HISTORY OF THE EXPEDITION TO RUSSIA, UNDERTAKEN pdf

HISTORY

OF THE

EXPEDITION TO RUSSIA,

UNDERTAKEN BY THE

EMPEROR NAPOLEON,

IN THE YEAR 1812.

BY GENERAL, COUNT PHILIP DE SEGUR.

Quamquam animus meminisse horret, luctuque refugit,

Incipiam—.

VIRGIL.

SECOND EDITION, CAREFULLY REVISED AND CORRECTED.

IN TWO VOLUMES,

Volume One

Volume Two

WITH A MAP AND SEVEN ENGRAVINGS.

VOL. I.

LONDON:

TREUTTEL AND WURTZ, TREUTTEL, JUN. AND RICHTER,

30, SOHO-SQUARE.

1825.

Portrait of Napoleon

TO THE

VETERANS OF THE GRAND ARMY.

COMRADES,

I have undertaken the task of tracing the History of the Grand Army and its Leader

during the year 1812. I address it to such of you as the ices of the North have

disarmed, and who can no longer serve their country, but by the recollections of their

misfortunes and their glory. Stopped short in your noble career, your existence is

much more in the past than in the present; but when the recollections are so great, it is

allowable to live solely on them. I am not afraid, therefore, of troubling that repose

which you have so dearly purchased, by placing before you the most fatal of your

deeds of arms. Who is there of us but knows, that from the depth of his obscurity the

looks of the fallen man are involuntarily directed towards the splendor of his past

existence—even when its light illuminates the shoal on which the bark of his fortune

struck, and when it displays the fragments of the greatest of shipwrecks?

For myself, I will own, that an irresistible feeling carries me back incessantly to that

disastrous epoch of our public and private calamities. My memory feels a sort of

melancholy pleasure in contemplating and renewing the painful traces which so many

horrors have left in it. Is the soul, also, proud of her deep and numerous wounds?

Does she delight in displaying them? Are they a property of which she has reason to

be proud? Is it rather, that after the desire of knowing them, her first wish is to impart

her sensations? To feel, and to excite feeling, are not these the most powerful springs

of our soul?

But in short, whatever may be the cause of the sentiment which actuates me, I have

yielded to the desire of retracing the various sensations which I experienced during

that fatal war. I have employed my leisure hours in separating, arranging, and

combining with method my scattered and confused recollections. Comrades! I also

invoke yours! Suffer not such great remembrances, which have been so dearly

purchased, to be lost; for us they are the only property which the past leaves to the

future. Single, against so many enemies, ye fell with greater glory than they rose.

Learn, then, that there was no shame in being vanquished! Raise once more those

noble fronts, which have been furrowed with all the thunders of Europe! Cast not

down those eyes, which have seen so many subject capitals, so many vanquished

kings! Fortune, doubtless, owed you a more glorious repose; but, such as it is, it

depends on yourselves to make a noble use of it. Let history inscribe your

recollections. The solitude and silence of misfortune are propitious to her labours; and

let truth, which is always present in the long nights of adversity, at last enlighten

labours that may not prove unproductive.

As for me, I will avail myself of the privilege, sometimes painful, sometimes glorious,

of telling what I have seen, and of retracing, perhaps with too scrupulous attention, its

most minute details; feeling that nothing was too minute in that prodigious Genius and

those gigantic feats, without which we should never have known the extent to which

human strength, glory, and misfortune, may be carried.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

VOLUME FIRST.

BOOK I.

CHAP.

I. —Political relations of France and Russia since 1807

II. —Prussia.—Frederick William

III. —Turkey.—Sultans Selim—Mustapha—Mahmoud

IV. —Sweden.—Bernadotte

BOOK II.

CHAP.

I. —Feelings of Napoleon's grandees at the approaching contest—their objections,

with Napoleon's replies—real motives which urged him to the struggle

II. —Arguments against the war by the Dukes of Frioul and Vicenza and the Count

de Segur.—Napoleon's replies

III. —His manner of gaining proselytes to his opinions—his avowals to his own

family—his discussions with Cardinal Fesch—his declaration to Prince Kourakin

IV. —Circumstances inclining him to delay the contest—his proposals to England

and to Russia—Russian ultimatum

V. —Preparations for commencement—Talleyrand—opinions of the military—of

Napoleon's ministers and generals—fresh obstacles to his departure

BOOK III.

CHAP.

