effect, that in a few minutes a thousand the purposes of agriculture in these exmen were struck down, the column tensive forests. The firm countenance was routed, and an eagle taken. Encouraged by this success, the Russians advanced their left wing, and drove back the French right with such vigour, that it was thought they were retiring altogether towards Eylau. But this success was of short duration: fresh reinforcements arrived to the enemy; the lost ground was regained; and a tremendous cannonade along the whole line announced that the other corps were arriving, and that a general battle was at hand.

and dense masses of the enemy, who appeared even more numerous than they really were, as seen from the heights of Heinrichsdorf, at first made the Emperor doubtful whether he should not postpone the attack till the following day, when the remainder of the cavalry of Murat and the corps of Davoust might be expected to join from the direction of Königsberg.* But the successive arrival of the corps of Ney and Victor,+ with the infantry and cavalry of the Guard, and part of Murat's dragoons, at two and three o'clock, joined to the obvious and flagrant disadvantages of the enemy's position, induced him not to lose a moment in bringing matters to a decisive issue.

55. Orders were accordingly despatched for all the troops to prepare for action in an hour. Meanwhile the soldiers were ordered to sit down and rest themselves; while the most minute inspection took place in the ranks to see that the firelocks were in good condition, and the cartridge-boxes amply supplied. The order of battle was soon fixed. Ney occupied the right, from the wood of Sortlack to Posthenen, directly in front of Friedland: Lannes stood in the centre, between Posthenen and Heinrichsdorf: Mortier

54. Napoleon was at Domnau, ten miles distant, when the first sound of distant cannon was heard. He immediately mounted on horseback, and rode rapidly forward to the front, where the increasing cannonade and the quick rattle of musketry announced that a serious conflict was already in progress, despatching, at the same time, orders for the corps in the rear to hasten their march. About one o'clock in the afternoon he arrived on the heights behind Heinrichsdorf, which overlooked the field of battle, and immediately sent out the officers of his staff in different directions to observe the motions of the enemy. Savary speedily returned with information that the march of troops over the bridge of Friedland was incessant; that none were retracing their steps; that three additional bridges that general from the field:-"The enemy * Accordingly, at one o'clock, he wrote to had been constructed to facilitate the is in battle array in front of Friedland, with passage; and that the masses in front all his army. At first he appeared desirous were every minute increasing and ex- of moving on by Stockein on Königsberg; but tending themselves. ""Tis well!" re- battle on the ground he has chosen. I hope now he appears only desirous of receiving plied the Emperor: "I am already pre- that by this time you have entered Königspared; I have gained an hour upon berg: and as the corps of Soult is sufficient them, and, since they wish it, I will for the protection of that city, you will withgive them another. This is the anni-possible with the remainder of the cavalry out doubt retrace your steps as rapidly as versary of Marengo: the battle could and Davoust's corps towards Friedland. It not be fought on a more propitious is the more necessary that you should do so, day." Orders were despatched for all as very possibly the affair may be protracted till to-morrow. Use your utmost efforts. the corps of infantry, as they came up, therefore, to arrive here by one o'clock in to concentrate themselves in the im- the morning. If I perceive in the outset mense woods behind Heinrichsdorf, on of the action that the enemy is in such the skirts of which Marshal Lannes is possible that I may engage only in a canstrength as to render the result doubtful, it was combating; the artillery alone was nonade to-day, and await your arrival before placed on the great roads leading from commencing serious operations.”—JOMINI, Eylau and Domnau; the cavalry in the large apertures which had been cut for

VOL. VIL

ii. 414.

who had been wounded at Spanden. Formerly commanded by Bernadotte,

plain, the horizon appeared to be bounded by a deep girdle of glittering steel. At one glance the most inexperienced could see the imminence and magnitude of the danger; for no preparations to cover the retreat over the Alle had been made, and the enemy's force appeared at least double that of the Russians. But there was no time for consultation or defensive measures. On came Ney's column with the fury of a tempest, driving before them, like foam before the waves, the Russian chasseurs of the Guard and several regiments of cavalry and Cossacks who were placed in advance, and had endeavoured to check their progress. Some regiments of militia, stationed on the low grounds near the Alle, also broke and fled towards the bridges, spreading confusion and alarm through the whole rear of the army. At the same time Victor's corps, placed at first in the second line, advanced to the ground originally occupied by Ney; and its artillery, consisting of forty pieces, under the command of General Senar

