PARIS--THE ALLIED ARMIES.
To those whose attention had been long fixed on the great political
revulsion which had brought the wandering tribes of the Wolga and the
Don into the heart of France, and whose minds had been incessantly
occupied for many months previous to the time of which we speak, (as the
minds of almost all Englishmen had been), with wishes for the success,
and admiration of the exploits, of the brave troops who then occupied
Paris, it may naturally be supposed, that even all the wonders of that
capital were, in the first instance, objects of secondary consideration.
It was not until our curiosity had been satisfied by the sight of the
Emperor Alexander, the Duke of Wellington, Marshal Blucher, Count
Platoff, and such numbers of the Russian and Prussian officers and
soldiers, as we considered a fair specimen of the whole armies, that we
could find time to appreciate the beauties even of the Apollo and the
Venus.
The streets of Paris are always amusing and interesting, from the
numbers and varieties of costumes and characters which they present; but
at the time of which we speak, they might be considered as exhibiting an
epitome of the greater part of Europe. Parties of Russian cuirassiers,
Prussian lancers, and Hungarian hussars; Cossacks, old and young, from
those whose beards were grey with age, to those who were yet beardless,
cantering along after their singular fashion--their long lances poised
on their stirrups, and loosely fastened to their right arms, vibrating
over their heads; long files of Russian and Prussian foragers, and long
trains of Austrian baggage waggons, winding slowly through the crowd;
idle soldiers of all services, French as well as allied, lounging about
in their loose great coats and trowsers, with long crooked pipes hanging
from their mouths; patroles of infantry parading about under arms,
composed half of Russian grenadiers, and half of Parisian national
guards; Russian coaches and four, answering to the description of Dr
Clarke, the postillions riding on the off-horses, and dressed almost
like beggars; Russian carts drawn by four horses a-breast, and driven by
peasants in the national costume; Polish Jews, with long black beards,
dressed in black robes like the cassocks of English clergymen, with
broad leathern belts--all mingled with the Parisian multitude upon the
Boulevards: and in the midst of this indiscriminate assemblage, all the
business, and all the amusements of Paris, went on with increased
alacrity and fearless confidence. The Palais Royal was crowded, morning,
noon, and night, with Russian and Prussian officers in full uniform,
decorated with orders, whose noisy merriment, cordial manners, and
careless profusion, were strikingly contrasted with the silence and
sullenness of the French officers.
It is fortunately superfluous for us to enlarge on the appearance, or on
the character of the Emperor Alexander. We were struck with the
simplicity of the style in which he lived. He inhabited only one or two
apartments in a wing of the splendid Elysee Bourbon--slept on a leather
mattress, which he had used in the campaign--rose at four in the
morning, to transact business--wore the uniform of a Russian General,
with only the medal of 1812, (the same which is worn by every soldier
who served in that campaign, with the inscription, in Russ, _Non nobis
sed tibi Domine_); had a French guard at his door--went out in a chaise
and pair, with a single servant and no guards, and was very regular in
his attendance at a small chapel, where the service of the Greek church
was performed. We had access to very good information concerning him,
and the account which we received of his character even exceeded our
anticipation. His well-known humanity was described to us as having
undergone no change from the scenes of misery inseparable from extended
warfare, to which his duties, rather than his inclinations, had so long
habituated him. He repeatedly left behind him, in marching with the
army, some of the medical men of his own staff, to dress the wounds of
French soldiers whom he passed on the way; and it was a standing order
of his to his hospital staff, to treat wounded Russians and French
exactly alike.