I. —Napoleon's departure from Paris—dispositions of the east of France—of the

Germans—assemblage of sovereigns at Dresden

II. —Arrival in Poland—complaints by the inhabitants of the disorders of his

troops—his ineffectual attempts to check them—meeting with Davoust—quarrel

between that officer and Berthier—unfavourable impression of Napoleon against

the former—arrival at Königsberg

III. —March from the Vistula to the Niemen—Napoleon's manners with the

soldiers—positions of the different corps—dispositions of the army

BOOK IV.

CHAP.

I. —Addresses of Napoleon and Alexander to their respective armies—Position of

the Russian forces—Napoleon's plans in consequence—Sketch of the operations

of his left and right wings during the campaign

II. —Passage of the Niemen—Dreadful storm and its fatal effects—Melancholy

catastrophe—Napoleon's arrival at Wilna—Political arrangements

III. —Feelings of the Lithuanians—Napoleon's answer to the address of the Polish

confederation—Coolness of the Lithuanians, and discussion of its causes

IV. —Distress of the army and its excesses—Manner in which Napoleon was

affected by them

V. —Arrival of Balachoff from Alexander—Quarrel between Napoleon and

Caulaincourt—Progress of the invading army to the 10th of July

VI. —Operations of the King of Westphalia's and of Davoust's divisions—Perilous

situation and narrow escape of Bagration

VII. —Napoleon's departure from Wilna—Retreat of the Russian army from Drissa to

Witepsk—Arrival of the different French corps at Beszenkowiczi—Different

partial actions near Witepsk

VIII. —General engagement before Witepsk—French attack ordered to cease in

expectation of a decisive battle on the following day—Retreat of the Russians—

Napoleon's disappointment—Position of his different corps

BOOK V.

CHAP.

I. —Napoleon's first plans for halting at Witepsk—afterwards abandoned, and his

determination to proceed to Smolensk

II. —Discussions with the officers of his household—their reasons for dissuading

him from advancing further, and his replies—Feelings of the army in general

III. —Operations of Oudinot's corps against that of Wittgenstein—partial successes

on both sides—Napoleon determines to change his line of operation

BOOK VI.

CHAP.

I. —Manner in which this manœuvre was effected—The army crosses the

Boristhenes—Character of the Jewish and native population

II. —Surprise of Newerowskoi's corps beyond Krasnoë—Bold retreat of that officer

III. .—Movements of the main Russian army—Plans of Barclay—his dissension with

Bagration—hastens to the relief of Smolensk—about to be surprised by

Napoleon—Unsuccessful attack of the French on Smolensk

IV. —Retreat of the Russian army, and fresh disappointment of Napoleon—

Ineffectual attempts of Murat to dissuade his farther advance—Capture of

Smolensk

V. —Napoleon's reflections on the conduct of the Russians—Intelligence of

Regnier's victory over Tormasof—Opinions of the Emperor's principal officers as

to the impolicy of proceeding farther

VI. —State of the allied army—its immense losses from various causes, independent

of the enemy—Napoleon's professed intention to stop, but real determination to

proceed

VII. —Final evacuation of Smolensk by the Russians after setting it on fire—their

army overtaken by Murat and Ney—Death of General Gudin—Battle of

Valoutina—Narrow escape of the Russians in consequence of Junot's irresolution

VIII. —Results of the battle—Recompenses and rewards conferred by Napoleon—

Enthusiasm of the army—Melancholy state of the wounded—Animosity of the

Russian population

IX. —Napoleon's plans of moving the Russian peasantry to insurrection—Conduct of

their nobles to ward off the danger—Napoleon's hesitation as to the plan he

should pursue

X. —Saint Cyr's victory over Wittgenstein on the 18th of August—Dissension

between Murat and Davoust—Discord in the Russian camp in consequence of

Barclay's continued retreat—Napoleon's advance to Dorogobouje

BOOK VII.

CHAP.

I. —Manner in which the allied army was supplied on its march—Details of the

organization of Davoust's corps

II. —Napoleon's bulletin and decrees at Slawkowo—Fresh quarrels between Murat

and Davoust—Description of the Russian mode of retreat and of Murat's method

of pursuit

III. —Advance to Wiazma and to Gjatz—Refusal of Davoust to obey Murat—Full

development of the Russian plan of destroying their cities and towns

IV. —Clamours of the Russians against Barclay—Kutusof sent to supersede him—

Great merit of Barclay's plan of retreat

V. —Near prospect of a battle—Character of Kutusof—Sanguinary and partial

action on the 4th of September—Anecdote of Murat—Napoleon's survey of the

ground

VI. —Disposition of the Russian army on the field of Borodino—Napoleon's plan of

battle

VII. —Plan proposed by Davoust rejected by Napoleon—Feelings of the French

army—Proclamation of Napoleon

VIII. —Preparations of the Russians—Feelings of their soldiery—Napoleon's

anxiety—his indisposition on the night before the battle

IX. —Battle of Borodino on the 7th of September

X. —Battle of Borodino on the 7th of September (Cont.)

XI. —Battle of Borodino on the 7th of September (Cont.)

XII. —Results of the battle—immense loss on both sides—faults committed by

Napoleon—how accounted for—incompleteness of his victory

XIII. —Advance to, and skirmish before Mojaisk—Gallantry of fifty voltigeurs of the

33d—Surprising order in the Russian retreat—Napoleon's distress

VOLUME SECOND.

