Book: History of the Expedition to Russia

C >> Count Philip de Segur >> History of the Expedition to Russia




At length he became impatient; all at once he dashed across the country
into the forest which girt the sides of the river. He put his horse to
the extremity of his speed; he appeared on fire to come singly in
contact with the enemy. He rode more than a league in the same
direction, surrounded throughout by the same solitude; upon which he
found it necessary to return in the vicinity of the bridges, whence he
re-descended the river with his guard towards Kowno.

Some thought they heard the distant report of cannon. As we marched, we
endeavoured to distinguish on which side the battle was going on. But,
with the exception of some troops of cossacks on that, as well as the
ensuing days, the atmosphere alone displayed itself in the character of
an enemy. In fact, the emperor had scarcely passed the river, when a
rumbling sound began to agitate the air. In a short time the day became
overcast, the wind rose, and brought with it the inauspicious mutterings
of a thunder-storm. That menacing sky and unsheltered country filled us
with melancholy impressions. There were even some amongst us, who,
enthusiastic as they had lately been, were terrified at what they
conceived to be a fatal presage. To them it appeared that those
combustible vapours were collecting over our heads, and that they would
descend upon the territory we approached, in order to prevent us from
entering it.

It is quite certain, that the storm in question was as great as the
enterprise in which we were engaged. During several hours, its black and
heavy masses accumulated and hung upon the whole army: from right to
left, over a space of fifty leagues, it was completely threatened by its
lightnings, and overwhelmed by its torrents: the roads and fields were
inundated; the insupportable heat of the atmosphere was suddenly changed
to a disagreeable chillness. Ten thousand horses perished on the march,
and more especially in the bivouacs which followed. A large quantity of
equipages remained abandoned on the sands; and great numbers of men
subsequently died.

A convent served to shelter the emperor against the first fury of the
tempest. From hence he shortly departed for Kowno, where the greatest
disorder prevailed. The claps of thunder were no longer noticed; those
menacing reports, which still murmured over our heads, appeared
forgotten. For, though this common phenomenon of the season might have
shaken the firmness of some few minds, with the majority the time of
omens had passed away. A scepticism, ingenious on the part of some,
thoughtless or coarse on the part of others, earth-born passions and
imperious wants, have diverted the souls of men from that heaven whence
they are derived, and to which they should return. The army, therefore,
recognized nothing but a natural and unseasonable accident in this
disaster; and far from interpreting it as the voice of reprobation
against so great an aggression, for which, moreover, it was not
responsible, found in it nothing but a motive of indignation against
fortune or the skies, which whether by chance, or otherwise, offered it
so terrible a presage.

That very day, a particular calamity was added to this general disaster.
At Kowno, Napoleon was exasperated, because the bridge over the Vilia
had been thrown down by the cossacks, and opposed the passage of
Oudinot. He affected to despise it, like every thing else that opposed
him, and ordered a squadron of his Polish guard to swim the river. These
fine fellows threw themselves into it without hesitation. At first, they
proceeded in good order, and when out of their depth redoubled their
exertions. They soon reached the middle of the river by swimming. But
there, the increased rapidity of the current broke their order. Their
horses then became frightened, quitted their ranks, and were carried
away by the violence of the waves. They no longer swam, but floated
about in scattered groups. Their riders struggled, and made vain
efforts; their strength gave way, and they, at last, resigned themselves
to their fate. Their destruction was certain; but it was for their
country; it was in her presence, and for the sake of their deliverer,
that they had devoted themselves; and even when on the point of being
engulphed for ever, they suspended their unavailing struggles, turned
their faces toward Napoleon, and exclaimed, "_Vive l'Empereur!_" Three
of them were especially remarked, who, with their heads still above the
billows, repeated this cry and perished instantly. The army was struck
with mingled horror and admiration.

As to Napoleon, he prescribed with anxiety and precision the measures
necessary to save the greater number, but without appearing affected:
either from the habit of subduing his feelings; from considering the
ordinary emotions of the heart as weaknesses in times of war, of which
it was not for him to set the example, and therefore necessary to
suppress; or finally, that he anticipated much greater misfortunes,
compared with which the present was a mere trifle.

