CHAPTER III. AUSTERLITZ
The dispositions for the battle of Austerlitz occupied the entire day.From sunrise Napoleon was on horse-back, visiting every position; heexamined each battery with the skill of an old officer of artillery;and frequently dismounting from his horse, carefully noted the slightestpeculiarities of the ground,--remarking to his staff, with an accuracywhich the event showed to be prophetic, the nature of the struggle, asthe various circumstances of the field indicated them to his practisedmind.
It was already late when he turned his horse's head towards the bivouachut,--a rude shelter of straw,--and rode slowly through the midst ofthat great army. The _ordre du jour_, written at his own dictation, hadjust been distributed among the soldiers; and now around every watchfirethe groups were kneeling to read the spirit-stirring lines by which heso well knew how to excite the enthusiasm of his followers. They weretold that "the enemy were the same Russian battalions they had alreadybeaten at Hollabrunn, and on whose flying traces they had been marchingever since." "They will endeavor," said the proclamation, "to turn ourright, but in doing so they must open their flank to us: need I say whatwill be the result? Soldiers, so long as with your accustomed valor youdeal death and destruction in their ranks, so long shall I remainbeyond the reach of fire; but let the victory prove, even for a moment,doubtful, your Emperor shall be in the midst of you. This day mustdecide forever the honor of the infantry of France. Let no man leave hisranks to succor the wounded,--they shall be cared for by one who neverforgets his soldiers,--and with this victory the campaign is ended!"
Never were lines better calculated to stimulate the energy and flatterthe pride of those to whom they were addressed. It was a novel thing ina general to communicate to his army the plan of his intended battle,and perhaps to any other than a French army the disclosure would nothave been rated as such a favor; but their warlike spirit and militaryintelligence have ever been most remarkably united, and the men weredelighted with such a proof of confidence and esteem.
A dull roar, like the sound of the distant sea, swelled along the linesfrom the far right, where the Convent of Reygern stood, and growinglouder by degrees, proclaimed that the Emperor was coming. It wasalready dark, but he was quickly recognized by the troops, and with oneburst of enthusiasm they seized upon the straw of their bivouacs, andsetting fire to it, held the blazing masses above their heads, wavingthem wildly to and fro, amid the cries of "Vive l'Empereur!" For abovea league along the plain the red light flashed and glowed, marking outbeneath it the dense squares and squadrons of armed warriors. It wasthe anniversary of Napoleon's coronation; and such was the fete by whichthey celebrated the day.
The Emperor rode through the ranks uncovered. Never did a prouder smilelight up his features, while thronging around him the veterans of theGuard struggled to catch even a passing glance at him. "Do but lookat us tomorrow, and keep beyond the reach of shot," said a _grognard_,stepping forward; "we'll bring their cannon and their colors, and laythem at thy feet." The marshals themselves, the hardened veterans ofso many fights, could not restrain their enthusiasm; and proffers ofdevotion unto death accompanied him as he went.
At last all was silent in the encampment; the soldiers slept besidetheir watchfires, and save the tramp of a patrol or the _qui vive_? ofthe sentinels, all was still. The night was cold and sharp; a cuttingwind blew across the plain, which gave way to a thick mist,--so thick,the sentries could scarcely see a dozen paces off.
I sat in my little hovel of straw,--my mind far too much excited forsleep,--watching the stars as they peeped out one by one, piercing thegray mist, until at last the air became thin and clear, and a frostyatmosphere succeeded to the weighty fog; and now I could trace outthe vast columns, as they lay thickly strewn along the plain. The oldgeneral, wrapped in his cloak, slept soundly on his straw couch; hisdeep-drawn breathing showed that his rest was unbroken. How slowly didthe time seem to creep along! I thought it must be nigh morning, and itwas only a little more than midnight.