BOOK VIII.

CHAP.

I. —The Emperor Alexander's arrival at Moscow after his retreat from Drissa—

Description of that city—Sacrifices voted by the nobility and the merchants to

meet the threatened danger

II. —Alarm in consequence of the advance of the French army—Determination of

the Governor, Count Rostopchin, and his preparations for destroying the

capital—Evacuation of Moscow by the principal part of the inhabitants on the 3d

of September

III. —State of that city just before and after the battle of Borodino—The Governor's

departure

IV. IV.—Napoleon advances to Moscow on the 14th of September—Feelings of the

army on approaching it—Disappointment at finding it deserted

V. —Murat's entrance into the city

VI. —Napoleon's entrance into the Kremlin—Discovery of the conflagration of the

city

VII. —Danger which he ran in escaping through the flames to Petrowsky—Hesitation

as to his future plans

VIII. .—His return to the Kremlin—Description of the camps outside the city—System

of general plunder—Reproaches made to the army, and vindication of it

IX. —Conduct of Kutusof after abandoning Moscow—Rostopchin sets fire to his seat

at Woronowo—Partial actions at Czerikowo and Vinkowo—Anxiety and

uneasiness of Napoleon—consultation with his chief officers—Sends Lauriston

to the Emperor

X. —Conference of Lauriston with Kutusof—Artful conduct of the latter—

Armistice—Infatuation of Murat—Distress of the French army—Warnings of the

impending danger—Napoleon's obstinacy in remaining

XI. —Illusions by which he kept up his own and his army's hopes—Count Daru's

advice—Rupture of the armistice—Incapacity of Berthier—Disastrous

engagement at Vinkowo—Napoleon determines to leave Moscow

BOOK IX.

CHAP.

I. —Departure from Moscow—Composition of the army

II. —Battle of Malo-Yaroslawetz

III. —Distress of the Emperor—Danger which he ran from a sudden attack of the

Cossacks

IV. —Field of Malo-Yaroslawetz—Council held by the Emperor—Opinions of

Murat, Bessières, and Davoust—Napoleon determines to retreat

V. —Kutusof's similar determination to retreat from Malo-Yaroslawetz,

ineffectually opposed by Sir Robert Wilson—Napoleon's projected plan of retreat

VI. —Mortier's proceedings at Moscow after the departure of the main army—

Blowing up of the Kremlin—Devastations committed by both armies—Capture

of General Winzingerode—Napoleon's behaviour to him

VII. —Arrival at Mojaisk—Alarming news of the Russian army—View of the field of

Borodino

VIII. —Abandonment of the wounded in the Abbey of Kolotskoi—Horrible conduct of

the suttlers—Massacre of 2000 Russian prisoners—Arrival at Gjatz

IX. —Napoleon's arrival at Wiazma—Reproaches to Davoust for his tardy mode of

retreat, and that officer's vindication—Danger of the latter and Eugene—Arrival

of Miloradowitch

X. —Battle between Eugene and Davoust and Miloradowitch, near Wiazma, on the

3d November—heavy loss of the French

XI. —Dreadful snow-storm on the 6th of November—its effects upon the troops

XII. —Arrival of the intelligence of Mallet's conspiracy—impression produced by it

upon Napoleon and his officers—Message from Ney—Perilous situation of that

marshal

XIII. —Defeat and entire dissolution of the Viceroy's corps at the passage of the Wop

XIV. —Arrival at Smolensk—Dreadful sufferings of the troops—Bad arrangements of

the administrators—Reasons assigned by the latter in their vindication

BOOK X.

CHAP.

