anticipate that the battle of Borodino would be referred to in history, as a glorious and eternal contrast to the treachery which disgraced the combatants at Austerlitz, and the pusillanimity which at Jena laid the Prussian monarchy prostrate before his ambi

tion.

At four in the morning of the 7th of September, the corps of Davoust and Poniatowski advanced by the wood which supported the Russian left; at six the action commenced, and the enemy experienced the advantages derived from the possession of the redoubt which he had taken the preceding day. Ney bore down with great force on the Russian centre, and Beauharnois assailed the right. The battle became general; but the left of the Russians under Prince Bagration had still to combat with nearly one half of the French force. The resolution of the enemy's cavalry on this flank was conspicuous; they charged the Russians even to their batteries, and whole squadrons of them were instantly destroyed. For three hours did this furious attack continue without effect; and Buonaparte perceived the necessity of order ing up reinforcements, both of cavalry and artillery.-The Russians were compelled to fall back, and the enemy immediately turned against the retiring columns the guns which they had abandoned. The Russian general seeing the left of the army thus overpowered, reinforced it from the reserve with grenadiers and cavalry; they returned to the combat with fresh vigour, and in the very moment when they were making a desperate effort to regain their lost position, the militia, and other troops which had been posted in the wood, rushed forth and took a dreadful vengeance on the enemy. The shock of this concentrated force was irresistible, and the French were forced to retire with precipitation.-Such were the events which occurred on the

Russian left. On the other extremity of their line a combat scarcely less obstinate was maintained. Beauharnois made repeated efforts to carry the village of Borodino, and the redoubts which protected it; but his failure in all of them was complete, and he was ultimately repulsed with great loss. The Russian commander was thus enabled to reinforce his centre, where the battle still raged with great fury.-Night at last approached, and added only to the sublime horrors of the scene. But victory had now declared for the Russians, and the enemy, aware that he could no longer make a stand after the dreadful havoc which had been made among his legions, availed himself of the opportunity to withdraw at all points, and leave the field to the conquerors.-The field of battle, on the return of day, presented a frightful scene for the carnage on both sides, from the magnitude of the preparations which had been made, and the resolution displayed by the comba tants, was immense.-The Russians estimate their own loss in killed and wounded at 40,000 men, and that of the enemy so high as 60,000. The French, who, as usual, claimed the victory, told a very different tale; but we may judge of the credit due to their story, when it is recollected, that although victorious, they found it necessary to retreat, and were on the following day exposed in their movements to the galling attacks of Platoff and his Cossaks, who were sent in pursuit.The Russians lost some officers of dis tinction, among whom were Generals Toutchkoff and Konovitzen; the brave Prince Bagration afterwards died of his wounds. Of the French generals, Caulaincourt and Montbrun were killed, and twelve others dangerously wounded. The Russians made 5000 prisoners, and took 30 pieces of cannon.--These details will not be deemed im

pertinent, when the magnitude of this day's operations, and the consequences to which they led, are taken into consideration. A battle in which about 80,000 human beings were destroyed, is not an ordinary occurrence, even in this age of military exploits; and deserves, therefore, to be recorded with a minuteness, which, in other circumstances, would be trifling and inexcusable. It has been demanded, with some appearance of reason, why Prince Kutusoff did not follow up this victory which had cost him so dear, and why he afterwards left the ancient capital of Russia exposed to the intrusion of the vanquished? To this question various answers have been given, some of them dictated by prejudice, and others which seem founded on a knowledge of the military events which preceded the battle of Borodino, ast well as of the plans of the Russian chief which were soon developed. The Russian armies have not been often beaten in the field, but few occasions have occurred in which they were able to profit by the victories they have achieved. They are but ill qualified for rapid movement, or for repairing with alacrity the disorganization which even a victory such as that of Borodino must have produced. They had already suffered extreme fatigue, and numerous privations, that department of the army on which the comfort of a soldier depends being most lamenta bly defective in the Russian service. The French indeed were fatigued, and had suffered privations; but they had other motives than their enemies to pursue their march without relaxation. They sought safety and repose, the Russians had both; and it is not wonderful that in this condition their leader should have thought of giving them some relaxation. It would not have been humane-it might not have been prudent in him, to have hurried them into new trials of their patience and for

But this is not the only circumstance in the conduct of the Russian chief which excited surprise. His not fol lowing up the victory of Borodino admitted of some explanation; but a feeling of astonishment was universalamong those to whom his plans were unknown, when they learned his determination to abandon Moscow to its fate-Mos cow, the ancient and venerable capital of the Russians-the grand repository of their wealth, and the centre of their patriotic affections. For such a city it might have been expected that even a beaten army would have continued to struggle; but that the conquerors should willingly give it up to destruc tion, seemed wholly inexplicable. Yet no sooner did the prince learn that the French had been strongly reins forced, and were advancing, than he marched his army through Moscow, and took up a position on the Kalouga road.-The French were thus ena bled to march directly on the capital, and at noon, on the 14th of Septem ber, they appeared before it.

