16 THE PRINCE OF PONTE-CORVO SURPRISED. [A.D. dans la position générale des quartiers d'hiver, d'en profiter pour laisser reposer sa cavalerie et réparer la faute qu'il avait faite." He received this order on the day that he was attacked (without Napoleon's knowledge) by Gallitzin, but he withdrew his corps in good order, and re-established his head-quarters at Neiberburg on the 23rd. Marshal Soult, meantime, with his superior intelligence, had penetrated the intentions of the enemy, and his reports awoke Napoleon to the necessity of raising his winter quarters and taking the offensive. With so much sagacity, however, had the cantonments been taken up, that it had been pre-calculated that the Russians might fall on Bernadotte, and he therefore had already his orders to fall back before them on Thorn, where he might serve as a pivot for the change of front of the whole French army, who would thus be able to take the enemy in flank, and threaten his line of retreat on Königsberg. This, which has been termed by Berthier "l'immuable plan de Napoléon" (which, as I understand it, is the changing front on a flank division, in order to bring the whole force of the front of the line to bear upon the flank and rear of an advancing enemy), is a fine example of his great ability in the handling of troops, his deep reflection on the probable movements of his adversary, and his capability of moving in any direction an army of 80,000 men with the same facility that a colonel would move a single regiment on a field-day. General Benningsen advanced his head-quarters, on the 24th, to Heilsburg, on which day his advanced guard had an affair with the hussars of Bernadotte at Liebstadt, on the Passargo, in which a French regiment was entirely destroyed, and only a few hussars with Colonel Barthe, who was wounded, saved themselves. On the 25th, General Markow appeared before Mohrungen at the head of his Cossacks, who inundated the plain, marching on the road towards Liebstadt. Markow had with him from 16,000 to 17,000 men, under Lieut.-General Ansepp, and with these took up a position between Georgenthal and Pfarrensfeld. The Prince of PonteCorvo was taken completely by surprise in this advance of the Russian army, for he had been directed by Napoleon to extend his corps as far as Elbing, in order to straiten the garrison of Dantzig, besieged by Lefebvre, and had, in consequence, removed his headquarters to Mlava. Here he was apprised by Marshal Soult and by his Chief of his Staff, General Maison, whom he had left at Osterode, of the forward movement of the Russians, and marching forthwith and uniting, as he went along, the scattered divisions of Dupont, Drouet, and Rivaud, he repaired rapidly to Mohrungen, which is on the road to Osterode. The distances whence he had to collect his corps were, however, so great, that, if the enemy had pushed at once promptly forward, it would have rendered this concentration impossible. The Prince-Marshal, accompanied by a single battalion of light infantry and a brigade of cavalry, under General Laplanche, arrived in the very nick of time at Mohrungen, where he found General Drouet with two regiments of his division, which he had brought up in haste from Saalfeld; General Pacthod 1807.7 MOVEMENTS OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY. 17 was already there with a regiment of the line and the cavalry which had fled from Liebstadt, comprising a force altogether of 9 battalions and 11 squadrons. As Dupont might be hourly expected with his division from Preusseich-Holland, Bernadotte determined, notwithstanding the disparity of his force, to take the offensive and attack General Markow. He immediately ordered forward a battalion to threaten the left of the enemy, and opened some guns to protect the advance of the 9th Light Infantry, who were to storm the village of Pfarrersfeldchen. A warm engagement ensued, in which this regiment lost its eagle, and was forced to retire; but General Werlé being sent down in support with another battalion, the soldiers were so enraged at the affront that they fell upon their opponents and recovered the eagle. At length, after a conflict, in which General Ansepp fell grievously wounded, the French succeeded in carrying the village. Markow, however, held his ground behind it, and the night approached. Notwithstanding this, Bernadotte formed his troops in line, and advanced boldly against the enemy, for, at the same moment, Dupont appeared on the field, and attacked with vigour the Russian right wing. General Markow could not withstand this double attack, and, after a stout resistance, withdrew in good order to Liebstadt, leaving 1000 or 1200 men on the field. Markow had indiscreetly advanced to Mohrungen without orders, and without having apprised Gallitzin of his forward movement, who was only three leagues distant, at Alt-Reichau. The Prince, hearing the firing, promptly sent Prince Michel Dolgorucki at the head of a detachment of cavalry to his support, who, in the middle of the night, penetrated into the little town of Mohrungen, where he found the non-combatants committing all kinds of excesses. The Russian Prince, however, occupied the town in the best way he could, when, after a little while, the Prince of Ponte-Corvo, having settled his troops in their camp, returned with a battalion and some dragoons. Some