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and if the former were impelled by the issuing from the town on the other ardour of a revolution, converted by side, and there maintained a sanguiconsummate genius into that of mili-nary resistance till past ten at night, tary conquest, the latter were buoyant with the rising energy of an empire whose frontiers had never yet receded before the standards of an enemy.

when he was severely wounded. Then the object of the strife having been gained by the heavy artillery having all arrived by the road of Schloditten. and taken up its position on the field of battle behind the village, the unconquered Russians were withdrawn from the churchyard, which, with its bloodstained graves and corpse-covered slopes, remained in the hands of Napolen.

62. Never in the history of war did two armies pass a night under more awful and impressive circumstances than the rival hosts that now lay, without tent or covering, on the snowy expanse of the field of Eylau. The close vicinity of the two armies; the vast multitude assembled in so narrow a space, intent only on mutual destruction; the vital interests to the lives and fortunes of all which were at stake; the wintry wildness of the scene, cheered only by the watch-fires, which threw a partial glow on the snow-clad fields around; the shivering groups who in either army lay round the blazing fires, chilled by girdles of impenetrable ice; the stern resolution of the soldiers in the one array, and the enthusiastic ardour of those in the other; the liberty of Europe now brought to the issue of one dread combat; the glory of Russia and France dependent on the efforts of the mightiest armament that either had yet sent forth, all contributed to impress a feeling of extraordinary solemnity, which reached the most inconsiderate breast, oppressed the mind with a feeling of

61. The Russian rear-guard, ten thousand strong, under Bagrathion, was leisurely retiring towards Eylau, and at the distance of about two miles from that village, when it was attacked by the French infantry. The Russians were at first compelled to give way, but the St Petersburg dragoons, whose rout had occasioned such loss to their own comrades on the preceding day, emulous to wipe away their disgrace, assailed the enemy so opportunely in flank, when emerging from the tumult of the charge, that they instantly cut to pieces two battalions, and made prize of their eagles. Disconcerted by this check, the French gave no further molestation to the Russian rear-guard, which retired into Eylau. By a mis take, however, the division destined to occupy that important station evacuated it, along with the rest of the army; and though Benningsen instantly ordered it to be reoccupied by fresh troops, the French had, meanwhile, entered in great numbers, and the assailing division, under Barclay de Tolly, had a rude contest to encounter in endeavouring to regain the lost ground. By vast exertions, however, they at length succeeded in expelling the enemy. The French again returned in greater force; the combat continued with the utmost fury till long after sunset. Fresh reinforcements came up to the Rus-anxious thought, and kept unclosed sians: twice Barclay carried the village after dark, by the light of the burning houses, and he was as often expelled by the enthusiastic valour of the French. At length they were driven out of the town, which, from lying in a hollow, and being commanded on the French side, was no longer tenable after the enemy had brought up their heavy artillery. But that gallant commander, with this heroic rear-guard, intrenched himself in the church and churchyard, which stands on an eminence by the road on

many a wearied eyelid in both camps, notwithstanding the extraordinary fatigues of the preceding days. But no sooner did the dawn break, and the quick rattle of musketry from the outposts commence, than these gloomy feelings were dispelled, and all arose from their icy beds with no other feelings but those of joyous confidence and military ardour.

63. The evacuation of Eylau on the preceding night, had led Napoleon to suppose that the enemy were not to

give battle on the succeeding day; and, | behind the centre and wings, in order overwhelmed with the extraordinary to support any point which might apfatigues he had undergone since leav- pear to require assistance. Lestocq, ing Warsaw, during which time he had with his division, had not yet come been daily occupied in business or up; but he had lain at Hussehnen, marching twenty hours out of the the preceding night, which was only twenty-four, he retired to a house in three leagues off, and might be expectthe town, and there, amidst all the ed to join before the battle was far adhorrors of a place carried by assault, vanced. fell into a profound sleep. The two armies were within half cannon-shot of each other, and their immense masses disposed in close array on a space not exceeding a league in breadth. The field of battle consisted of an open expanse of unenclosed ground, rising into swells, or small hills, interspersed with many lakes: but as the whole surface was covered with snow, and the water so thoroughly frozen as to bear any weight either of cavalry or artillery, it was everywhere accessible to military operations. The little town of Eylau, situated on a slight eminence and surmounted by a Gothic steeple, was the only salient point of the field. On the slope to its right, looking from the French position, was the churchyard, the scene of so desperate a strife on the preceding day. The ground rose gently in its front, and was interspersed with some small hills, amidst which the dense masses of the Russians were barely visible through the twilight of a wintry day obscured by mist and driving snow. The Russian right, under Touchkoff, lay on either side of Schloditten; the centre, under Sacken, occupied a cluster of little open hills, intercepted by lakes, in front of Kutschitten; the left, under Ostermann Tolstoy, rested on Klein-Sausgarten and Serpalten; the advanced guard, ten thousand strong, with its outposts extending almost to the houses of Eylau, was under the command of Bagrathion; the reserve, in two divisions, was led by Doctoroff. The whole army in front was drawn up in two lines with admirable precision: the reserve, in two close columns behind the centre; the foot artillery, consisting of four hundred pieces, was disposed along the front of the lines; the horse artillery, embracing sixty guns, cavalry and Cossacks, under Platoff, in reserve