A bridge thrown over this river conveyed Marshal Oudinot and the second
corps to Keydani. During that time, the rest of the army was still
passing the Niemen. The passage took up three entire days. The army of
Italy did not pass it till the 29th, in front of Pilony. The army of the
king of Westphalia did not enter Grodno till the 30th.

From Kowno Napoleon proceeded in two days as far as the defiles which
defend the plain of Wilna. He waited, in order to make his appearance
there, for news from his advanced posts. He was in hopes that Alexander
would contest with him the possession of that capital. The report,
indeed, of some musketry, encouraged him in that hope; when intelligence
was brought him that the city was undefended. Thither he advanced,
ruminating and dissatisfied. He accused his generals of the advanced
guard of suffering the Russian army to escape. It was the most active of
them, Montbrun, whom he reproached, and against whom his anger rose to
the point of menace. A menace without effect, a violence without result!
and less blameable than remarkable, in a warrior, because they
contributed to prove all the importance which he attached to an
immediate victory.

In the midst of his anger, he displayed address in his dispositions for
entering Wilna. He caused himself to be preceded and followed by Polish
regiments. But more occupied by the retreat of the Russians than the
grateful and admiring acclamations of the Lithuanians, he rapidly passed
through the city, and hurried to the advanced posts. Several of the best
hussars of the 8th, having ventured themselves in a wood, without proper
support, had just perished in an action with the Russian guard;
Segur[16], who commanded them, after a desperate defence, had fallen,
covered with wounds.

[Footnote 16: Brother of the Author.]

The enemy had burnt his bridges and his magazines, and was flying by
different roads, but all in the direction of Drissa. Napoleon ordered
all which the fire had spared to be collected, and restored the
communications. He sent forward Murat and his cavalry, to follow the
track of Alexander: and after throwing Ney upon his left, in order to
support Oudinot, who had that day driven back the lines of
Wittgenstein, from Deweltowo as far as Wilkomir, he returned to occupy
the place of Alexander at Wilna. There, his unfolded maps, military
reports, and a crowd of officers requiring his orders, awaited his
arrival. He was now on the theatre of war, and at the moment of its most
animated operations; he had prompt and urgent decisions to make; orders
of march to give; hospitals, magazines, and lines of operations, to
establish.

It was necessary to interrogate, to read, and then compare; and at last
to discover and grasp the truth, which always appeared to fly and
conceal itself in the midst of a thousand contradictory answers and
reports.

This was not all: Napoleon, at Wilna, had a new empire to organize; the
politics of Europe, the war of Spain, and the government of France, to
direct. His political, military, and administrative correspondence,
which he had suffered to accumulate for some days, imperiously demanded
his attention. Such, indeed, was his custom, on the eve of a great
event, as that would necessarily decide the character of many of his
replies, and impart a colouring to all. He therefore established himself
at his quarters, and in the first instance threw himself on a bed, less
for the sake of sleep than of quiet meditation; whence, abruptly
starting up shortly after, he rapidly dictated the orders which he had
conceived.

Intelligence was just then brought him from Warsaw and the Austrian
army. The discourse at the opening of the Polish diet displeased the
emperor; and he exclaimed, as he threw it from him, "This is French! It
ought to be Polish!" As to the Austrians, it was never dissembled to him
that, in their whole army, there was no one on whom he could depend but
its commander. The certainty of that seemed sufficient for him.




CHAP. III.


Meantime, every thing was rekindling at the bottom of the hearts of the
Lithuanians a patriotism which was still burning, though almost
extinguished. On one side, the precipitate retreat of the Russians, and
the presence of Napoleon; on the other, the cry of independence emitted
by Warsaw, and more especially the sight of those Polish heroes, who
returned with liberty to the soil whence they had been expelled along
with her. The first days, therefore, were entirely devoted to joy: the
happiness appeared general--the display of feeling universal.

The same sentiments were thought to be traceable everywhere; in the
interior of the houses, as well as at the windows, and in the public
places. The people congratulated and embraced each other on the
high-roads; the old men once more resumed their ancient costume,
reviving ideas of glory and independence. They wept with joy at the
sight of the national banners which had been just re-erected; an
immense crowd followed them, rending the air with their acclamations.
But this enthusiasm, unreflecting in some, and the mere effect of
excitement in others, was but of short duration.

