CHAP. XI. 1813. 60. and sur render of the troops street of the town, all of which were covered with troops, guns, and carriages, met there, and only one street led from the point of their junction to the bridge of Lindenau, Blowing up which, as already mentioned, had been mined by Napoof the bridge, leon's orders with a view to its being blown up when the troops had all passed. The passage, however, was enin the town. tirely stopped by the desperate struggle which was going on behind to get across. At this instant Colonel Montfort, the engineer officer charged with the destruction of the bridge, came up to Marmont and asked him which was the last corps that was to pass over. Marmont answered, as well he might, that the confusion was such that chance only would determine that point. Just then a tremendous explosion was heard towards the bridge, and its fragments were seen hurled into the air. It was occasioned by the corporal left in charge of the mine, who, when Montfort went forward to speak to Marmont, seeing some Cossacks streaming down into the meadow on the eastern side of the Elster, concluded that the last was passing, that the enemy was at hand, and that there was no time to be lost in firing the train. He did so accordingly; the explosion took place, and all hope of escape was at once destroyed to the troops which remained behind, and the immense multitude of sick and wounded which encumbered the hospitals and private houses. A yell of horror burst from the dense multitude thus cut off. All order or command was immediately lost; and the whole alike, marshals, generals, and private soldiers, each for himLond. 174, self, sought safety as best they could. Some threw themv. 299, 300; selves into the Elster, and succeeded by swimming in reaching the opposite shore; but the great majority were either drowned in the attempt, or in despair gave it up and surrendered themselves prisoners of war.1 175; Marm. Thiers, xvi. 616, 617; Odel. ii. 3941. Among those who plunged in and were drowned was Prince Poniatowski, the heroic Polish general, who had just been made a marshal of France. His horse stemmed the flood, but fell back on the rider as it was scrambling XI. 61. atowski, of the whole guard, and losses on both sides. up the opposite bank, and he perished. More fortunate, CHAP. Macdonald, by great exertion, succeeded in swimming his horse across, and escaped. But Lauriston, Reynier, and 1813. twenty other generals, with 20,000 unhurt officers and Death of private soldiers, were made prisoners; while, either in the Prince Ponibattle or the town, 250 pieces of cannon and 900 baggage- and capture waggons and caissons were taken. The King of Saxony French rearand all his family remained in the power of the victors. The total loss of the French in the three days was not less than 65,000 men, of whom 30,000 were prisoners; and this independent of the sick and wounded (22,000 in number) taken in Leipsic; and by the desertion and dispersion after the battle, they were weakened in all by at least 100,000 men. That of the Allies in killed and wounded was at least as great; it amounted, even on the showing of their official accounts, which were probably under the truth, to 1800 generals and officers and 45,000 private soldiers.* At such and so terrible a sacrifice of Sir R. Wilson states the loss of the Allies in the three days much higher. "I cannot as yet obtain the return of Blucher and the Crown Prince's losses; but the Allied Grand Army, exclusive of them, has, I am satisfied, been reduced, since the 15th October, by 50,000 men. Blucher lost in the corps of York alone on the 16th October 8000 men. Benningsen tells me that his column alone lost 5000 men on the 18th; and that, unless the Saxons with the artillery had come over, they would have lost many more."-WILSON, ii. 181. But Wilson always took a very gloomy view of the Allied affairs. The following is the account of the loss of the Allies, divided according to their respective nations, as given in the official returns, affording a just criterion of the share which each had in the dangers and honours of the conflict: -Die Grosse Chronik, i. 937; Kausler, 952. СНАР. XI. 1813. 617-619; Marm. v. life and happiness was the deliverance of Europe effected! According to his usual system of laying the blame everywhere but on himself, Napoleon, in the bulletin of the battle, ascribed the whole disaster to the corporal who Thiers, xvi. blew up the bridge; but it is evident, that when the throng was such that Marshal Marmont and his horse Lond. 174, were carried along by it without touching the ground, and ter, ii. 323; 20,000 men, with 200 guns and 900 carriages, remained Odel. ii. 39- still to pass over, with the enemy's advanced posts thundering in close pursuit, that sinister event only accelerated 234. the final catastrophe by a few minutes, without in any sensible degree augmenting it.1* 299, 300; 175; Rich 41; Vaud. i. 222; Danilefsky, 62. Allied sove At two o'clock, the firing having ceased at all points, and Entry of the the whole troops in the town laid down their arms, the reigns and Allied sovereigns and generals made their triumphant engenerals into Leipsic. try into Leipsic, and met in the great square of that city. The Emperor Alexander and King of Prussia entered from the south, accompanied by Lord Cathcart, Sir George Cathcart, Sir R. Wilson, and the whole suite of both sovereigns. Marshal Blucher came up from the north, accompanied by Sir Charles Stewart, who had rendered such essential service during the last few days; the Crown Prince was followed by six Swedish regiments, whom he had, by forced marches, brought up on the last day for the triumph, though he had kept them back during the desperate struggles which preceded it. No words can describe the heart-stirring scene which ensued, when the sovereigns and marshals met after so desperate a contest, and mutually saluted each other as victors. It realised "all the magnificence which Eastern imagination had conceived, and all the visions of chivalrous glory which Western genius had portrayed. The city resounded * This is honestly admitted by Baron Odeleben, who was on the Emperor's staff, and crossed over with him. "Du reste, ceux qui furent coupés seraient de même tombés entre les mains de l'ennemi. Sans cet accident, l'impossibilité de sortir autrement que par l'étroit passage d'une seule porte, les eût également livrés aux Alliés, qui avaient toute facilité de passer l'Elster sur d'autres points."