His conduct at the battle of Fere Champenoise, a few days before the
capture of Paris, of which we had an account from eye-witnesses, may
give an idea of his conduct while with the armies. The French column,
consisting of about 5000 infantry, with some artillery, was attacked by
the advanced guard of the allies, consisting of cavalry, with some
horse-artillery, under his immediate orders. It made a desperate
resistance, and its capture being an object of great importance, he sent
away all his guards, even the Cossacks, and exposed himself to the fire
of musketry for a long time, directing the movements of the troops. When
the French squares were at length broken by the repeated charges of
cavalry and Cossacks, he threw himself into the middle of them, at a
great personal risk, that he might restrain the fury of the soldiers,
exasperated by the obstinacy of the resistance; and although he could
not prevent the whole French officers and men from being completely
pillaged, many of them owed their lives to his interference. The French
commander was brought to him, and offered him his sword, which he
refused to accept, saying, he had defended himself too well.
The wife and children of a General who had been with the French army,
were brought to him, and he placed a guard over them, which was
overpowered in the confusion. The unfortunate woman was never more heard
of, but he succeeded in recovering the children, had a bed made for them
in his own tent, and kept them with him, until he reached Paris, when he
ordered enquiry to be made for some of her relations, to whose care he
committed them.
He was uniformly represented to us as a man not merely of the most
amiable dispositions, but of superior understanding, of uncommon
activity, and of a firm decided turn of mind. Of the share which he
individually had in directing the operations of the allied armies, we do
not pretend to speak with absolute certainty; but we had reason to know,
that the general opinion in the Russian army was, that the principal
movements were not merely subjected to his control, but guided by his
advice; and he was certainly looked upon, by officers who had long
served under him, as one of the ablest commanders in the allied armies.
He was much disconcerted, it was said, by the loss of the battle of
Austerlitz; but his subsequent experience in war had given him the true
military obstinacy, and he bore the loss of the battles of Lutzen and
Bautzen with perfect equanimity; often saying, the French can still beat
us, but they will teach us how to beat them; and we will conquer them by
our _pertinacity_. The attachment of the Russian army, and especially of
the guards, to him, almost approaches to idolatry; and the effect of his
presence on the exertions and conduct of his troops, was not more
beneficial to Europe while the struggle was yet doubtful, than to France
herself after her armies were overthrown, and her "sacred territory"
invaded.
As a specimen of the general feeling in the Russian army at the time
they invaded France, we may mention the substance of a conversation
which an officer of the Russian staff told us he had held with a private
of the Russian guard on the march, soon after the invasion. The soldier
complained of the Emperor's proclamation, desiring them to consider as
enemies only those whom they met in the field. "The French," said he,
"came into our country, bringing hosts of Germans and Poles along with
them;--they plundered our properties, burnt our houses, and murdered our
families;--every Russian was their enemy. We have driven them out of
Russia, we have followed them into Poland, into Germany, and into
France; but wherever we go, we are allowed to find none but friends.
This," he added, "is very well for us guards, who know that pillage is
unworthy of us; but the common soldiers and Cossacks do not understand
it; they remember how their friends and relations have been treated by
the French, and that remembrance _lies at their hearts_."
* * *
We visited with deep interest the projecting part of the heights of
Belleville, immediately overlooking the Fauxbourg St Martin, which the
Emperor Alexander reached, with the king of Prussia, the Prince
Schwartzenburg, and the whole general staff, on the evening of the 30th
of March. It was here that he received the deputation from Marshals
Marmont and Mortier, who had fought all day against a vast superiority
of force, and been fairly overpowered, recommending Paris to the
generosity of the allies. Thirty howitzers were placed on this height,
and a few shells were thrown into the town, one or two of which, we were
assured, reached as far as the Eglise de St Eustace; it is allowed on
all hands that they fell within the Boulevards. The heights of
Montmartre were at the same time stormed by the Silesian army, and
cannon were placed on it likewise,--Paris was then at his mercy. After a
year and a half of arduous contest, it was at length in his power to
take a bloody revenge for the miseries which his subjects had suffered
during the unprovoked invasion of Russia.--He ordered the firing to
cease; assured the French deputation of his intention to protect the
city; and issued orders to his army to prepare to march in, the next
morning, in parade order. He put himself at their head, in company with
the King of Prussia, and all the generals of high rank. After passing
along the Boulevards to the Champs Elysees, the sovereigns placed
themselves under a tree, in front of the palace of the Thuilleries,
within a few yards of the spot where Louis XVI. and many other victims
of the revolution had perished; and they saw the last man of their
armies defile past the town, and proceed to take a position beyond it,
before they entered it themselves.