On their side, the Poles of the grand duchy were always animated by the
noblest enthusiasm: they were worthy of liberty, and sacrificed to it
that property for which liberty is sacrificed by the greater part of
mankind. Nor did they belie themselves on this occasion: the diet of
Warsaw constituted itself into a general confederation, and declared the
kingdom of Poland restored; it convened the dietins; invited all Poland
to unite; summoned all the Poles in the Russian army to quit Russia;
caused itself to be represented by a general council; maintained the
established order; and, finally, sent a deputation to the king of
Saxony, and an address to Napoleon.

The senator Wibicki presented this address to him at Wilna. He told him
"that the Poles had neither been subjected by peace nor by war, but by
treason; that they were therefore free _de jure_, before God and man;
that being so now _de facto_, that right became a duty; that they
claimed the independence of their brethren, the Lithuanians, who were
still slaves; that they offered themselves to the entire Polish nation
as the centre of a general union; but that it was to him who dictated
his history to the age, in whom resided the force of Providence, they
looked to support the efforts which he could not but approve; that on
that account they came to solicit Napoleon the Great to pronounce these
few words, "_Let the kingdom of Poland exist!_" and that it then would
exist; that all the Poles would devote themselves to the orders of the
founder of the fourth French dynasty, to whom ages were but as a moment,
and space no more than a point."

Napoleon replied: "Gentlemen deputies of the confederation of Poland, I
have listened with deep interest to what you have just told me. Were I a
Pole, I should think and act like you; I should have voted with you in
the assembly of Warsaw: the love of his country is the first duty of
civilized man.

"In my position, I have many interests to reconcile, and many duties to
fulfil. Had I reigned during the first, second, or third partition of
Poland, I would have armed my people in her defence. When victory
supplied me with the means of re-establishing your ancient laws, in your
capital, and a portion of your provinces, I did so without seeking to
prolong the war, which might have continued to waste the blood of my
subjects.

"I love your nation! For sixteen years I have found your soldiers by my
side on the plains of Italy and Spain. I applaud what you have done; I
authorize your future efforts; I will do all which depends on me to
second your resolutions. If your efforts be unanimous, you may cherish
the hope of compelling your enemies to recognize your rights; but in
countries so distant and extensive, it must be entirely on the exertions
of the population which inhabits them, that you can justly ground hopes
of success.

"From the first moment of my entering Poland, I have used the same
language to you. To this it is my duty to add, that I have guaranteed to
the emperor of Austria the integrity of his dominions, and that I cannot
sanction any manoeuvre, or the least movement, tending to disturb the
peaceable possession of what remains to him of the Polish provinces.

"Only provide that Lithuania, Samogitia, Witepsk, Polotsk, Mohilef,
Volhynia, the Ukraine, Podolia, be animated by the same spirit which I
have witnessed in the Greater Poland; and Providence will crown your
good cause with success. I will recompense that devotion of your
provinces which renders you so interesting, and has acquired you so many
claims to my esteem and protection, by every means that can, under the
circumstances, depend upon me."

The Poles had imagined that they were addressing the sovereign arbiter
of the world, whose every word was a law, and whom no political
compromise was capable of arresting. They were unable to comprehend the
cause of the circumspection of this reply. They began to doubt the
intentions of Napoleon; the zeal of some was cooled; the lukewarmness of
others confirmed; all were intimidated. Even those around him asked each
other what could be the motives of a prudence which appeared so
unseasonable, and with him so unusual. "What, then, was the object of
this war? Was he afraid of Austria? Had the retreat of the Russians
disconcerted him? Did he doubt his good fortune, or was he unwilling to
contract, in the face of Europe, engagements which he was not sure of
being able to fulfil?

"Had the coldness of the Lithuanians infected him? or rather, did he
dread the explosion of a patriotism which he might not be able to
master? Was he still undecided as to the destiny he should bestow upon
them?"