I. —Wittgenstein's attack upon Saint Cyr at Polotsk—Retreat of the latter—Want of

concert in the movements of the Russian generals

II. —Junction of the corps of Saint Cyr and Victor at Smoliantzy on the 31st

October—Opportunity lost by the latter of defeating the enemy—General view of

the state of the army—Errors committed by Napoleon and his commanders

III. —Napoleon's departure from Smolensk—Dispositions of the Russian army to

interrupt his farther retreat—Bravery of Excelmans—Arrival at Krasnoë

IV. —March of Eugene from Smolensk to Krasnoë with the remains of his corps—

his narrow escape

V. —Successful nocturnal attack by Roguet on the Russian camp at Chickowa—

Desperate situation of Napoleon—Wilson's fruitless efforts to induce Kutusof to

surround and destroy him—Battle of Krasnoë—Bravery of the guard under

Mortier

VI. —Napoleon's arrival at Dombrowna—Nocturnal false alarm—General

disorganization of the army—Davoust's ineffectual efforts to check it

VII. —Council held at Orcha to determine the farther course of retreat—Opinion of

Jomini—Napoleon decides on Borizof—Quits Orcha on the 20th of November

without hearing any thing of Ney—Re-appearance of that Marshal after his

departure

VIII. —Details of Ney's retreat from Smolensk until his arrival at Orcha

IX. —Details of Ney's retreat from Smolensk until his arrival at Orcha (cont.)

BOOK XI.

CHAP.

I. —Capture of Minsk by the Russians—Different opinions in the army as to the

causes of their disasters—Rumoured treachery of Schwartzenberg—Napoleon's

reproaches to him and Schwartzenberg's reply

II. —Details of the loss of Minsk—Movements of Dombrowski, Oudinot, and

Victor—Distress and malady of Napoleon—Remarkable conversation with Count

Daru

III. —Passage through the Forest of Minsk—Junction of the remains of the grand

army with Victor and Oudinot's corps—State of the former

IV. —Preparations for crossing the Berezina

V. —Preparations for crossing the Berezina (Cont.)

VI. —Circumstances which led the Russian general, Tchaplitz, into error as to the

point where Napoleon was to cross the Berezina, and consequences of that

error—Napoleon crosses that river at Studzianka on the 27th November

VII. —Capture and destruction of Partouneaux's division

VIII. —Attack made by the Russians under Wittgenstein and Platof on the left side,

and by Tchitchakof on the right side of the Berezina, and repelled by the French

IX. —The burning of the bridge over the Berezina

X. —Napoleon's situation during the preceding actions—Passage over the

morasses—His manners to his officers

XI. —Napoleon's arrival at Malodeczno—Announcement on the 3d of December of

his intention to set out for France

XII. —Increased severity of the winter—Partial actions of Ney and Maison with the

Russians between Pleszezenitzy and Malodeczno—Quarrel between Ney and

Victor

XIII. —Napoleon's arrival at Smorgony—his parting interview with his marshals

BOOK XII.

CHAP.

I. —Napoleon's journey from Smorgony to Paris—Impression produced in the army

by his departure—Dreadful effects of the increased cold

II. —Picture of the sufferings of the army from the cold and the climate

III. —Arrival at Wilna—Consternation of the inhabitants—Fatal effects of not

distributing the provisions collected among the troops—State of the wounded in

the hospitals—Arrival of the Russians—Flight of Murat—Evacuation of Wilna—

Immense losses which that occasioned—Disaster at Ponari

IV. —Details of Ney's mode of retreat—Losses occasioned to the Russians by the

severity of the winter—Arrival at Kowno—Ney's defence and evacuation of that

place

V. —First symptoms of Murat's defection—Arrival at Königsberg

VI. —Marshal Macdonald's retreat from Riga—Details of the defection of the

Prussian Army under Yorck

VII. —Marshal Macdonald's retreat from Riga—Details of the defection of the

Prussian Army under Yorck (Cont.)

VIII. —Marshal Macdonald's retreat from Riga—Details of the defection of the

Prussian Army under Yorck (Cont.)

IX. —Marshal Macdonald's retreat from Riga—Details of the defection of the

Prussian Army under Yorck (Cont.)

X. —Conduct of Schwartzenberg and defection of the Austrians—Atrocities

committed on the French prisoners at Wilna and Königsberg

XI. —Defection of Murat

XII. —Conclusion

DIRECTIONS FOR PLACING THE PLATES.

I. Portrait of Napoleon

II. Map of the countries between Paris and Moscow

III. Passage of the Niemen

IV. Portrait of Murat, King of Naples

V. Portrait of the Emperor Alexander

VI. Conflagration of Moscow

VII. Portrait of Marshal Ney

VIII. Passage of the Berezina

Map of the countries between Paris and Moscow

(To see this map assembled, click here.)

HISTORY

OF

NAPOLEON'S EXPEDITION

TO

RUSSIA.