1 CHAP. VIII. 1813. Stewart to was Lord Castle reagh, May The 27. 1813, about 43, 44. "1 MS.; Lond. strengthen this part of the line; and in front of it ran a deep rivulet, which curled round the right of the position. On the extreme right the country was flat and woody, intersected by the roads above mentioned leading towards Silesia and the Oder. Barclay de Tolly, with his Russians, stood here, with his extreme right somewhat thrown back, and D'York's and Kleist's Prussians, in echelon, in reserve, in the form of a semicircle, to guard against a turning by Ney's columns. Blucher's Prussians formed on the heights of Kreckwitz. Then came Wittgenstein's Russians, commanded by Rieffskoi, with Milaradowitch's corps on the left; the Guards, Grenadiers, and whole Russian cavalry were in reserve, in the centre; and Sir Chas. Prince Eugene of Würtemberg, with 3000 Russians, placed on the extreme left, in the wooded hills. whole line was about four miles in length, and 80,000 men stood prepared to defend it, with 200 guns.' On the other side Napoleon, on the morning of the 62. 20th, had assembled 150,000 men, not as yet all in one French field, but all intended to take part in the general action plan of atwhich was approaching. Oudinot's corps formed the tack. extreme right, and next him was Macdonald with his corps, both destined to attack the enemy's left. Next to Macdonald were Marmont and Bertrand with their respective corps, which were nearly opposite to the Russian centre. These four corps mustered 72,000 combatants; and the whole Guard under Napoleon in person, 15,000 strong, was in the rear of the centre at a village called Förstgen. These forces were sufficiently formidable, and might be considered as about a match for the 80,000 of the Allies which stood before them. But they were only meant to engage the attention of the enemy, and prevent him from sending succour to his right, where the real attack was to be made by Ney with his own corps, Lauriston's, and Reynier's, in all, 60,000 combatants. Macdonald had the command of his own corps and Oudinot's on the right; the centre was under force, and CHAP. 1813. the command of Soult, who had been summoned by the Emperor to the theatre of German war, and was 55,000 strong, including the Guards and reserve cavalry in the rear. The whole force in front of the Allies, exclusive of Ney's wing, was 87,000 strong, including the Guards and reserve. All these troops were in line in front of Baut1 Lond. 43, zen, opposite to the Allied position, except Ney's corps, 44; Cath which had been, during the preceding night, at Makers153; Thiers, dorf, about fifteen miles from the extreme right of the Allies, so that he could not arrive on the ground and deal the decisive blow till late in the evening or early on the following morning.1 cart, 151 xv. 560, 561; Mar mont, v. 104, 105. 63. ment of the progress of on the May 20. The battle began about noon on the 20th with a vigorCommence- ous attack by Oudinot on the extreme left of the Allied battle and position on the wooded hills. Milaradowitch had anticithe French pated an attack in this quarter, and strengthened Prince Allied left. Eugene of Würtemberg, who occupied them by ten battalions of light troops under Ostermann, and some Cossacks and artillery. As these were Russian veterans, the conflict was very warm in this quarter, and for long success was doubtful. At length, however, the French, headed by Oudinot in person, succeeded in scaling the heights of the Tronberg, the highest hill in that quarter, and driving back the Russians to Klein Kunitz. At the same time, heavy columns of attack were formed to the left, on the banks of the Spree, by Macdonald and Marmont, who crossed that river, forcing the stone bridge over it, which was strongly barricaded and obstinately defended. The combat here, too, was long and bloody, and carried on under the immediate eye of Napoleon himself, who was stationed beside a windmill on an eminence on the right of the road leading to Bautzen. In this conflict, which was of several hours' duration, Sir Charles Stewart, with his gallant comrade Sir Robert Wilson, who was constantly by his side, eminently distinguished himself. Gradually, however, Napoleon brought up a decided superiority of force; large bodies of cavalry, infantry, and lancers, in VIII. 1813. cluding those of the Guard, were deployed in front of CHAP. Bautzen, and heavy columns of infantry were displayed on the esplanade before it, while every rising ground was covered by a numerous and magnificent artillery, which thundered with fatal effect on the masses of Russians and Prussians by which the position was defended. At length, 1 Lond. 44, after a desperate struggle, the rampart of Bautzen was cart, 156, forced. Milaradowitch, finding the place enveloped by, 157; Marsuperior forces, then withdrew, according to his orders, 105; Thiers, and the town itself was occupied, and the whole line of 561; Wilthe Spree, up to the foot of the hills, put in possession 18. of the French.1* 45; Cath v. xv. 560, son, ii. 17, 64. While this bloody conflict was going on on the French right, Kleist, on their left centre, had a still ruder Progress of shock to sustain. Bertrand's corps there came into action the action on the Allied right "I had scarcely finished my letters, when a heavy cannonade on the right and centre. mounted Sir Charles Stewart, James, and myself. We rode forward and found that Barclay was vigorously attacked on the right, and that the action was commencing near Bautzen. When we arrived there, which we did, as the French would say, ventre à terre, we found the left of our line in a warm fire, and that the enemy was passing the Spree on the right of Bautzen, to take the town in reverse, and act in the rear of Milaradowitch. In a few moments the enemy appeared on this side the river, and drove back rapidly all the tirailleurs, &c., who opposed. Not an instant was to be lost. The point was the key of the position of