Our position was a small rising ground about a mile in front of the leftcentre, and communicating with the enemy's line by a narrow road betweenthe marshes. This had been defended by a battery of four guns, witha stockade in front; and along it now, for a considerable distance, achain of sentinels were placed, who should communicate any movement thatthey observed in the Russian lines, of which I was charged to conveythe earliest intelligence to the quartier-general. This duty alone wouldhave kept me in a state of anxiety, had not the frame of my mind alreadyso disposed me; and I could not avoid creeping out from time to time, topeer through the gloom in the direction of the enemy's camp, and listenwith an eager ear for any sounds from that quarter. At last I heard thesound of a voice at some distance off; then, a few minutes after, thehurried step of feet, and a voltigeur came up, breathless with haste:"The Russians were in motion towards the right. Our advanced posts couldhear the roll of guns and tumbrels moving along the plain, and it wasevident their columns were in march." I knelt down and placed my ear tothe ground, and almost started at the distinctness with which I couldhear the dull sound of the large guns as they were dragged along; theearth seemed to tremble beneath them.
I awoke the general at once, who, resting on his arm, coolly heard myreport; and having directed me to hasten to headquarters with the news,lay back again, and was asleep before I was in my saddle. At the topspeed of my horse I galloped to the rear, winding my way between thebattalions, till I came to a gentle rising ground, where, by thelight of several large fires that blazed in a circle I could see thedismounted troopers of the _chasseurs a cheval_, who always formed theImperial Bodyguard. Having given the word, I was desired by the officerof the watch to dismount, and following him, I passed forward to a spacein the middle of the circle, where, under shelter of some sheaves ofstraw piled over each other, sat three officers, smoking beside a fire.
"Ha! here comes news of some sort," said a voice I knew at once to beMurat's. "Well, sir, what is't?"
"The Russian columns are in motion, Monsieur le Marechal; the artillerymoving rapidly towards our right."
"_Diantre!_ it's not much more than midnight! Davoust, shall we awakethe Emperor?"
"No, no," said a harsh voice, as a shrivelled, hard-featured man turnedround from the blaze, and showing a head covered by a coarse woollencap, looked far more like a pirate than a marshal of France; "they 'llnot attack before day breaks. Go back," said he, addressing me; "observethe position well, and if there be any general movement towards thesouthward, you may report it."
By the time I regained my post, all was in silence once more; either theRussians had arrested their march, or already their columns were outof hearing,--not a gleam of light could I perceive along their entireposition. And now, worn out with watching, I threw myself down among thestraw, and slept soundly.
"There! there! that's the third!" said General d'Auvergne, shaking me bythe shoulder; "there again! Don't you hear the guns?"
I listened, and could just distinguish the faint booming sound offar-off artillery coming up from the extreme right of our position. Itwas still but three o'clock, and although the sky was thick with stars,perfectly dark in the valley. Meanwhile we could bear the galloping ofcavalry quite distinctly in the same direction.
"Mount, Burke, and back to the quartier-general! But you need not; herecomes some of the staff."
"So, D'Auvergne," cried a voice whose tones were strange to me, "theymeditate a night attack, it would seem; or is it only trying the rangeof their guns?"
"I think the latter, Monsieur le Marechal, for I heard no small arms;and, even now, all is quiet again."
"I believe you are right," said he, moving slowly forward, while anumber of officers followed at a little distance. "You see, D'Auvergne,how correctly the Emperor judged their intentions. The brunt of thebattle will be about Reygern. But there! don't you hear bugles in thevalley?"
As he spoke, the music of our tirailleurs' bugles arose from the glenin front of our centre, where, in a thick b
eech-wood, the light infantryregiments were posted.
"What is it, D'Esterre?" said he to an officer who galloped up at themoment.
"They say the Russian Guard, sir, is moving to the front; ourskirmishers have orders to fall back without firing."
As he heard this, the Marshal Bernadotte--for it was he--turned hishorse suddenly round, and rode back, followed by his staff. And now thedrums beat to quarters along the line, and the hoarse trumpets of thecavalry might be heard summoning the squadrons throughout the field;while between the squares, and in the intervals of the battalions,single horsemen galloped past with orders. Soult's division, whichextended for nearly a league to our right, was the first to move, and itseemed like one vast shadow creeping along the earth, as column besidecolumn marched steadily onward. Our brigade had not as yet receivedorders, but the men were in readiness beside the horses, and onlywaiting for the word to mount.