At this time, the recollection of the fate of Moscow was so strong in
the Russian army, and the desire of revenge was so generally diffused,
not merely among the soldiers, but even among the superior, officers,
that they themselves said, nothing could have restrained them but the
presence and positive commands of their Czar; nor could any other
influence have maintained that admirable discipline in the Russian army,
during its stay in France, which we have so often heard the theme of
panegyric even among their most inveterate enemies.
It is not in the columns of newspapers, nor in the perishable pages of
such a Journal as this, that the invincible determination, the splendid
achievements, and the generous forbearance of the Emperor of Russia and
his brave army, during the last war, can be duly recorded; but when they
shall have passed into history, we think we shall but anticipate the
sober judgment of posterity by saying, that the foreign annals of no
other nation, ancient or modern, will present, in an equal period of
time, a spectacle of equal moral grandeur.
* * *
The King of Prussia was often to be seen at the Parisian theatres,
dressed in plain clothes, and accompanied only by his son and nephew.
The first time we saw him there, he was making some enquiries of a
manager of the Theatre de l'Odeon, whom he met in the lobby; and the
modesty and embarrassment of his manner were finely contrasted with the
confident loquacity and officious courtesy of the Frenchman. He is known
to be exceedingly averse to public exhibitions, even in his own country.
He had gone through all the hardships and privations of the campaigns,
had exposed himself with a gallantry bordering on rashness in every
engagement, his son and nephew always by his side; his coolness in
action was the subject of universal admiration; and it was not without
reason that he had acquired the name of the first soldier in his army.
His brothers, who are fine looking men, took the command of brigades in
the Silesian army, and did the duty of brigadiers to the satisfaction of
the whole army.
* * *
We had the good fortune of seeing the Duke of Wellington at the opera,
the first time that he appeared in public at Paris. He was received with
loud applause, and the modesty of his demeanour, while it accorded with
the impressions of his character derived from his whole conduct, and the
style of his public writings, sufficiently shewed, that his time had
been spent more in camps than in courts. We were much pleased to find,
that full justice was done to his merits as an officer by all ranks of
the allied armies. On the day that he entered Paris, the watch-word in
the whole armies in the neighbourhood was Wellington, and the
countersign Talavera. We have often heard Russian and Prussian officers
say, "he is the hero of the war:--we have conquered the French by main
force, but his triumphs are the result of superior skill."
* * *
We found, as we had expected, that Marshal Blucher was held in the
highest estimation in the allied army, chiefly on account of the
promptitude and decision of his judgment, and the unconquerable
determination of his character. We were assured, that notwithstanding
the length and severity of the service in which he had been engaged
during the campaign of 1814, he expressed the greatest regret at its
abrupt termination; and was anxious to follow up his successes, until
the remains of the French army should be wholly dispersed, and their
leader unconditionally surrendered. An English gentleman who saw him at
the time of the action in which a part of his troops were engaged at
Soissons, a few days previous to the great battle at Laon, gave a
striking account of his cool collected appearance on that occasion. He
was lying in profound silence, wrapped up in his cloak, on the snow, on
the side of a hill overlooking the town, smoking his pipe, and
occasionally looking through a telescope at the scene of action. At
length he rose up, saying, it was not worth looking at, and would come
to nothing. In fact, the main body of the French army was marching on
Rheims, and he was obliged to retire and concentrate his forces, first
on Craon, and afterwards on Laon, before he could bring on a general
action.
He bore the fatigues of the campaign without any inconvenience, but fell
sick on the day after he entered Paris, and resigned his command,
requesting only of General Sacken, the governor of the town, that he
would allot him lodgings from which he could look out upon Montmartre,
the scene of his last triumph. He never appeared in public at Paris;
but we had the pleasure of seeing him in a very interesting situation.