Whatever were his motives, it was obviously his wish that the
Lithuanians should appear to liberate themselves; but as, at the same
time, he created a government for them, and gave a direction to their
public feeling, that circumstance placed him, as well as them, in a
false position, wherein every thing terminated in errors,
contradictions, and half measures. There was no reciprocal understanding
between the parties; a mutual distrust was the result. The Poles desired
some positive guarantees in return for the many sacrifices they were
called upon to make. But their union in a single kingdom not having been
pronounced, the alarm which is common at the moment of great decisions
increased, and the confidence which they had just lost in him, they also
lost in themselves. It was then that he nominated seven Lithuanians to
the task of composing the new government. This choice was unlucky in
some points; it displeased the jealous pride of an aristocracy at all
times difficult to satisfy.

The four Lithuanian provinces of Wilna, Minsk, Grodno, and Bialystok,
had each a government commission and national sub-prefects. Each commune
was to have its municipality; but Lithuania was, in reality, governed by
an imperial commissioner, and by four French auditors, with the title of
intendants.

In short, from these, perhaps inevitable, faults, and from the disorders
of an army placed between the alternative of famishing, or plundering
its allies, there resulted a universal coolness. The emperor could not
remain blind to it; he had calculated on four millions of Lithuanians; a
few thousands were all that joined him! Their pospolite, which he had
estimated at more than 100,000 men, had decreed him a guard of honour;
only three horsemen attended him! The population of Volhynia remained
immoveable, and Napoleon again appealed from them to victory. When
fortunate, this coolness did not disturb him sufficiently; when
unfortunate, whether through pride or justice, he did not complain of
it.

As for us, ever confident in him and in ourselves, the disposition of
the Lithuanians at first affected us very little; but when our forces
diminished, we looked about us, and our attention was awakened by our
danger. Three Lithuanian generals, distinguished by their names, their
property, and their sentiments, followed the emperor. The French
generals at last reproached them with the coolness of their countrymen.
The ardour of the people of Warsaw, in 1806, was held out to them as an
example. The warm discussion which ensued, passed, like several others
similar, which it is necessary to record, at Napoleon's quarters, near
the spot where he was employed; and as there was truth on both sides;
as, in these conversations, the opposite allegations contended without
destroying each other; and as the first and last causes of the coolness
of the Lithuanians were therein revealed, it is impossible to omit them.

These generals then replied, "That they considered they had received
becomingly the liberty which we brought them; that, moreover, every one
expressed regard according to his habitual character; that the
Lithuanians were more cold in their manner than the Poles, and
consequently less communicative; that, after all, the sentiment might be
the same, though the expression was different.

"That, besides, there was no similarity in the cases; that in 1806, it
was after having conquered the Prussians, that the French had delivered
Poland; that now, on the contrary, if they delivered Lithuania from the
Russian yoke, it was before they had subjugated Russia. That, in this
manner, it was natural for the first to receive a victorious and certain
freedom with transport; and equally natural for the last to receive an
uncertain and dangerous liberty with gravity; that a benefit was not
purchased with the same air as if it were gratuitously accepted; that
six years back, at Warsaw, there was nothing to be done but to prepare
festivals; while at Wilna, where the whole power of Russia had just been
exhibited, where its army was known to be untouched, and the motives of
its retreat understood, it was for battles that preparation was to be
made.

"And with what means? Why was not that liberty offered to them in 1807?
Lithuania was then rich and populous. Since that time the continental
system, by sealing up the only vent for its productions, had
impoverished it, while Russian foresight had depopulated it of recruits,
and more recently of a multitude of nobles, peasants, waggons, and
cattle, which the Russian army had carried away with it."

To these causes they added "the famine resulting from the severity of
the season in 1811, and the damage to which the over-rich wheats of
those countries are subject. But why not make an appeal to the provinces
of the south? In that quarter there were men, horses, and provisions of
all kinds. They had nothing to do but to drive away Tormasof and his
army from them. Schwartzenberg was, perhaps, marching in that direction;
but was it to the Austrians, the uneasy usurpers of Gallicia, that they
ought to confide the liberation of Volhynia? Would they station liberty
so near slavery? Why did not they send Frenchmen and Poles there? But
then it would be necessary to halt, to carry on a more methodical war,
and allow time for organization; while Napoleon, doubtless urged by his
distance from his own territory, by the daily expense of provisioning
his immense army, depending on that alone, and hurrying after victory,
sacrificed every thing to the hope of finishing the war at a single
blow."

