We have seen Napoleon, with the wreck of an army, a fugitive amid the
frozen plains of Russia. A few months have scarcely elapsed. It is
April, 1813; and the Emperor of the French has taken the field at the
head of three hundred and fifty thousand men, to beat back the enemies
who have arisen against him in the hour of his adversity. Once more, in
spite of the retreat from Moscow, Europe trembles at his name.
The allies have posted themselves between Leipsic and Dresden. Napoleon,
with a hundred and fifteen thousand men under his immediate command,
advances to the attack with his customary confidence and decision.
Skirmishes took place at Weissenfels and Posen on the 29th of April, and
the first of May. On the last day, the French approached the town of
Lutzen, where Gustavus Adolphus had gained his final victory. The
foremost column came upon the advanced guard of the allies, posted on
the heights of Posen, and commanding a defile through which it was
necessary to pass. Marshal Bessieres, the commander of the Old Guard—the
companion of Napoleon in so much glory—dashed forward to reconnoitre the
enemy’s position, when a cannon ball struck one of his aids, and killed
him upon the spot. The marshal reined in his fiery charger.
“Inter that brave man,” said he, coolly; but scarcely had the words
passed his lips, when he was struck by a spent cannon ball, and he fell
from his horse, a corpse. A white sheet was thrown over him to conceal
his features from the soldiers whom he had so often led to glory. The
body was conveyed to a neighboring house, and there it lay during the
battle of the next day, when the Guard looked in vain for the manly form
of their commander. Napoleon deeply regretted Bessieres. He ordered the
body to be embalmed and sent to the Hotel des Invalides, whence he
designed to have it interred with great honors; but his fall prevented
the execution of his intention.
On the night of the first of May, the army under Napoleon encamped in
order of battle, within sight of the camp-fires of the allies, near
Lutzen. The centre was at a village called Kaya, under the command of
Ney. It consisted of the young conscripts, supported by the Imperial
Guard, with its new parks of artillery drawn up before the well known
town of Lutzen. Marmont commanded the right. The left reached from Kaya
to the Elster. The silence of night settled down upon the camp of the
French. But the allies, encouraged by the presence of the Czar and the
King of Prussia, had determined to take the offensive—a very unusual
course for any enemy in the face of Napoleon. While the French were
reposing around their camp-fires, the Prussian general, Blucher, crossed
the Elster. At daybreak, before Napoleon was stirring in his quarters,
the French, in the centre, were startled by the furious assault of the
enemy, who pushed their way through all obstacles, and were on the point
of gaining possession of Kaya. The crisis was imminent. Napoleon, roused
from slumber by intelligence of the attack, hurried in person to bring
up the Guard to sustain the centre, while he moved forward the two
wings, commanded by Macdonald and Bertrand, and supported by the
tremendous batteries, so as to outflank and surround the main body of
the allies. Thus began the battle of Lutzen. The struggle was fierce,
and it endured for several hours. The village of Kaya was taken and
retaken a number of times, but at length it remained in the hands of
General Gerard. The students who were in the ranks of the allies, fought
with desperate courage, and fell in great numbers. Schavnhort, a noted
Prussian general, was killed, and Blucher was wounded. The artillery of
the French carried immense destruction into the ranks of the enemy, and,
at length, fearing from Napoleon’s manœuvres, that they would be
taken in flank, they beat a retreat, which they effected safely, but
with much difficulty. They left twenty thousand dead upon the field. The
loss of the French was not more than ten or twelve thousand men. The
victory was not decisive, but it was glorious, and once more Napoleon’s
star shone with brilliant lustre, free from the shadow of defeat.
The French army was ordered to encamp on the field of battle in squares,
by divisions, in order to provide against any sudden return of the
enemy. Couriers were immediately sent off with the news of the victory
to every friendly court in Europe. That night there was rejoicing around
the camp-fires of the French. Napoleon once more received the
congratulations of his generals upon a victory, and he began to dream of
a peaceful occupation of his imperial throne.
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