We had gone to visit the Hotel des Invalides, and on entering the church
under the great dome, we found this great commander, accompanied only by
his son and another officer, leaning on the rails which encircle the
monument of Turenne. We followed him into a small apartment off the
church, where the bodies of Marshals Bessieres and Duroc, and the hearts
of Generals Laroboissiere and Barraguay D'Hilliers, lay embalmed under a
rich canopy of black velvet, in magnificent coffins, which were strewed
with flowers every morning by the Duchess of Istria, the widow of
Bessieres, who came thither regularly after mass. This room was hung
with black, and lighted only by a small lamp, which burnt under the
canopy, and threw its light in the most striking manner on the grey
hairs and expressive countenance of the old Marshal, as he stood over
the remains of his late antagonists in arms. He heard the name of each
with a slight inclination of his head, gazed on the coffins for some
moments in silence, and then turned about, and, as if to shew that he
was not to be moved by his recollections, he strode out of the chapel
humming a tune.
He had vowed to recover possession of the sword of the great Frederic,
which used to hang in the midst of the 10,000 standards of all nations
that waved under the lofty dome of this building; but on the day that
the allies entered Paris, the standards were taken down and burnt, and
the sword was broken to pieces, by an order, as was said, from Maria
Louisa.
It is right to notice here, that the famous Silesian army which he
commanded, consisted originally of many more Russian troops than
Prussians,--in the proportion, we were told, of four to one, although
the proportion of the latter was afterwards increased. Indeed it was at
first the intention of the Emperor of Russia to put himself at the head
of this army; but he afterwards gave up that idea, saying, that he knew
the Russians and Prussians would fight well, and act cordially together;
but that the presence of the Sovereigns would be more useful in keeping
together the heterogeneous materials composing the army then forming in
Bohemia, which afterwards had the name of the grand army.
We have heard different opinions expressed as to the share which General
Gneisenau, the chief of the staff of the Silesian army, had in directing
the operations of that army. This General is universally looked on as an
officer of first-rate merit, and many manœuvres of great importance are
believed to have been suggested by him; yet it was to the penetrating
judgment and enthusiastic spirit of the old Marshal, that the officers
whom we saw seemed most disposed to ascribe their successes.
* * *
We were much struck by the courteous and dignified manners of old Count
Platoff. Even at that time, before he had experienced British
hospitality, he professed high admiration for the British character,
individual as well as national, saying, that he looked on every
Englishman as his brother; and he was equally candid in expressing his
detestation of the French, not even excepting the ladies. We, however,
saw him receive one or two Frenchmen, who were presented to him by his
friends, with his accustomed mildness. His countenance appeared to us
expressive of considerable humour, and he addressed a few words to
almost every Cossack of the guard whom he met in passing through the
court of the Elysee Bourbon, which were always answered by a hearty
laugh. During the two last campaigns of the war he had been almost
constantly at head-quarters, and his advice, we were assured, was much
respected.
On the night after the battle of Borodino, Count Platoff, we were told,
bivouacked on the field, in front of the position originally occupied by
the Russians[1], and on the next day he covered their retreat with his
Cossacks. One of the Princes of Hesse Philipsthal, an uncommonly
handsome young man, who had volunteered to act as an aid-de-camp of his,
had his leg shot away close to his side. Amputation was immediately
performed above the middle of his thigh; he was laid on a peasant's
cart, and carried 350 versts almost without stopping. However, he
recovered perfectly, and petitioned the Emperor to be allowed to wear
ever after the Cossack uniform. We saw him in it at Paris, going on
crutches, but regretting in strong terms that he was to see no more
fighting.