was on the left, occupying Heinrichsdorf and the road to Königsberg. In the second line Victor's corps was stationed immediately behind Ney: the Imperial Guard, with a numerous brigade of fusileers, under the orders of Savary; and the cavalry, under Grouchy, Latour Maubourg, and Nansouty, behind the centre and left. The whole army was directed to advance in echelon, with the right in front and the left slightly thrown back; thus Ney would be first engaged; and the artillery received orders to redouble their fire along the whole line as soon as the heads of his columns were seen emerging from the woods. By four o'clock seventy thousand infantry and ten thousand horse were assembled, in the highest spirits and the finest state of discipline and equipment; while Benningsen, who, from seeing the formidable accumulation of forces in his front, and the losses he had sustained, had deemed it necessary to detach six thousand men to his rear to secure the bridge of Wehlau over the Pregel, had not more than forty thou-mont, pushed on four hundred paces sand foot and eight thousand horse to oppose their attack. 56. The cessation of any serious at-line, so as effectually to prevent any tack for some hours after noon, led the Russian general, who had long since abandoned his original project of surprising Lannes, and was desirous only of maintaining his ground till the approach of night gave him the means of regaining, without molestation, the right bank of the Alle, to indulge a hope that nothing further would be undertaken during that day; but he was soon painfully undeceived. five o'clock, on a signal given by a discharge of twenty pieces of cannon from the French centre, the whole army stood to their arms, and immediately the heads of Marshal Ney's column were seen emerging from the woods behind Posthenen, and rapidly advancing straight upon Friedland. On all sides the enemy's forces at once were seen; from the steeples of Friedland, through the interstices of the trees, or in the openings of the forest, they were descried in masses of enormous power and depth. From the

further, and from a rising ground thundered over the whole Russian

succours being sent to the distressed left. That portion of their army was now everywhere shaken; the loud shouts of Ney's column were heard along the whole line; their advanced guards were close to Friedland, and, encouraged by this rapid and splendid success, they were already preparing to storm the town and complete the ruin of the enemy by gaining possesAt sion of the bridges in his rear.

57. At this instant the Russian Imperial Guard, which was placed in reserve behind the artificial lake to the north of Friedland, was ordered to advance. Immediately these noble troops rushed forward with fixed bayonets, not in compact order, yet with such vigour, that the leading divisions of Ney's corps, assailed in front and flank, were pierced through, trodden down, and driven back with prodigious slaughter. Such was the change produced by this vehement onset, that the day seemed all but regained; the French

་

were repulsed to a considerable dis-on the dense masses which, from the
tance, and the Russian left wing in its limited extent of the ground, were
turn became the assailants. Then it there accumulated between the front
was that the six thousand men de- and the river. They had even gain-
tached in the forenoon to Wehlau ed considerable success; for some
might have changed the destinies of French battalions, having broken their
Europe. But the Russian Guards, array in crossing the deep ravine of
being unsupported by any further re- the Mill Stream, with which they were
serve, could not singly maintain the unacquainted, were charged before they
contest for a length of time, with the could re-form by the Russian cavalry,
overwhelming odds which were speed- and cut to pieces. But when the re-
ily directed against them. As they treat of the left wing and the Guards
hurried on in pursuit of Ney, they had uncovered their flank, the infantry
came upon the reserve under Victor, in the centre were exposed to the most
which had advanced to his support; serious danger, and must have given
and one of his divisions, under Dupont, way, had not the Russian cavalry gal-
charged them so opportunely in flank, loped forward at full speed and charg-
while disordered by the vehemence of ed the corps who threatened them, who
their pursuit, that they were in their were the left of Oudinot's grenadiers,
turn repulsed to the edge of the town. now forming part of Lannes' corps, with
Encouraged by this change of fortune, such vigour that they were in a few min-
Ney's soldiers now returned to the utes trampled under foot and destroy-
charge. Dupont's division, emulating ed. Encouraged by this success, the in-
the deeds of its old comrades in the fantry of the centre also moved forward,
camp of Boulogne, pressed on in hot and threw in so destructive a flanking
pursuit ; Senarmont's terrific battery fire, as effectually covered the retreat
advanced, playing without intermission of their horse; but at this moment the
on the crowded ranks of the retiring flames of Friedland and the bridges
Russians; and soon the confusion and were seen to arise, and the vast clouds.
press in Friedland appeared so great, of black smoke which darkened the
that the leading French divisions were atmosphere told too plainly that their
tempted to hazard an assault. After retreat was cut off, and that success
an obstinate resistance, the streets was hopeless. Then indeed their hopes
were forced; some of the principal fell, and despair took possession of every
buildings in the town took fire; in the heart. Still, however, their courage
first moments of consternation the was unshaken: uniting the fronts of
fugitives applied the torch to the battalions, closing the ranks of the
bridges over the river-in a few min- soldiers, they presented, in circum-
utes they were wrapped in flames, and stances which seemed well-nigh despe-
the volumes of smoke which rolled rate, an unbroken front to the enemy.
over the whole field of battle, spread In vain the artillery, approaching to
a dismal feeling through the breasts of half cannon-shot distance, ploughed
the soldiers.*
through their dense array-in vain the
French infantry threw in a destructive
fire with ceaseless vigour-in vain the
grenadiers of their Guard charged re-
peatedly with the shouts and confi-
dence of victory; not one square was
broken-not
not one gun was taken.
Slowly and in solid order they retired,
leisurely retracing their steps towards
the river, keeping up an incessant roll-
ing fire from the rear, which faced the
enemy, and charging with the bayonet
whenever hard pressed by their pur-
suers. Whoever witnessed the con-