64. The French position, generally speaking, was more elevated than that of the Russians, with the exception of the right, where it was commanded by the heights of Klein-Sausgarten. The town of Eylau, however, occupied in force by their troops, was situated in a hollow, so low that the roofs of the houses were below the range of cannonshot from the Russian position, and the summit of the church steeple, which stands on an eminence, alone was exposed to the destructive storm. Davoust was in rear on the right, and received orders, as soon as he came up, to attack the villages of Klein-Sausgarten and Serpalten, occupied by the enemy. The division St Hilaire of Soult's corps was at Rothenen; between that village and Eylau, Augereau was established, and was destined to advance against the Russian main body and the strong batteries placed opposite: Soult, with his remaining two divisions, occupied Eylau on the left, and was to aid him when he moved forward; the Imperial Guard and cavalry of Murat were in reserve behind the centre, ready to support any attack which might appear likely to prove unsuccessful. Orders had been despatched to Ney to attack the Russian right as soon as the action was warmly engaged; and it was hoped he would arrive on the field at least as soon as Lestocq on the other side, upon whose traces he had so long been following. Lannes had been detained by sickness at Pultusk, and his corps, placed under the orders of Savary, afterwards Duke of Rovigo, was observing the Russian forces left on the Bug and the Narew. Napoleon's design, when he saw that the Russians stood firm, and were resolved to give battle, was to turn their left by the corps of Marshal Davoust, and throw

it back on the middle of the army; but, the better to conceal this object, he commenced the action soon after daylight by a violent attack on their right and centre. The Russian cannon played heavily, but rather at hazard, on the hostile masses in front of Eylau; while the French guns replied with fatal effect from their elevated position down upon the enemy, whose lines were exposed from head to foot to the range of their shot.

65. Presently the centre, under Augereau, advanced in massy columns, while St Hilaire's division of Soult's corps, the whole preceded by a hundred and fifty pieces of artillery, marched with an intrepid step against the Russian left-centre, so as to unite Augereau's with Davoust's attack, and forty guns of the Imperial Guard, posted on an eminence near the church of Eylau, to cover their attack, opened a heavy fire on the great central Russian battery. These troops had not advanced above three hundred yards, driving the Russian tirailleurs before them, when the Russian cannon-shot, from two hundred pieces, admirably directed, ploughed through the mass, and so shattered it, that the whole body of Augereau's corps inclined to the left towards Schloditten, to get under the shelter of a detached house which stood in the way. A snowstorm at the same time set in and darkened the atmosphere, so that neither army could see its opponent; but nevertheless, the deadly storm of bullets continued to tear the massy columns of the French, and the cannonade was so violent as to prevent Soult from rendering them any effectual support. A masked battery of seventy-two pieces opened on their front with a tremendous fire of grape. In a quarter of an hour, half of the corps were struck down. Augereau's divisions were already severely shaken by this murderous fire, when they were suddenly assailed on one side by the right wing of the Russians, under Touchkoff, and on the other by their reserve and a powerful body of cavalry, under Doctoroff. So thick was the snow-storm, so unexpected the onset,

that the assailants were only a few yards distant, and the long lances of the Cossacks almost touching the French infantry, when they were first discerned. The combat was not of more than a few minutes' duration: the corps, charged at once by foot and horse with the utmost vigour, broke and fled in the wildest disorder back into Eylau, closely pursued by the Russian cavalry and Cossacks, who made such havoc, that the whole, above sixteen thousand strong, were, with the exception of fifteen hundred men, taken or destroyed; and Augereau himself, with his two generals of divisions, Desgardens and Heudelet, was desperately wounded.

He

66. Napoleon was apprised of this disaster by the fugitives who rushed into Eylau; and the snow-storm clearing away at the same time, showed him the Russian right and centre far advanced, with their light troops almost at the edge of the town. himself was stationed at the churchyard on its eastern side, which had been the scene of such a sanguinary conflict on the preceding night; and already the crash of the enemy's balls on the steeple and walls of the church showed how near danger was approaching. The serried masses of the Old Guard stood firm in and around the cemetery, while the branches of the trees above their heads were constantly rent or falling from the enemy's cannonballs. Presently one of the Russian divisions, following rapidly after the fugitives, entered Eylau by the eastern street, and charged, with loud hurrahs, to the foot of the mount where the Emperor was placed with a battery of the Imperial Guard and his personal escort of a hundred men. Had a regiment of horse been at hand to support the attack, Napoleon must have been made prisoner; for though the last reserve, consisting of six battalions of the Old Guard, was at a short distance, he might have been enveloped before they could come up to his rescue. The fate of Europe then hung by a thread, but in that terrible moment the Emperor's presence of mind did not forsake him; he instantly ordered his little body

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