his tent, viewed the
terrific spectacle in silence. Neither the cause nor the result could as
yet be ascertained, and the night was passed under arms. About three in
the morning, a subaltern officer, belonging to Davoust, had ventured to
the foot of the wall, and scaled it, without giving the least alarm.
Emboldened by the silence which reigned around him, he made his way into
the city, when suddenly hearing a number of voices speaking with the
Sclavonian accent, he gave himself up for lost. But at this instant, the
level rays of the sun discovered these supposed enemies to be the Poles
of Poniatowski. They had been the first to penetrate the city, which
Barclay had just abandoned to the flames. Smolensko having been
reconnoitred, the army entered within its walls. The remarks of Segur on
this occasion are very fine:—“They passed over the smoking and bloody
ruins in martial order, and with all the pomp of military music and
displayed banners; triumphant over deserted ruins, and the solitary
witness of their own glory. A spectacle without spectators; a victory
scarcely better than fruitless; a glory steeped in blood; and of which
the smoke that surrounded them, and that seemed indeed to be the only
conquest, was the best and most characteristic emblem.”
Here Napoleon found, as at the Niemen, at Wilna, and at Witepsk, that
phantom of victory which had decoyed him onward, had again eluded his
grasp; and with mute and gloomy rage he walked along the city over heaps
of smoking ruins and the naked bodies of the slain. He sat down in front
of the citadel, on a mat at the door of a cottage, and here he held
forth for an hour on the cowardice of Barclay, while bullets from the
citadel walls were whizzing about his head. He dwelt upon the fine field
for action he had offered him, the disgrace it was to have delivered up
the keys of Old Russia without a struggle; the advantages he had given
him in a strong city to support his efforts or to receive him in case of
need. Without taking the slightest notice of the bullets from the
Russian riflemen in the citadel, he thus continued to sit and vent his
passionate disappointment, uttering the most bitter sarcasms upon the
Russian general and army. “He was not yet in the secret,” laconically
observes Hazlitt, “of the new Scythian tactics of defending a country by
burning its capitals.” At length, he remounted his horse. One of his
marshals remarked, as soon as he was out of hearing, that “if Barclay
had been so very wrong in refusing battle, the Emperor would not have
taken so much time to convince us of it.” The truth was, he had no
patience with the Russians for not staying—to be beaten.
The Russians still retained the suburbs of Smolensko, on the right bank
of the Dnieper. During the night, Napoleon caused the bridges to be
repaired, and a heavy cannonade to be kept up; and by the morning, the
suburb had been deserted after being first set on fire. Ney and Junot
immediately pressed forward through the burning labyrinth, and halted on
the spot at which the roads to Petersburg and Moscow diverge, uncertain
in which direction to continue the pursuit. At length, the French scouts
brought information that Barclay had retreated in the direction of
Moscow, taking at first a circuitous route through marshy and woody
defiles. Ney came up with the rear guard at Stubna, where he dislodged
them from a strong position, without difficulty; and next at Valoutina,
where a desperate conflict took place, in which thirty thousand men were
successively engaged on either side. Encumbered as he was by a long line
of artillery and baggage, and hard pressed by Ney, Barclay was in
extreme danger of losing his whole army, but he was saved by the
unaccountable remissness of Junot, who had absolutely got into his rear,
yet suspended his attack. Junot was a favorite with Napoleon, but he
lost his command for this indecision. It was transferred to Rapp, who
had just joined the army. The action had been sanguinary, and among
other severe losses, the French general Gudin was mortally wounded.
Napoleon visited the field of battle, which would probably have been a
decisive one had he been present to direct the manœuvres. The
soldiers were ranged round the dead bodies of French and Russians which
covered the ground; the ghastly nature of their wounds, and the wrenched
and twisted bayonets scattered about, bearing witness to the violence of
the conflict. Napoleon felt that the time was come when his men required
the support both of praise and rewards. Accordingly, he suppressed his
chagrin at the indecisive result of the victory. His looks were never
more impressive and affectionate. He declared this battle was the most
brilliant exploit in their military history. In his rewards, he was
munificent. The division of Gudin alone received eighty-seven
decorations and promotions. He watched over and secured the care of the
wounded, and left the field amidst the enthusiastic acclamations of his
soldiers. He then returned to Smolensko. His carriage jolted over the
grisly ruins of the fight, and his eyes were met on every side by all
that is odious and horrible in fields of battle. Long lines of wounded
were dragging themselves, or being borne along, and retarded his
progress; when he entered the ruined city, carts were conveying out of
sight the streaming heap of amputated limbs. Smolensko seemed one vast
hospital, and its groans of anguish prevailed over and obliterated the
glories and acclamations of Valoutina.
The situation of the French army had now become grave and critical.
There could no longer be a doubt of the plan which Barclay was pursuing,
and disastrous apprehensions crowded upon Napoleon’s mind. The burning
of Smolensko was evidently one result of a deep laid design; it could
not be attributed to accident.
What must have been his reflections on the evening of this disastrous
day, when, with a burning city for a camp-fire, he at length discovered
the settled policy of his enemy—the policy, namely, by which Robert
Bruce, in his last will, directed his countrymen how to conquer the
ever-invading English—the policy by which Francis the First baffled his
great rival, Charles the Fifth, in his attempt to conquer France—the
policy of laying waste the country, burning the cities, retreating
without a pitched battle and leaving famine, cold and disease to destroy
the invading force?
Whatever misfortune awaited him, the Emperor was resolved to meet it
without delay. He really dared fate to do its worst.
[Illustration]
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[Illustration: NAPOLEON AT WIAZMA. Page 317.]
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[Illustration]