To explain the singular determina. tion which Prince Kutusoff had taken, he addressed to the emperor on the 16th of September, a letter which discovers the extent of his military genius. He began by stating, that the late victory, glorious as it had been to the Russian arms, had cost him many lives; and that his army,

encumbered with sick and wounded, was but ill prepared to meet the fresh troops which it was known that the enemy could bring forward. In these circumstances, it would have been unwise to risk another battle, and he therefore determined on retiring. No position of any strength presented itself betwixt Borodino and Moscow; the fresh troops of the enemy already threatened the Russian lines; his whole force was now double that of the Russians, and a general engagement could therefore have promised little hope of success. A defeat before the walls of Moscow, while no measures had been taken to abandon the city, would have exposed it to be entered in triumph by the invader, to whom its wealth and resources of all kinds would have become available. The resolution was therefore taken to abandon the capital, after removing its treasures, and to present to the enemy, on his entrance, no prospect but that of famine and desolation. The sacrifice of Moscow was a dreadful alternative to every Russsian, said the Prince, but it was a sacrifice of part for the preservation of the whole-of a great city, to the independence of a mighty empire. Had Moscow been defended to the last extremity, the rich provinces of Toula and Kalouga, from which the resources of the army were drawn, must have been abandoned; the army would have been ruined, and the empire might have been lost. By relinquishing Moscow, the Russian army became masters of the Toula and Kalouga roads, covered these fertile vinces, maintained its communications uninterrupted with the corps of Tormozoff and Tchichagoff, interrupted the enemy's line of operations from Smolensko to Moscow, cut off the supplies which he expected from his rear, and actually blockaded him in the capital. The occupation of Twer by General Winzengerode completed the

pro

line which was drawn around the enemy; and the Russian general-in-chief promised that Moscow would very soon be evacuated by its new possessors.

This reasoning was unanswerable, and appeared so even at the time to the Russian emperor, who was filled with admiration of the genius displayed by the general-in-chief.-Had the arguments of Prince Kutusoff been less cogent in themselves, it is probable, at all events, that the ruin which so quickly overtook the French, would, long ere this time, have silenced all controversy on the subject. Yet there is one remark which prejudice may still render necessary. The final destruction of the French army was not, as some persons affect to believe, the consequence of accident alone, of the inclemency of the season, and the burning of Moscow, but the result of a concerted plan of operations on the part of the Russian generals, on which they relied with confidence from the moment that the enemy threatened to advance into the interior of the country.-The views which Kutusoff thus unfolded to his master on the 16th of September, 1812, and which were so signally confirmed in the events of the succeeding winter, were formed even before the enemy had entered the capital. No better proof than this can be required, that the ruin of the invaders was not the effect of accident, but of design-not imputable to the climate alone, but to the martial genius of the Russian commander, who so promptly availed himself of the various expedients which were calculated to ensure the ultimate triumph of his country.

The plans of the prince were understood and appreciated by his court. Yet, as the occupation of Moscow would naturally fill the vulgar mind with despondency and alarm, the emperor determined to give the unequivocal sanction of the government to

the operations of the armies, and once more addressed his people. "Moscow," said he, "was entered by the enemy on the 15th September; at this intelligence it might be expected that consternation would appear on every countenance; but far from us be such pusillanimity. Rather let us swear to redouble our perseverance and our resolution; let us hope, that fighting in a just cause, we shall hurl back upon the enemy all the evil with which he seeks to overwhelm us. Moscow, indeed, is occupied by French troops; it has not become, theirs in consequence of their having destroyed our armies: The commander-in-chief, in concert with the most distinguished of our generals, has deemed it prudent to bend for a moment to necessity. He retires only to give additional force to the weight with which he will fall on our enemy. Then will the short triumph of the French ruler lead to his inevitable destruction. He finds in Moscow not only no means for domination, but no means of existence. Our forces already surrounding Moscow, to which every day is bringing an accession of strength, will occupy all the roads, and destroy every detachment the enemy may send forth in search of provisions. Thus will he be fatally convinced of his error, in calculating that the possession of Moscow would be the conquest of the empire; and necessity will at last compel him to fly from famine through the ranks of our intrepid army. Without doubt, the