-ODELEBEN, ii. 41. with acclamations; handkerchiefs waved from every of disorder, sullied the triumph of the victors. * every Alex CHAP. XI. 1813. ander received the captive princes and generals with his wonted courtesy; to Marshal Lauriston in particular, with whom he had been intimate during his embassy at St Petersburg, he evinced marked attention. Though well aware of the more than dubious conduct of the Crown Prince during the war, he was too practised a dissembler to let it appear in his manner. To the King of Saxony alone he showed a cold and repulsive demeanour; he con- 1 Lond. 173, sidered him as having been guilty, not only of political ter, ii. 323; change, but personal breach of faith. It was then that Die Grosse Sir Charles Stewart, withdrawing from these scenes of 932-934; conquest and triumph, repaired again to the field of battle, 619-621; and, seated on a stone on the Thonberg, wrote that me- 354. morable despatcht which soon thrilled every heart in "To the credit of the Allies it must be stated that they were guilty of very few excesses, and none in the city itself. They are entitled to much admiration for their humanity. Very few of the enemy were put to the bayonet. As I was one of the first who entered, I immediately went up to the King of Saxony, and assured him that protection was ordered for the inhabitants, and I gave a Russian company as a guard for himself. He seemed much affected."— WILSON, ii. 176. "LEIPSIC, October 19, 1813. "MY LORD,-Europe at length approaches her deliverance, and England may triumphantly look forward to reap that glory her unexampled and steady efforts in the common cause so justly entitle her to receive. I wish it had fallen to the lot of an abler pen to detail to your Lordship the glorious events of the last two days; but in endeavouring to state the main facts, and to send them off without a moment's delay, I shall best do my duty, postponing more detailed accounts until a fresh opportunity. "The victory of General Blucher on the 16th has been followed by a complete and signal victory on the 18th by the whole of the combined forces over the army of Buonaparte, in the neighbourhood of Leipsic. The collective loss of above 100 pieces of cannon, 60,000 men, an immense number of prisonersthe desertion of the whole of the Saxon army, also of the Bavarian and Wirtemberg troops, consisting of artillery, cavalry, and infantry-many generals, among whom are Reynier, Vallery, Brune, Bertrand, and Lauriston,— are some of the first fruits of this glorious day. The capture by assault of the town of Leipsic this morning—the magazines, artillery, and stores of the place, with the 174; Rich Chron. i. Thiers, xvi. Cath. 353, CHAP. Great Britain, and, translated into every civilised tongue, made the world ring from side to side. XI. 1813. 63. French ar While these events were passing in Leipsic, the French Deplorable army, sad and dejected, was moving towards Markrannstate of the stadt, where Napoleon passed the night. Marmont joined my during him there, and found him "much depressed, as well he might be. During the short space of two months an immense army of 450,000 men had melted away in his the retreat to the Rhine. King of Saxony, all his court, the garrison and rearguard of the French armyall the enemy's wounded, the number of which exceeds 30,000—the narrow escape of Buonaparte, who fled from Leipsic at nine o'clock, the Allies entering at eleven-the complete déroute of the French army, who are endeavouring to escape in all directions, and who are still surrounded,—are the next subjects of exultation. In further results your Lordship can best receive it from an account of our military situation. It will be my endeavour to give as succinct an account as I am able, first, of the general and combined operations determined upon by the Grand Army; and, secondly, to describe what immediately came under my own observation, namely, the movements of the Prince Royal and General Blucher's. "My previous despatches have detailed the positions of the Allied armies up to the 16th. It having been announced by Prince Schwartzenberg that it was the intention of their majesties the Allied sovereigns to renew the attack upon the enemy on the 18th, the Armies of the North and Silesia were directed to approach, and the following general dispositions were made. To make them intelligible to your Lordship, I must premise that the attack on the 16th by the Grand Army occurred in the neighbourhood of Liebertwolkwitz. The country around being peculiarly adapted for cavalry movements, a very sanguinary and hard contest occurred with that arm and the artillery, composing in number 600 pieces between the opposing armies. Two solitary buildings, which the enemy had occupied with several battalions of infantry, and which formed nearly the centre of their position at Probstheyda, were attacked by the Russian infantry of the 1st corps, and, after several repulses, carried with amazing carnage. The whole of the enemy's cavalry under Murat was then brought forward. They made a very desperate push at the centre of the Allied position, which for a short period they succeeded in carrying. To oppose this powerful cavalry, six regiments of Austrian cuirassiers charged in column. Nothing could exceed either the skill or the desperate bravery of the movement; they overthrew all before them, destroying, I am told, whole regiments; and returned to their ground with many prisoners, having left 700 dragoons within the enemy's line. Both armies remained nearly upon the ground on which the action had commenced. Many officers were killed or wounded; and General Latour Maubourg, who commanded the enemy's cavalry under Murat, lost his leg; and each lost nearly 25,000 men. "The following dispositions were made for the attack on the 18th. Napoleon's army was stationed on that day nearly as follows: The 8th, 2d, and 5th corps under Murat, in and around Connewitz; his right commanded by Prince Poniatowski, at that village; his centre under Victor at Probstheyda; the left under Lauriston at Stötteritz. The Guards occupied the Thonberg, where Napoleon was in person. Ney, in person was with Buonaparte; Oudinot |