On the day before the French entered Moscow, Count Platoff, and some
other officers, from one of whom we had this anecdote, breakfasted with
Count Rostapchin at his villa in the vicinity of the town, which it had
been the delight of his life to cultivate and adorn. After breakfast,
Count Rostapchin assembled his servants and retainers; and after saying
that he hoped his son and latest descendants would always be willing to
make a similar sacrifice for the good of their country, he took a torch,
set fire to the building with his own hands, and waited until it was
consumed. He then rode into the town to superintend the destruction of
some warehouses full of clothes, of a number of carts, and of other
things which might be useful to the enemy. But he did not, as we were
assured by his son, whom we met at Paris, order the destruction of the
town. The French, enraged at the loss of what was most valuable to them,
according to the uniform account of the Russians, set fire in a
deliberate and methodical manner to the different streets. It is but
justice to say, however, that French officers, who had been at Moscow,
denied the truth of the latter part of this statement.
* * *
The Russian troops in the neighbourhood of Paris were under the
immediate command of General Count Miloradovitch, a man of large
property, and unbounded generosity, and an enthusiast in his profession.
He had been in the habit of always making the troops under his command
some kind of present on his birth-day. During the retreat of the French
from Moscow, this day came round when he was not quite prepared for it.
"I have no money here," said he to his soldiers; "but yonder," pointing
to a French column, "is a present worthy of you and of me." This address
was a prelude to one of the most successful attacks, made during the
pursuit, on the French rear-guard.
The other Russian commanders, whom we heard highly spoken of by the
Russian officers whom we met, were, the Marshal commanding, Barclay de
Tolly, in whose countenance we thought we could trace the indications of
his Scotch origin;--he is an old man, and was commonly represented as
"sage, prudent, tres savant dans la guerre."--Wigtenstein, who is much
younger, and is designated as "ardent, impetueux, entreprenant,"
&c.--Benigsen, who is an old man, but very active, and represented to be
as fond of fighting as Blucher himself;--Count Langeron, and Baron
Sacken, the commanders of corps in the Silesian army. The former is a
French emigrant, but has been long in the Russian service, and highly
distinguished himself. The latter is an old man, but very spirited, and
highly esteemed for his honourable character: in his capacity of
Governor of Paris, he gave very general satisfaction.--Woronzoff, who,
as is well known, was educated in England, and who distinguished
himself at Borodino, and in the army of the north of Germany, and
afterwards in France under Blucher--Winzingerode, one of the best
cavalry officers, formerly in the Austrian service--Czernicheff, the
famous partisan, a gallant gay young man, whose characteristic activity
is strongly marked in his countenance--Diebzitch, a young staff officer
of the first promise, since promoted to the important situation of Chef
de l'etat major--Lambert (of French extraction), and Yermoloff: This
last officer commanded the guards when we were at Paris, and was
represented as a man of excellent abilities, and of a most determined
character.
To shew the determined spirit of some of the Russian generals, we may
mention an anecdote of one of them, which we repeatedly heard. On one
occasion, the troops under the command of this general were directed to
defile over a bridge, under a very heavy fire from the enemy. Observing
some hesitation in their movements, he said, with perfect coolness, "If
they don't go forward, I will take care they shall not come back;" and
planted a battery of 12 pounders in their rear, pointing directly at the
bridge, in view of which they forced the passage in the most gallant
style.
The spirit of emulation which prevailed in all ranks of the Russian
army, during the war, was worthy of the cause in which they were
engaged. The following anecdote, we think, deserves commemoration. Two
officers of rank had aspired to the same situation in the army, and
exerted all their influence to obtain it. The successful candidate had
the command of the famous redoubt at Borodino, when it was carried by
the French. The other, who had a subordinate command just behind it,
immediately came up to him, and asked leave to retake it for him. No,
replied he; if you go there, I must be along with you. They collected
what force they could, entered the redoubt together, and regained it at
the point of the bayonet; but the officer who originally commanded in it
was killed by the side of his rival. The latter, immediately after the
battle, was promoted to the situation which he had so ardently desired;
but his enjoyment of it was long and visibly embittered by the
recollection of the event to which he owed his appointment.