58. While this decisive success was gaining on the left, the centre and right of the Russians kept their ground with undaunted firmness under a dreadful cannonade, which told with fatal effect

* As Napoleon, in the rear, eagerly watched these triumphant movements, a shell whirled

over his head at the height of the top of the soldier's bayonets, and a soldier instinctively cowered his head. "If that bomb had been destined for you," said be, smiling, "it would have found you, were you buried a bundred feet below the earth." THIERS, Consulat et l'Empire, vii. 612.

duct of that devoted host during these trying hours, must have felt that Russia, if adequately directed, was destined in the end to take the lead in the deliverance of Europe.*

59. Benningsen, meanwhile, without losing his presence of mind in the general wreck, did all that prudence could suggest to repair the consequences of the error into which he had been drawn in the earlier part of the day. His first care was to discover a ford for the cannon, as Friedland was in the hands of the enemy, and the bridges were no longer passable by friend or foe. Happily some peasants pointed out one, where the great park of artillery might be got across. It was at once withdrawn, with the exception of a few pieces which fell into the enemy's hands, while the firm countenance of the infantry warded off the assault of his impetuous columns; but the water came up to the horses' middles, and what remained of the ammunition was utterly spoiled. A hundred guns were immediately after the passage planted on the right bank to retard the enemy; but so closely were the columns on the opposite sides intermingled, that it was * "But yet, though thick the shafts as snow, Though charging knights like whirlwinds go,

Though billmen ply the ghastly blow,
Unbroken was the ring;

*

*

*

*

Each stepping where his comrade stood,

The instant that he fell.

No thought was there of dastard flight;
Link'd in the serried phalanx tight,

dangerous to fire lest the balls should fall in the Russian lines. Meanwhile two of their divisions, impatient of the slow progress at the ford, and unable to endure any longer the incessant showers of musketry and grape, threw themselves, sword in hand, into Friedland, and endeavoured to open a passage with fixed bayonets to the bridges. A desperate struggle ensued with the troops of Ney and Victor in the streets; but the despair of the Russians prevailed over the enthusiasm of the French, and they made their way through the burning houses to the water's edge. There, however, they found the bridges destroyed; and these brave men, after having so heroically cut their way through the hostile ranks, found themselves stopped by an impassable barrier, while the increasing masses of the enemy now enclosed them, amidst fire and darkness, on every side. Still, however, no one thought, even in circumstances all but desperate, of surrender; with heroic courage they fought their way back, though with prodigious slaughter, to the ford, and during the darkness of the night plunged into the stream. The water was breast-high, and many, missing the fords, were drowned; several guns were abandoned, from the impossibility of dragging them through the press; but such was the unconquerable valour of the rearguard to the very last, that not one battalion capitulated, and, with the exception of five thousand wounded,

Groom fought like noble, squire' like few prisoners fell into the enemy's

knight,

As fearlessly and well;

Till utter darkness closed her wing
O'er their thin host and wounded king.
Then skill'd Napoleon's sage commands
Led back from strife his shatter'd bands;
And from the charge they drew,
As mountain-waves from wasted lands
Sweep back to ocean blue.
Then did their loss his foemen know;
Their chiefs, their lords, their mightiest
low,

They melted from the field as snow,
When streams are swoln and south winds
blow,

Dissolves in silent dew.
Alle's echoes heard the ceaseless plash,
While many a broken band
Disorder'd through her current dash,
To gain the Russian land."