The suspense of the moment was fearful. All that I had ever dreamedor pictured to myself of a soldier's enthusiasm was faint and weak,compared to the rush of sensations I now experienced. There must be amagic power of ecstasy in the approach of danger,--some secret sense ofbounding delight, mingled with the chances of a battle,--that rendersone intoxicated with excitement. Each booming gun I heard sent a wildthrob through me, and I panted for the word "Forward!"
Column after column moved past us, and disappeared in the dip of groundbeneath; and as we saw the close battalions filling the wide plain infront, we sighed to think that it was destined to be the day of glorypeculiarly to the infantry. Wherever the nature of the field permittedshelter or the woods afforded cover, our troops were sent immediatelyto occupy. The great manoeuvre of the day was to be the piercing of theenemy's centre whenever he should weaken that point by the endeavor toturn our right flank.
A faint streak of gray light was marking the horizon when the singleguns which we had heard at intervals ceased; and then, after a shortpause, a long, loud roll of artillery issued from the distant right,followed by the crackling din of small-arms, which increased at everymoment, and now swelled into an uninterrupted noise, through which thelarge guns pealed from time to time. A red glare, obscured now and thenby means of black smoke, lit up the sky in that quarter, where alreadythe battle was raging fiercely.
The narrow causeway between the two small lakes in our front conductedto an open space of ground, about a cannon-shot from the Russian line;and this we were now ordered to occupy, to be prepared to act as supportto the infantry of Soult's left, whenever the attack began. As wedebouched into the plain, I beheld a group of horsemen, who, wrapped upin their cloaks, sat motionless in their saddles, calmly regarding thesquadrons as they issued from the wood: these were Murat and his staff,to whom was committed the attack on the Russian Guard. His divisionconsisted of the hussars and chasseurs under Kellermann, the cuirassiersof D'Auvergne, and the heavy dragoons of Nansouty,--making a force ofeight thousand sabres, supported by twenty pieces of field artillery.Again were we ordered to dismount, for although the battle continuedto rage on the right, the whole of the centre and left were unengaged.
Thus stood we as the sun arose,--that "Sun of Austerlitz!" so oftenappealed to and apostrophized by Napoleon as gilding the greatest of hisglories. The mist from the lakes shut out the prospect of the enemy'slines at first; but gradually this moved away, and we could perceive thedark columns of the Russians, as they moved rapidly along the side ofthe Pratzen, and continued to pour their thousands towards Reygern.
At last the roar of musketry swelled louder and nearer, and an officergalloping past told us that Soult's right had been called up to supportDavoust's division. This did not look well; it proved the Russians hadpressed our lines closely, and we waited impatiently to hear furtherintelligence. It was evident, too, that our right was sufferingseverely, otherwise the attack on the centre would not have beendelayed. Just then a wild cheer to the front drew our attentionthither, and we saw the heads of three immense columns--Soult'sdivision--advancing at a run towards the enemy.
"_Par Saint Louis_," cried General d'Auvergne, as he directed histelescope on the Russian line, "those fellows have lost their senses!See if they have not moved their artillery away from the Pratzen, andweakened their centre more and more! Soult sees it: mark how he presseshis columns on! There they go, faster and faster! But look! there's amovement yonder,--the Russians perceive their mistake."
"Mount!" was now heard from squadron to squadron; while dashing alongthe line like a thunderbolt, Murat rode far in advance of his staff, themen cheering him as he went.
"There!" cried D'Auvergne, as he pointed with his finger, "that columnwith the yellow shoulder-knots,--that's Vandamme's brigade of lightinfantry; see how they rush on, eager to be first up with the enemy. ButSt. Hilaire's grenadiers have got the start of them, and are already atthe foot of the hill. It is a race between them!"