The number of Russian prisoners taken by the French during the war was
very trifling, and we were assured, that there was no instance in the
whole course of it, of a single Russian battalion or squadron laying
down its arms. The number of prisoners taken by the Cossacks alone,
from the time when the French left Moscow until the passage of the
Niemen, was 90,000, and the number of cannon 550. It is true that these
were for the most part stragglers, and men unable to fight; but it must
be remembered, that many of them could only have been overtaken in their
flight by these hardy and enterprising troops. To prove the value of the
service rendered by the Cossacks, it is only necessary to observe, that
many of the officers who distinguished themselves most in all the
campaigns, Platoff, Orloff Denizoff, Wasilchikoff, Czernicheff,
Tettenborn, &c. commanded Cossacks almost exclusively, and attributed
much of their success to the quality of their troops. Most of the
Cossacks whom we saw appeared to be well disciplined, and had a truly
military air; and we were told, that all the 83 regiments of Cossacks
are at present in a state of tolerable discipline. We cannot go so far
as Dr Clarke in praise of their cleanliness, but we often observed their
native easy courtesy of manner; and there can be no doubt, as he
observes, of their being a much handsomer race than the generality of
Russians. Their figures are more graceful, and their features are
higher, and approach often to the Roman style of countenance. One troop
of the Cossacks of the guards, composed of those from the Black Sea,
attracted our particular admiration; and the noble manly figures of the
men, the elegant forms of the horses, and the picturesque appearance of
the arms and uniforms of the whole body of Cossacks of the guard, were
very striking. The hereditary Prince of Georgia was at Paris as one of
the Colonels of this regiment, and his figure and countenance were such
as might have rendered him remarkable even in his native country, in
which the "human form divine" is understood to attain its highest
perfection.
The Cossacks were kept in good order when under the inspection of their
officers; but during the campaigns, they were often obliged to act in
patroles, two or three together, at a distance from their officers; and
in these situations, it may be supposed that they would commit many
excesses. Immediately after a battle, they plundered all they met, and
at all times, and in all places, they looked on horses as fair game,
insomuch that it was often remarked in the allied armies, that they
believed horses to have been created for none but Cossacks. It was said,
that almost every Cossack of the corps of Czernicheff was worth from £.
300 to £. 400 in money and watches, which most of them spent much after
the manner of British sailors.
* * *
Some idea of the expenditure of human life, during the campaign of 1812,
may be formed from the following facts, which we had from unquestionable
authority: The number of killed and wounded on both sides at the battle
of Borodino, which did not extend from flank to flank more than three
English miles, was ascertained to exceed 75,000 men. Eighteen thousand
wounded Russians were dressed on the field, and sent off in carts. When
the Russian army crossed the Niemen, in pursuit of the French, they left
behind them 87,000 sick and wounded in hospitals, of which number 63,000
were wounded. The whole number of human bodies, Russian and French, men,
women, and children, which were collected and buried or burnt, after the
retreat from Moscow to the Niemen, exceeded 300,000.
The officers of the Russian medical staff spoke in terms of the utmost
indignation of the conduct of the French medical staff, in deserting
their charge on the approach of the Russian armies. A great part of the
town of Wilna, and surrounding villages, had been converted into
hospitals for the French army, and when the Russians arrived, they
found these hospitals wholly deserted by the medical men. The sick (many
of them labouring under infectious fevers), and the wounded, were
huddled together, without provisions, attendants, or the slightest
regard to their situation. The first step of the Russian officers who
were entrusted with the care of these hospitals, was to employ a number
of Jews to clear out the corpses, some of which had lain there for three
weeks; and when these were collected and burnt, their number was found
to exceed 16,000; the sick were then separated from the wounded; and as
soon as order was re-established, the Emperor of Russia visited the
hospitals himself, to be assured that every possible attention was paid
to their surviving inmates.
