hundred caissons, were left at Wilna | rendered him the author of the plan, from want of the means of transport; and in the outset the real commanderabove ten thousand dead horses were in-chief, of the campaign. found on the highway leading from the Niemen to that city alone; thirty thousand disbanded soldiers spread desolation round the army; and before it had been six days in the Russian territory, or a single shot had been fired, twenty-five thousand sick and dying men filled the hospitals of Wilna and the villages of Lithuania.

5. When the retreat commenced, the whole Russian armies were under the command of Alexander in person; and it was his orders which Count Barclay de Tolly, the minister-at-war, communicated to the different corps of the army. General Von Phull, a Prussian by birth, who had left the service of Frederick William after the disasters of 1806, and entered into that of Russia, was with the Emperor in the capacity of adviser; and it is owing to his advice that the general plan of the campaign, afterwards so admirably carried into execution by Barclay, is to be ascribed. He stood deservedly high in the Emperor's estimation, and had for several years instructed him in the general principles of the art of war. Phull was a man of genius; nay, he had many of the qualities of a great general. Along with Scharnhorst and Massenbach, he had been chief of the staff in Prussia in 1806; and he bore with him, from his wasted and conquered country, as profound a feeling of hatred to France as either of those ardent spirits. He had thoroughly studied the theory of war, and, in the seclusion of a contemplative life, had imbibed a clear sense of its principles. But he was ignorant of men, and wholly unskilled in the intrigues of a court. Constantly living with the departed great, he was not an adequate match for the existing little; familiar with Cæsar and Frederick, he knew little of the mode of managing public affairs or ruling mankind in real life. Hence he was unfit for any practical command, and held none; but nevertheless his forcible genius, romantic turn of mind, and noble disinterestedness, gave him a great sway with the Emperor, and

6. BARCLAY DE TOLLY, the war-minister who conducted the retreat from the camp at Drissa to Borodino, was one of the greatest generals and noblest characters which Russia ever produced. Descended from an old Scottish family, the Barclays of Towie in Aberdeenshire,* a younger branch of which had migrated to Livonia, he was the son of a rural clergyman, and was born in that province in 1755. He entered the army at the early age of twelve in 1767, and without the aid either of family connections, court influence, or turn for intrigue, succeeded, by the mere force of his mind, extent of his acquirements, and perseverance of his character, in raising himself rapidly in the service, and at length attaining the very highest rank. He was already a colonel in 1798, after thirtyone years of service, having in the course of that time served with distinction in the wars both against the Turks, the Swedes, and the Poles. His promotion after that was rapid, and he was constantly engaged in important operations. In particular, in the Polish war of 1807, he was distinguished alike for his skill at Pultusk and the heroic defence of the village of Eylau, [ante, Chap. XLIV. § 61]; while the masculine intrepidity of his mind appeared in the daring project of crossing, with a considerable army, the Gulf of Bothnia on the ice-a romantic exploit, which he accomplished in 1809 with perfect success. It contributed much to awaken that high admiration of his abilities in the Emperor, which ultimately placed him in the supreme command of the

*The ancient seat of that family, an old tower shrouded in stately trees, is to be seen close by the high-road leading from Aberdeen Barclays of Towie were a very ancient Scotto Inverness, between Fyvie and Turriff. The tish family. So early as the year 1500, Patrick Gordon of Craig, who was killed at the battle of Flodden in 1513, married Rachael, daughter of Barclay de Towie, who bore him five sons. A second intermarriage between the families of Craig and Barclay took place in 1607. For this family information I am don, Esq. of Craig, in Aberdeenshire, who indebted to my esteemed friend, James Gorhas the family documents in his possession.

army destined to contend with Napo- | in 1765, he was descended from the leon.