bold, or rather it should be called the rash enterprise, of penetrating into the bosom of Russia, nay, of occupying its ancient capital, feeds the pride of the supposed conqueror, but it is the fatal point to which his destinies have dragged him on. He has not yet penetrafed into a country where one of his actions has diffused terror, or brought a single Russian to submit. Is there an individual in the empire so abject

as to despond when a feeling of vengeance animates his brethren? When the enemy, deprived of all his resour ces, and exhausting his strength from day to day, sees himself in the midst of a powerful nation, encircled by her armies, one of which menaces him in front, while the other three watch to interrupt the arrival of succours, and to prevent his escape, can Russians be alarmed?"-The whole of this address shewed that the emperor and the go. vernment were well aware of the na ture of the contest which they had to sustain-that they understood and con curred in the plans of the general, and waited with firmness the entire over throw of the enemy as the result of his admirable combinations.

Meanwhile, Count Rostopschin, the military governor of Moscow, had wisely prepared for the event, which he, as well as the other Russian chiefs, had expected. He had done every thing to equip and organise for the army the inhabitants, whose age and sex qualified them for taking the field. He had been careful to remove the women and children, the sick and aged; and he had withdrawn every thing which could be serviceable to the enemy.-The scene which Moscow now presented was shocking to humanity; every attempt to describe it must prove abortive. Two hundred thousand human beings of both sexes and of all ages were driven from their homes, ignorant where they might seek protection, and exposed to the incle mency of a Russian winter, which was fast approaching. But there were no sacrifices which this devoted people would not have made, rather than remain exposed to the ferocity of their enemies. They had heard of the ex cesses in which he was accustomed to indulge; they were not ignorant of the murders, rapine, and sacrilege which he had so often committed; and the biting frosts, the endless fa

tigues, the famine and misery of all kinds to which they knew that they must now expose themselves, filled not their minds with half the horror which was inspired by the presence of the invader. The greater part of them abandoned their homes with precipitation; a few only of those whose minds were influenced by a stronger impulse —who had vowed revenge on the inva der, and determined to perish in a desperate attempt for its gratification, remained.-The governor, having made every preparation which circumstances permitted, gave the signal for evacuating the city, and at the head of 40,000 of its brave inhabitants, proceeded to join the grand Russian

army.

The enemy appeared before Moscow: his advanced guard, under Murat and Beauharnois, first entered the city, and proceeded towards the Kremlin, the ancient palace of the czars, which was ineffectually defended by a small band of those who still lingered in the capital. The gates were rapidly forced; but scarcely had the French accomplished this inglorious achievement, when a scene presented itself which threatened to baffle all their hopes. The city was discovered to be on fire in different quarters; and in whatever way the flames may have been first kindled, so brutal was the violence of the French soldiers

such their desire of seizing on the plunder of that great city, which their leader had so long promised them as the reward of their toils, and so zealous their exertions to increase the confusion which might favour their base designs, that, far from endeavouring to extinguish the conflagration, they were most active to increase it-They were little aware of the long train of miseries which they were thus preparing for themselves.

It did not suit the dignity of Buo

VOL. V. PART I.

naparte, it would seem, to make his entrance into Moscow till he should be attended by the constituted autho rities, and hailed as a conqueror.—He waited at the barrier leading to the Smolensko road, expecting that a deputation of the citizens would quickly arrive; but after a delay of many hours, no such deputation was des• cried. He sent a Polish general to remind the citizens of their duty; but the general brought him information that there were no longer any constituted authorities in Moscow; that he had found it a desart, and expected soon to see it a heap of ruins.-The French ruler still cherished a hope that the solemn farce, which he so much desired, might in one way or other be accomplished; and in the meantime he fixed his residence in the Petrofsky palace, about a mile from the city.—The next day, however, he was compelled to give way to necessity, and he entered the city without parade or ostentation, deeply incensed by his disappointment, and meditating schemes of revenge.

He took possession of the Kremlin; and, yielding to the gloomy passions with which his soul was filled, he determined on an exemplary punishment of Russian patriotism.-While his dark consultations proceeded, the flames spread even to the very walls of the palace. The rage of the disappointed tyrant no longer knew any bounds; and he instantly ordered his satellites to seize all Russians who might be found near the spot, or could be suspected of participating in the destruction of the city. One hundred of these unhappy persons were soon brought before him; they were questioned as to their proceedings, and a pardon was offered them on condition of their divulging the pretended conspiracy; but they remained silent, and despised the threats and promises of their ene

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