During the whole of the winter of 1812 and the year 1813, a typhus fever
was very prevalent in the French army, and in many places, particularly
on the fortresses on the Elbe, and in Frankfort and Mentz, it made
dreadful ravages; but it never extended, to any considerable degree,
among the Russians. This was partly owing, no doubt, to the influence of
exciting passions on the constitutions of the men; but much must
certainly be ascribed to the admirable arrangements of the Russian
hospital staff, which, under the superintendance of our countryman, Sir
James Wyllie, have attained, in a few years, a surprising degree of
excellence. The state of the Russian hospitals at Paris, under the
direction of another countryman, Dr Crichton, was universally admired.
The Russian imperial guard is, we believe, the finest body of men in
Europe; the whole number, when the regiments are all complete, is about
30,000; but the effective men at Paris did not exceed 20,000. These are
made up from time to time, by picked men from the whole army. The charge
of one of the regiments of cuirassiers, 1000 strong, upon the Champ de
Mars, was one of the finest sights imaginable. The clattering of the
horses feet on hard ground, and the rattling of the armour, increasing
as they advanced, exceeded the sound of the loudest thunder.
Their horses are not so heavy as those of the English dragoons, but they
have evidently more blood in them, and their power of bearing fatigues
and privations is quite wonderful. We were told by the officer
commanding one of these regiments, that almost all the horses we saw in
Paris, in the finest possible condition, were on the Niemen when the
French crossed it in 1812, and had borne the fatigues of the retreat to
Moscow, and of the advance during the dreadful winter which had proved
so fatal to the French army; as well as of the winter campaign of 1814
in France, which was carried on, almost entirely, during frost and snow.
The Russian soldiers bore the extreme cold of the former winter in a
manner hardly less wonderful; we were assured that they were not more
warmly clothed than the French; but they were accustomed to the climate,
were comparatively well fed, and were animated by victory, while their
antagonists were depressed by famine and despair.
The equipment of the artillery of the guard is probably the completest
in the world;--each gun of the horse artillery is followed by three
tumbrils of ammunition, and the artillerymen being all mounted and
armed, a battery of horse artillery is fitted to act in a double
capacity. One of these batteries, of 12 pieces, on the march, with all
its accompaniments, takes up fully half-a-mile of road.
The regiments of infantry are of various strength; all are composed of
the finest men, in point of strength and military appearance, but they
appeared to us rather inadequately officered. Of the physical powers of
this body of men, no better proof can be given, than their having
marched, within 24 hours, on the 22d and 23d of March, a distance of 18
leagues, or 54 miles, which they did at two marches, resting three
hours, without any straggling. The occasion on which they most highly
distinguished themselves was at Culm, where four regiments of them
(about 8000 men) stopped, for two days, in the defiles of the Riesen
Gebirge, the whole corps of Vandamme. The regiment Pavloffsky, who were
made guards for their conduct at Borodino, attracted particular
attention; they wear caps faced with brass, whence the French soldiers,
who know them well, call them the Bonnets d'Or; and many of them
preserve with much care the marks of the bullets by which these have
been pierced.
The Russian soldiers, at least of the guard, have almost universally
dark complexions, their features are generally low, and their faces
broad. The officers and soldiers of the Prussian guard, which is about
8000 strong, and in an equally high state of discipline and equipment,
are, on the whole, handsomer men, having generally fair hair, blue eyes,
high features, and ruddy complexions.
A great number of the Prussian officers have a fine expression of
romantic enterprise in their countenances; and it is well known, that
the whole Prussian nation, long oppressed by the presence of French
armies, entered into the war with France with a spirit of energy and
union that never was surpassed. The formation of the legion of
revenge,--the desertion of all seminaries of education, by teachers as
well as pupils,--the substitution of ornaments in iron, for gold and
jewellery, by the ladies of Berlin and other towns, are striking
instances of this popular feeling. The war-song, composed by a young
student from Konigsberg, which was sung in the heat of battle by the
regiment of volunteer hussars to which he belonged, and the author of
which was basely slain by a French prisoner whom he had neglected to
disarm,--to judge of it by a version which appeared in the newspapers,
and by the enthusiasm with which the Prussians speak of it, is worthy of
being translated by one of our noblest poets.