Marmion, Canto vi.

hands.+

60. Such was the disastrous battle of Friedland, which at one blow dissolved the great confederacy which the genius and foresight of Mr Pitt had

† In describing this battle, Lord Hutchinson, who witnessed it, stated, in his official despatches to the British government :-“I | want words sufficiently strong to describe the valour of the Russians, and which alone would have rendered their success undoubted, if courage alone could secure victory; but whatever may be the event, the officers and men of the Russian army have done their duty in the noblest manner, and are justly entitled to the praise and admiration of every person who was witness of their conduct."LORD HUTCHINSON's Despatch, June 15, 1807; SIR ROBERT WILSON, 162.

formed for the coercion of Napoleon's | remarkable and unaccountable circum-
ambition, and left Great Britain alone stance, that though fifteen thousand
to maintain the contest with nearly French horse were in the field, they
the whole forces of the Continent ar- were little engaged in the action after
rayed under his banners. Grievously, Napoleon arrived on the spot, nor once
then, was felt the want of British aid, let loose in the pursuit. On the day
and woeful were the consequences of the following they reached Wehlau, where
ill-timed parsimony which had withheld the Alle and the Pregel unite in the
all subsidies from Russia during this des- midst of a marshy plain, traversed by
perate struggle. Thirty thousand of the a single chaussée. By that defile, not
militia, whom even a small loan would only the artillery and carriages of the
have clothed and armed, might have main army, but the immense baggage
averted the catastrophe; twenty thou- and ammunition train, which had eva-
sand British auxiliaries would have cuated Königsberg, had to pass. Al-
converted it into a glorious victory, though no serious attack was made, yet
and thrown Napoleon back upon the such was the confusion produced by the
Vistula and the Elbe. The losses of enormous accumulation of cannon and
the Russians, though nothing like what chariots on a single chaussée, and such
they had experienced in the decisive the apprehensions inspired by the evi-
overthrow of Austerlitz, were still very dent dangers which would ensue if the
severe. Seventeen thousand men had rear-guard were attacked, that, on a few-
fallen, either killed or wounded, and five muskets being accidentally discharged,
thousand of the latter had been made a general panic took place, and horse,
prisoners; but of those unhurt not foot, and cannon rushed tumultuously -
more than five hundred had become together to the bridge, and the strongest,
captives; no colours were taken, and throwing down and trampling under
only seventeen guns remained in the foot the weaker, broke through and
enemy's power. The French had lost spread in the wildest disorder into the
ten thousand men, and two eagles town. Such was the uproar and con-
wrested from them in fair combat. sternation which ensued, that it was
Nothing can illustrate more clearly with the utmost difficulty that order
the desperate resistance made by the could be restored by the personal ef-
Russians than the small number of forts of Sir Robert Wilson and a few
guns taken, under circumstances when, Russian officers who happened to be
with less steady troops, the whole ar- on the spot; and it inspired these gal-
tillery would have been abandoned.* lant chiefs with the melancholy con-
viction, that if Napoleon had followed
up his success with his wonted vigour,‡
the Russian host would have been ut--

+ "The Russians had on their right

61. During the evening, the extreme right of the Russians and part of the cavalry retired by the left bank of the Alle, and crossed without molestation at the brige of Allenburg. Thither, on twenty-two squadrons of cavalry, who coverthe morning after the battle, the re-ed the retreat; we had more than forty,. mainder of the army retired by the other bank, without being at all harassed on the march; indeed, it is a

* The French say in the bulletins, that they took eighty pieces of cannon; that the Russians had 18,000 killed, and that they lost on their own side only 500 killed and 3000 wounded. Berthier estimated the real loss at Tilsit to Sir R. Wilson at more than 8000; and that officer makes the Russian loss only 12,000 men. The latter estimate, however, is obviously too low, as the peace which immediately followed demonstrated; the account of the French loss in the bulletin was, as usual, from a third to a fourth of its real amount.-79th Bulletin, Camp. de Saxe, iv. 334; and WILSON, 163.

with which we should have charged them,
but, by a fatality without example, these
forty squadrons received no orders, and

never so much as mounted their horses:
they remained during all the battle on foot
behind our left. On seeing that, I lamented
the Grand-duke of Berg had not been there :.
if he had, these forty squadrons would cer-
tainly have been employed, and not a Rus-
sian would have escaped."-SAVARY, iii. 60.
t “Et si continuo victorem ea cura subisset,
Ultimus ille dies bello gentique fuisset.”

In the first alarm, the Cossacks crowded
down to the right bank of the Alle, and,
swimming the river, advanced on the oppo-
site side and discharged a volley of arrows
with considerable effect at the enemy.-WIL-
SON, 163, 165.

+