And so had it become. The two columns advanced, cheering wildly; whilethe officers, waving their caps, led them on, and others rode along theflanks urging the men forward.
The order now came for our squadrons to form in charging sections,leaving spaces for the light artillery between. This done, we movedslowly forward at a walk, the guns keeping step by step beside us. A fewminutes after, we lost sight of the attacking columns; but the crashingfire told us they were engaged, and that already the great struggle hadbegun.
For above an hour we remained thus; every stir, every word loud spoken,seeming to our impatience like the order to move. At last, the squadronsto our right were seen to advance; and then a tremulous motion ofthe whole line showed that the horses themselves participated in theeagerness of the moment; and, at last, the word came for the cuirassiersto move up. In less than a hundred yards we were halted again; andI heard an aide-de-camp telling General d'Auvergne that Davoust hadsuffered immensely on the right; that his division, although reinforced,had fallen back behind Reygern, and all now depended on the attack ofSoult's columns.
I heard no more, for now the whole line advanced in trot, and as ourformation showed an unbroken front, the word came,--"Faster!" and"Faster!" As we emerged from the low ground we saw Soult's columnalready half way up the ascent; they seemed like a great wedge driveninto the enemy's centre, which, opening as they advanced, presented twosurfaces of fire to their attack.
"The battery yonder has opened its fire on our line," said D'Auvergne;"we cannot remain where we are."
"Forward!--charge!" came the word from front to rear, and squadron aftersquadron dashed madly up the ascent. The one word only, "Charge!" keptringing through my head; all else was drowned in the terrible din of theadvance. An Austrian brigade of light cavalry issued forth as we cameup, but soon fell back under the overwhelming pressure of our force.And now we came down upon the squares of the red-brown Russian infantry.Volley after volley sent back our leading squadrons, wounded andrepulsed, when, unlimbering with the speed of lightning, the horseartillery poured in a discharge of grapeshot. The ranks wavered, andthrough their cleft spaces of dead and dying our cuirassiers dashedin, sabring all before them. In vain the infantry tried to form again:successive discharges of grape, followed by cavalry attacks, brokethrough their firmest ranks; and at last retreating, they fell backunder cover of a tremendous battery of field-guns, which, opening theirfire, compelled us to retire into the wood.
Nor were we long inactive. Bernadotte's division was now engaged on ourleft, and a pressing demand came for cavalry to support them. Again wemounted the hill, and came in sight of the Russian Guard, led on by theGrand-Duke Constantino himself,--a splendid body of men, conspicuous fortheir size and the splendor of their equipment. Such, however, was theimpetuous torrent of our attack that they were broken in an instant; andnotwithstanding their courage and devotion, fresh masses of our dragoonskept pouring down upon them, and they were sabred, almost to a man.
While we were thus engaged, the battle became general from left toright, and the earth shook beneath the thundering sounds of two hundredgreat guns. Our posi
tion, for a moment victorious, soon changed; forhaving followed the retreating squadrons too far, the waves closedbehind us, and we now saw that a dense cloud of Austrian and Russiancavalry were forming in our rear. An instant of hesitation would havebeen fatal. It was then that a tall and splendidly-dressed horsemanbroke from the line, and with a cry to "Follow!" rode straight atthe enemy. It was Murat himself, sabre in hand, who, clearing his waythrough the Russians, opened a path for us. A few minutes after we hadgained the wood; but one third of our force had fallen.
"Cavalry! cavalry!" cried a field-officer, riding down at headlongspeed, his face covered with blood from a sabre-cut, "to the front!"
The order was given to advance at a gallop; and we found ourselves nextinstant hand to hand with the Russian dragoons, who having swept alongthe flank of Bernadotte's division, were sabring them on all sides.On we went, reinforced by Nansouty and his carabineers, a body of nighseven thousand men. It was a torrent no force could stem. The tide ofvictory was with us; and we swept along, wave after wave, the infantryadvancing in line for miles at either side, while whole brigades ofartillery kept up a murderous fire without ceasing. Entire columns ofthe enemy surrendered as prisoners; guns were captured at each instant;and only by a miracle did the Grand-Duke escape our hussars, whofollowed him till he was lost to view in the flying ranks of the allies.