Here the speakers were interrupted: these reasons, though true,
appeared insufficient excuses. "They concealed the most powerful cause
of the immobility of their countrymen; it was to be discovered in the
interested attachment of their grandees to the crafty policy of Russia,
which flattered their self-love, respected their customs, and secured
their right over the peasants, whom the French came to set free.
Doubtless, national independence appeared too dear a purchase at such a
price."

This reproach was well founded, and although it was not personal, the
Lithuanian generals became irritated at it. One of them exclaimed, "You
talk of our independence; but it must be in great peril, since you, at
the head of 400,000 men, are afraid to commit yourselves by its
recognition; indeed, you have not recognized it either by your words or
actions. You have placed auditors, men quite new, at the head of an
administration equally new, to govern our provinces. They levy heavy
contributions, but they forget to inform us for whom it is that we make
such sacrifices, as are only made for our country. They exhibit to us
the emperor everywhere, but the republic hitherto nowhere. You have held
out no object to set us in motion, and you complain of our being
unsteady. Persons whom we do not respect as our countrymen, you set over
us as our chiefs. Notwithstanding our entreaties, Wilna remains
separated from Warsaw; disunited as we thus are, you require of us that
confidence in our strength which union alone can give. The soldiers you
expect from us are offered you; 30,000 would be now ready; but you have
refused them arms, clothing, and the money in which we are deficient."

All these imputations might still have been combated; but he added:
"True, we do not market for liberty, but we find that in fact it is not
disinterestedly offered. Wherever you go, the report of your disorders
precedes your march; nor are they partial, since your army marches upon
a line of fifty leagues in front. Even at Wilna, notwithstanding the
multiplied orders of your emperor, the suburbs have been pillaged, and
it is natural that a liberty which brings such licence with it should be
mistrusted.

"What then do you expect from our zeal? A happy countenance,
acclamations of joy, accents of gratitude?--when every day each of us is
apprised that his villages and granaries are devastated; for the little
which the Russians did not carry away with them, your famishing columns
have devoured. In their rapid marches, a multitude of marauders of all
nations, against whom it is necessary to keep on the watch, detach
themselves from their wings.

"What do you require more? that our countrymen should throng your
passage; bring you their grain and cattle; that they should offer
themselves completely armed and ready to follow you? Alas! what have
they to give you? Your pillagers take all; there is not even time for
them to make you the offer. Turn your eyes round towards the entrance of
the imperial head-quarters. Do you see that man? He is all but naked; he
groans and extends towards you a hand of supplication. That unhappy man
who excites your pity, is one of those very nobles whose assistance you
look for: yesterday, he was hurrying to meet you, full of ardour, with
his daughter, his vassals, and his wealth; he was coming to present
himself to your emperor; but he met with some Wurtemberg pillagers on
his way, and was robbed of every thing; he is no longer a father,--he is
scarcely a man."

Every one shuddered, and hurried to assist him; Frenchmen, Germans,
Lithuanians, all agreed in deploring those disorders, for which no one
could suggest a remedy. How, in fact, was it possible to restore
discipline among such immense masses, so precipitately propelled,
conducted by so many leaders of different manners, characters, and
countries, and forced to resort to plunder for subsistence?

In Prussia, the emperor had only caused the army to supply itself with
provisions for twenty days. This was as much as was necessary for the
purpose of gaining Wilna by a battle. Victory was to have done the rest,
but that victory was postponed by the retreat of the enemy. The emperor
might have waited for his convoys; but as by surprising the Russians he
had separated them, he did not wish to forego his grasp and lose his
advantage. He, therefore, pushed forward on their track 400,000 men,
with twenty days' provisions, into a country which was incapable of
feeding the 20,000 Swedes of Charles XII.

It was not for want of foresight; for immense convoys of oxen followed
the army, either in herds, or attached to the provision cars. Their
drivers had been organized into battalions. It is true that the latter,
wearied with the slow pace of these heavy animals, either slaughtered
them, or suffered them to die of want. A great number, however, got as
far as Wilna and Minsk; some reached Smolensk, but too late; they could
only be of service to the recruits and reinforcements which followed us.

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