All the nations of Germany have strong feelings of patriotism associated
with the sight, and even with the name of the Rhine. When the Austrians,
in one of the last actions of the campaign of 1813, carried the heights
of Hockheim, in the neigbourhood of Mentz, and first came in sight of
that river, they involuntarily halted, and stood for some minutes in
silence; when the Prince Marshal coming up to know the cause of the
delay, their feelings burst forth in peals of enthusiastic acclamation,
as they again advanced to the charge. The Prussian corps of the army of
Silesia, destined to force the passage of the river, assembled on the
right bank on the evening of the 31st of December 1813, determined to
begin the year with the conquest to which they had long aspired; and
just at midnight the first boats pulled off from the shore, the oars
keeping time to thousands of voices, who sung words adapted to a
favourite national air by the celebrated Schlegel, the beginning of
which is, literally translated, "The Rhine shall no longer be our
boundary,--it is the great artery of Germany, and it shall flow through
the heart of our empire."
The Austrians whom we saw at Paris, were in general strong heavy looking
men. Their cavalry were universally admired; but the Russians and
Prussians complained much of the general dilatoriness of their
movements, and in particular, of the quantity of baggage waggons with
which their march was encumbered. Upon one occasion, some hundreds of
these fell into the hands of the French, to the great amusement of the
Russians. The Bavarians and Wirtembergers had the character, both in
Russia and France, of fighting very hard, and plundering freely. This
last accomplishment, as well as their military arrangements, they had
learnt from the French; and their conduct in this respect in France
itself, might be said to be actuated by a kind of poetical justice.
* * *
We were highly gratified by this review of the whole Russian and
Prussian guard which we saw in the Bois de Boulogne and road to St
Germain, on the 30th of May. They were drawn up in a single line,
extending at least six miles. The allied Sovereigns, followed by the
Princes of Russia, Prussia and France, the French Marshals, and all the
leading officers of the allied armies, rode at full speed along the
line; and the loud huzzas of the soldiers, which died away among the
long avenues of elm trees, as the cloud of dust which enveloped them
receded from the view, were inexpressibly sublime.
The appearance of these troops on parade was such, that but for the
traces which long exposure to all changes of weather had left on their
countenances, it never could have been supposed that they had been
engaged in long marches. They had always marched and fought in their
great coats and small blue caps, carrying their uniforms in their
knapsacks. On the night before they entered Paris, however, they put
them on, and marched into the town in as fine parade order as that in
which they had left Petersburg. The Parisians, who had been told that
the allied armies were nearly annihilated, and only a wreck left,
expressed their astonishment with their usual levity: "Au moins," said
they, "C'est un beau debris."
While the uniforms, arms, and accoutrements of these troops were in the
highest order, they seemed to take a pride in displaying the worn and
faded standards, torn by the winds and pierced with bullets, under which
they had served during the whole campaigns. Their services might also be
judged of from the medals of the year 1812, which almost all the
Russians bore, and to which all without distinction of rank are
entitled, who were exposed to the enemy's fire during that campaign; and
from the insignia of various orders, which in both the services extend
to privates as well as officers. The effect of these honorary rewards on
the minds of the men is certainly very great; and it is perhaps to be
regretted that there is no institution of the same kind in the British
service. The spirit of our soldiers, as all the world knows, needs no
such stimulus; but if a measure of this kind could in any degree gratify
their military feelings, surely their country owes them the
gratification; and what can be more pleasing to a soldier than to see
his officers and his Sovereign proud to display honours which he shares
along with them? The Russians appear to set a value on these medals and
decorations, which clearly shews the wisdom of the policy by which they
were granted. Almost every wounded soldier wears them even when lying in
hospital, and in the hour which teaches the insignificance of all the
titles of kings, and all the treasures of the universe, he still
rejoices, that he can lay these testimonies of his valour and fidelity
beside the small crucifix which he brought with him from his home, and
which, with a superstition that accords better with the true military
spirit than the thoughtless infidelity of the French, he has carried in
his bosom through all the chances of war.