fighting ensued in which the Cossacks were driven out of the place, when Bernadotte, satisfied with the issue of the day, withdrew his troops npon Osterode, where, on the 26th, he joined the division of Rivaud, and took up his position at Liebmhül. The only result of this encounter was to stagger the Russian tactics, for Benningsen had failed to surprise Bernadotte, and that able and active leader had now collected his troops together, and was ready for any further encounter. The Russian General, therefore, gathered in his troops, and marched on Mohrungen, where he rested inactive till the 2nd of February. It was only on this same day that the Emperor was correctly informed of the movements of the Russian army. He immediately sent to remind all his Marshals and leaders of divisions to act upon the orders they had already received from him, in case of such an attack. These orders of Napoleon, dated the 23rd and 26th January, have been considered a perfect manual of the art of war, and show how he laboured to foresee and to anticipate every possible hostile movement from an enemy, and with what sound and true judgment he provided against every possible contingency. It is a good lesson 18 NAPOLEON RESUMES THE OFFENSIVE. [A.D. to the young theorists and admirers of genius, as evincing the necessity of severe study to bring down its highest flights to the level of practice in war. In carrying out the "plan immuable," he had directed Lefebvre, without taking his eye from Dantzig, to repair to Thorn: "Pour mettre ce point important à l'abri de toute insulte;" and sent orders to Augereau, who was at Posen, to move up to the right bank of the Vistula, upon the same point; and, on the very day of the fight of Mohrungen, although in ignorance of its result, he directed Bernadotte to concentrate his corps at Osterode, and, in case he should be outflanked on his left, by the continued advance of the enemy, "Vous manœuvriez de manière à couvrir Thorn et le flanc gauche du Maréchal Ney," who was to keep firm hold of Neidenberg, while Soult was to Occupy Willenberg in force. Pultusk was watched by Marshal Davoust, and General Savary, with the corps of Lannes, was detached along the Bug, to watch the division under General Von Essen. Lannes and Murat were both on the sick list, but the latter, nevertheless, mounted his horse, and assembled his cavalry at Mlava, and Massena was now sent for out of Italy to succeed Marshal Lannes. Bessières, with the Guard, moved up to form a reserve to Soult, and Prince Jerome and Marshal Mortier were ordered to be on the alert for anything that might be required of them, while to Marshal Duroc it was given to guard Warsaw from every insult. The grand fault of the Russian General-in-Chief was to have permitted Makrow to have been defeated at Mohrungen, which he could have so readily prevented, and to have lost so much valuable time in remaining there. Napoleon had, in consequence, attained the means of resuming the offensive-always a great advantage in war, and had got his line into the new position, so as to be enabled to fall with force upon the left flanks of the enemy. It was not till the 30th that the Emperor removed his head-quarters from Warsaw; on the 31st, he had placed them at Willenberg; and now, on the 3rd of February, he yet further advanced them to Allenstein. Napoleon, in his general desire to inspire his Lieutenants with his whole mind in his plans, now addressed a new despatch to Bernadotte, in which he explained every thing. It would appear that up to this period he had not availed himself of the use of cipher in his correspondence, and, unfortunately for his plans, the messenger, with this despatch, was intercepted by the Cossacks, and had not the address to destroy the valuable missive with which he was intrusted. Accordingly, it not only apprised the enemy of his movements, but deprived the Prince of Ponte-Corvo of his instructions. So long as the Russian General-in-Chief remained at Mohrungen, Gallitzin, with the left wing of the advance, occupied Mondtken, Ostermann was placed opposite to Allenstein, and Barclay de Tolly to Osterode. The right wing, under Prince Bagration, was at Deutsch-Eylau (which was occupied by Count Pahlen), and at Langont under General Bagovout. The army was divided into three corps, each composed of three divisions: the first, commanded by Lieutenant-General Tutschacow, was at Somerot; the second, 1807.] THE RUSSIAN GENERAL OUTMANŒUVRED. 19 at Gotteswalden, under Baron de Sacken; and, the third, at Guttstadt, under General Somow. The Prussians, under LieutenantGeneral Lestocq, were at Freistadt. This brave and active officer had succeeded in raising the blockade of Gaudentz, the key to the Lower Vistula, and in placing it in a situation to hold out through the campaign. The corps of General Essen was on the Narew, with head-quarters at Ostrolenka. On the 2nd, General Benningsen collected his army in position on the heights of Jonkowo, extending from the Alle to the Parsage, which flanked it on either hand; the left by the Lake of Allenstein, and the right towards Liebemühl; and Lestocq was directed to move towards Osterode, on the right of the army. The object of the Russian General was to pass the Alle, at Allenstein, and to force back Napoleon to the Vistula, but the latter was on the alert, and master