the advanced-guard, and the most prejudicial results must have been the consequence of its premature occupation. Sir Charles [Stewart] agreed with my opinion. I brought back the guns and the retiring battalion. We then advanced at the head, caps in hand, and accompanied with loud cheers. The enemy fell back, but again we were obliged to retire, by fresh succours sustaining the fugitives. Again and again we rallied and charged; and, finding about forty Prussian lancers, we dashed in among the enemy's infantry, while our own pressed forward to help our inferiority. The enemy threw their fire upon us before they gave way, and in flying singed us; but we were revenged. It was my lot to strike the arms out of three men's hands; one at the level, whom a Russian yager instantly stabbed with the bayonet. A few were spared-a good many taken; and if we could have procured but one squadron, I would have engaged for at least five hundred prisoners. The importance of the success was not, however, to be measured by the numbers slain or taken. It was the preservation of the ground that was of chief moment; and that was saved until Kleist was enabled to reinforce the point with guns, infantry, and cavalry: here he gloriously maintained himself for some hours against all the enemy's multiplied and powerful attempts to batter and storm him from the post. It was hot work: little more than pistol-shot distance for near two hours; and, considering that we were conspicuous à cheval, and in glittering kits, it is wonderful that no marksman fired with unerring aim; but this is another proof that 'every bullet has its billet.'"-WILSON's Private Diary, ii. 17, 18. CHAP. in the afternoon, and commenced a furious attack on Kleist's Prussians in front, while Marmont, who had 1813. passed Bautzen and established himself in the centre of the Allied line, took them in flank. The Prussians made a gallant resistance; but Marmont's flank attack at length became so formidable that he deemed it necessary to retire, which he did in the best order, to the second and cart, 157, strongest line of defence. Thus the French had made 158; Thiers, themselves master of the whole of the Allied front line; but, on the other hand, they had retired, according to the preconcerted plan, to the line in rear, which possessed still greater advantages for defence, without any loss either in guns or prisoners.1 1 Lond. 45, 46; Cath xv. 562, 563; Mar mont, v. 105, 106 Wilson, ii. 25. 65. the battle on the day following. At daybreak on the following morning the Emperor Renewal of of Russia and King of Prussia were on horseback and in the field accompanied by their respective staffs and diplomatic attendants. Napoleon was equally early astir; and the two imperial and royal suites were within cannon-shot of each other. Presently a loud rattle broke out in the wooded heights on the Allied left, and vast volumes of white smoke were seen rising out of the ravines by which they were intersected, over the black pines which clothed the overhanging heights. It was Oudinot, whose corps, preceded by a cloud of tirailleurs, was renewing the conflict on the ground which had been so obstinately contested on the preceding day. The cannonade soon became extremely warm along the whole line, and the Emperor of Russia and King of Prussia, as they rode with their suites along the whole line, had to endure a very heavy fire of artillery which was directed against them. Three Russian battalions of grenadiers, since made Guards for their bravery on this day, were brought forward in line with as much regularity as the broken ground would permit, and they succeeded, by their steady valour, in driving back the enemy to a considerable distance on the left, and maintained their ground during the whole day against VIIL 1813. Stewart to Lord Castle very superior numbers. An attack was at the same time CHAP. made on Blucher's position in the village of Kreckwitz and the heights behind it, which were most obstinately defended by the Prussians in the centre. But these Sir Chas. efforts were all of a secondary nature, and intended only eto engage the attention of the enemy in these quarters, reagh, June and prevent them from sending succour to the extreme Ms.; Lond. right of the Allies, where Barclay de Tolly was now cart, 162; beginning to feel the pressure of the overwhelming force 546-565. under Ney.1 1, 1813, 45; Cath Thiers, xv. 66. tack of Ney wing on the In effect, the three corps constituting the French left wing under that Marshal had begun early in the morn- Decisive ating to cross the Spree at Klix, and were pressing round with the the extreme right of the Allies with irresistible force. French left Barclay, whose entire force did not exceed 15,000, kept Allied right. them in check, and delayed their advance as long as possible; but towards ten o'clock Lauriston and Reynier's corps came up in such strength, that it became impossible for him to maintain his ground any longer. He was constrained, therefore, to fall back, which he did, contending every inch of ground, and at length concentrated his force in a strong position on the extreme right, resting on some heights to the right of Wurschen. There he held the assailants for a considerable time in check; but Ney, having at length got his whole force of 60,000 men, moved forward about eleven o'clock, and carried the village of Preititz by storm. Barclay de Tolly was by this success put into the greatest peril, being almost enveloped by an enemy's force four times his own. Nor was this the whole extent of the danger; Blucher's Prussians were grouped together with a formidable artillery on three conical hills in front of Kreckwitz, and he was obviously prepared to defend himself to the last extremity; but Ney's advance, which was made agreeably to his orders. upon the steeple of Hochkirch, was now bringing him. directly in the rear of the Prussian general, who, if he persisted in maintaining his position on the heights, as, |