As we gained the crest of the hill, we were in time to see Soult'svictorious columns driving the enemy before them; while the ImperialGuard, up to that moment unengaged, reinforced the grenadiers on theright, and broke through the Russians on every side.
The attempt to outflank us on the right we had perfectly retorted on theleft; where Lannes's division, overlapping the line, pressed them on twosides, and drove them back, still fighting, into the plain, which, witha lake, separated the allied armies from the village of Austerlitz. Andhere took place the most dreadful occurrence of the day.
The two roads which led through the lake were soon so encumbered andblocked up by ammunition wagons and carts that they became impassable;and as the masses of the fugitives thickened, they spread over the lake,which happened to be frozen. It was at this time that the Emperor cameup, and seeing the cavalry halted, and no longer in pursuit of theflying columns, ordered up twelve pieces of the artillery of theImperial Guard, which, from the crest of the hill, opened a murderousfire on them. The slaughter was fearful as the discharges of grape andround shot cut channels through the jammed-up mass, and tore the densecolumns, as it were, into fragments.
Dreadful as the scene was, what followed far exceeded it in horror;for soon the shells began to explode beneath the ice, which now, with asuccession of reports louder than thunder, gave way. In an instantwhole regiments were ingulfed, and amid the wildest cries of despair,thousands sank never to appear again, while the deafening artillerymercilessly played upon them, till over that broad surface no livingthing was seen to move, while beneath was the sepulchre of five thousandmen. About seven thousand reached Austerlitz by another road to thenorthward; but even these had not escaped, save for a mistake ofBernadotte, who most unaccountably, as it was said, halted his divisionon the heights. Had it not been for this, not a soldier of the Russianright wing had been saved.
The reserve cavalry and the dragoons of the Guard were now called upfrom the pursuit, and I saw my own regiment pass close by me, as I stoodamid the staff round Murat. The men were fresh and eager for the fray;yet how many fell in that pursuit, even after the victory! The Russianbatteries continued their fire to the last. The cannoneers were cutdown beside their guns, and the cavalry made repeated charges on ouradvancing squadrons; nor was it till late in the day they fell back,leaving two thirds of their force dead or wounded on the field ofbattle.
On every side now were to be seen the flying columns of the allies,hotly followed by the victorious French. The guns still thundered atintervals; but the loud roar of battle was subdued to the crashing dinof charging squadrons, and the distant cries of the vanquishers andthe vanquished. Around and about lay the wounded in all the fearfulattitudes of suffering; and as we were fully a league in advance of ouroriginal position, no succor had yet arrived for the poor fellows whosecourage had carried them into the very squares of the enemy.
Most of the staff--myself among the number--were despatched to the rearfor assistance. I remember, as I rode along at my fastest speed, betweenthe columns of infantry and the fragments of artillery which coveredthe grounds, that a _peloton_ of dragoons came thundering past, while avoice shouted out "Place! place!" Supposing it was the Emperor himself,I drew up to one side, and uncovering my head, sat in patience till hehad passed, when, with the speed of four horses urged to their utmost,a caleche flew by, two men dressed like couriers seated on the box.They made for the highroad towards Vienna, and soon disappeared in thedistance.
"What can it mean?" said I, to an officer beside me; "not his Majesty,surely?"
"No, no," replied he, smiling: "it is General Lebrun on his way to Pariswith the news of the victory. The Emperor is down at Reygern yonder,where he has just written the bulletin. I warrant you he follows thatcaleche with his eye; he'd rather see a battery of guns carried off bythe enemy than an axle break there this moment."
Thus closed the great day of Austerlitz--a hundred cannons, forty-threethousand prisoners, and thirty-two colors being the spoils of this thegreatest of even Napoleon's victories.
Tom Burke Of Ours, Volume II Page 3