of the passage. Murat, indeed, was already with his cavalry, on the 2nd, at Allenstein, and Ney was now in full march thither from Hohenstein, followed by Augereau. Napoleon was, in fact, prepared to strike the blow, and he accordingly made his dispositions to give it with effect. Marshal Davoust was ordered to leave a strong rear-guard to keep watch upon Essen, and to march the remainder upon Wartenberg. Soult was directed to defile along the Alle, and possess himself of the bridge at Bergfried, towards which Davoust was desired to expedite the division of General Friant, in order to turn the enemy's right, which would bring matters to an effectual issue. The Russians were well aware of the importance of this post, and had occupied it with 12 battalions and 15 guns, under General Kamenskoi. It was already 3:30 in the afternoon when the French opened their attack, by a violent cannonade, which General Dulauloy directed against the Russian artillery. General Leval sent down General Schinner to force the bridge, while General Viviez attempted to ford the river above the village; but the bridge was so well barred, and so well defended, that the French were obliged to withdraw these troops. In the ardour of this contest, however, in the defile, the Russians had neglected the heights that commanded the left banks, and General Viviez immediately crowned these with his brigade. General Leval, observing this, took advantage of the movement to renew the assault, and, at the head of his troops, and in spite of the fire of Dululoup's guns, he carried the bridge. If it had not been for the approach of night, the consequences to the enemy would have been more serious; as it was, the Russians lost 1200 men and 6 guns. Napoleon, expecting a general engagement on the following day, established the Imperial bivouac at Getkendorff, and thence despatched his orders to his Marshals for the morrow. 8. BATTLE OF PREUSSISCH-EYLAU - AFFAIR AT OSTROLENKA. At break of day of the 4th, the whole French army was in motion. General Lasalle, with the light cavalry, found himself in 20 BENNINGSEN IN FULL RETREAT. [A.D. presence of a horde of Cossacks, who appeared as though they were prepared to stop his advance. Napoleon was early on horseback, and, with the Grand-Duke of Berg, reconnoitred the enemy with a division of cavalry, while Ney debouched from the woods of Jonkovo, which he had won from the enemy the previous day. Soult, filing over the Alle, by the bridge of Bergfried, carried the village from the enemy, who lost, in its defence, 1200 men. A 1 fierce cannonade ensued, which gradually weakened, when it was discovered that Benningsen had broken up from his position in the middle of the night, and was in full retreat, in three columns, each covered in its march by a strong rear-guard. On the 4th, Benningsen halted, at Wolfersdorf, to give time for Lestocq to march with his Prussian division, which had only reached Mohrungen the same day. Seeing, however, that the French were close upon him, the Russian Commander-in-Chief determined to let the Prussian shift for himself, and, abandoning Guttstadt, in which were some magazines, he continued his retreat to Frauendorff, whence, in the night of the 5th-6th, he proceeded to Landsberg, having in view to cross the Pregel, and secure his communications with the Russian frontier. Napoleon, anticipating this object, persevered in threatening his left flank, and sent forward Soult, Davoust, Murat, and Ney, to press the enemy's retreat, while he merely kept Augereau and Bessières, with the Imperial Guard, about his person. But, while the columns defiled under the very eye of the Emperor, he received information hat a strong corps of the enemy was at Liebstadt, seeking to cross the river Passargo. This was Lestocq, marching with all his speed after Benningsen's army. Ney was immediately sent after the Prussians, but Murat had already come up with their rear-guard, under General Kluchzner, near Wallendorff. Lestocq now treated the main Russian army as he had been treated by them, and left them to take care of themselves, while he saved himself by taking the direction of Schlodein, whence he marched to Husschnen, near Preussisch-Eylau, which he reached on the 7th. Kluchzner was nearly surrounded, but escaped with the loss of 2000 men and 16 guns. Had the Prince of Ponte-Corvo received the orders transmitted to him by Napoleon, the whole of the Prussian corps must have been destroyed; but he did not hear of the movements of the grand army till the 4th, when he hastily followed it, but had only reached Osterode on the 6th, three days' march in arrear. The Russian army, having reached Landsberg, seemed disposed to halt for a day, and placed a strong rear-guard, with a numerous cavalry, in a position at Hoff, having the village to the right, and a wood to the left, under General Barclay de Tolly; but Napoleon, with Murat, Soult, and Augereau, had already reached Freymarcht, and marched forward in a single column, while Murat at once fell upon them. Two of the Russian regiments were cut to pieces, and an immense number of prisoners, including Prince Gallitzin, were made in the mêlée. Benningsen sent forward several brigades of fresh troops to support his rear-guard, but they could not regain their position at Hof, for Soult, with the division of Legrand, and |