7. Barclay was, beyond all question, one of the great generals which the era of the French Revolution produced, and certainly the greatest, after Suwarroff, of whom Russia can boast. He bears a closer resemblance than any other of the continental captains to Wellington: for in him the same daring was combined with the same caution; the same just conception with the same sagacious execution; the same singleness of heart with the same disinterestedness of character. We could hardly recognise the dauntless hero who vanquished Sweden by marching across the Gulf of Bothnia, accompanied by heavy trains of cavalry and artillery, in the depth of winter, in the consummate general who saved Russia by his immortal retreat before Napoleon in 1812, did we not perceive the same diversity in Wellington, striking with seemingly rash but really wise daring at Assaye, and restraining the uplifted arm of retribution at Torres Vedras. He had not so much native genius as the English general, but more acquired information; success in him was not the free gift of rapid intuition, but the deserved reward of laborious study. On the field of battle his coup-d'œil was just, his valour calm, his firmness unconquerable. But patriotism was his great virtue; his sense of duty was such as nothing could shake. Jealousy of the command of a foreigner by descent deprived him, against the Emperor's wish, of the supreme command before the battle of Borodino, but he did not the less continue with ardent zeal to serve his country in a subordinate situation, till the taking of Paris. Envy and malice continued to heap injuries upon him, as they so often do on real greatness, down to the day of his death; but he replied to them only by renewed services in whatever station he was placed by the Emperor, though they preyed so severely upon his heart as at length to accelerate his approach to the grave.

ancient princes of Georgia, and entered the Russian army as a sergeant in 1782, after his country had been irrevocably united by Catherine to the dominions of the Czar. He was engaged in the terrible assault of Oczakoff in 1788, and bore a distinguished part in the war of 1794 under Suwarroff in Poland. Such was the zeal and energy which he showed in the command of a body of cavalry in that campaign, that Suwar roff called him "his right arm," and gave him an important appointment in Italy in 1799, where he directed the corps which gained such valuable successes against Serrurier, and at the passage of the Adda. He afterwards superintended the movements of the army, under Suwarroff, at the battle of the Trebbia, and was felt to be an officer of so much ability by that great commander, that he was almost constantly employed by him as the "general of the day," instead of devolving that duty on the other generals in rotation. Subsequently he nobly combated at Hollabrunn, during the campaign of Austerlitz, with the Russian rear-guard, against the greatly superior forces of Soult and Murat, and afterwards bore a distinguished part in the battles of Eylau, Heilsberg, and Friedland, in the conquest of Finland and the war in Moldavia, which followed the peace of Tilsit.

9. A general trained in such a school was eminently qualified to command one of the principal armies of Russia during the French invasion. He did not possess the scientific knowledge or methodical habits which rendered Barclay so great a commander; his character and disposition led him to a different career. He was not the Fabius but the Marcellus of the war-not the shield but the sword of the empire. His love of the excitement of danger was so strong, his disposition so impetuous, that it was with the utmost difficulty he could be restrained, whenever the firing began, from hurrying to the outposts, and sharing in the duties 8. Unlike his noble rival in glory, of a common lancer or grenadier. At Prince PETER BAGRATHION had all the the battle of Borodino, after having readvantages of rank and descent. Born | ceived a severe wound, he was obliged

to dismount; but he refused to leave the field, and, seating himself on an eminence in the midst of the fire, on the edge of an intrenchment which the French were assaulting with distinguished valour, exclaimed in admiration of their courage, "Bravo, Français ! bravo!" It may easily be believed that an officer endowed with so heroic a temperament was idolised by the soldiers, whom he was ever ready to lead to the cannon's mouth; and his untimely end on the field of Borodino was mourned by the whole army as if they had lost a parent or a brother.

to be recollected that Lithuania afforded none of the resources for a victorious army which the opulent and cultivated plains of Saxony or Bavaria presented. Vast forests of pine, or desert heaths and sands, offered no resources for the troops. Contrary to what obtains in the old civilised states of western Europe, the vicinity of the highways was hardly more peopled or better cultivated than the unfrequented districts; and if the army outstripped the convoys which accompanied it, the soldiers would have perished of want, or the military array been dissolved by the necessity of separating for the purpose of marauding and pillage. The unparalleled magnitude of his present forces necessarily impeded the Emperor's movements; and he felt that if he advanced without due precaution into so sterile a region, he ran the risk of perishing, like Darius, from the multitude of mouths which he had to feed.

11. The ancient and unforgotten patriotism of the Poles burst forth without control for some days after the occupation of Wilna. Napoleon entered that city at the head of the Polish regiment commanded by Prince Radzivil, amidst the acclamations of the inhabitants, who regarded him as their liberator. The national banners were raised to the sounds of military music and the acclamations of multitudes; the young embraced and wept in the public streets; the aged brought forth the ancient Polish dress, which had almost been forgotten during the days of their humiliation. The Diet of Warsaw declared the kingdom of Poland re-established, convoked the national diets, invited all the Poles to unite together, and called upon those in the Russian service to abandon their standards. The Emperor took some steps at first cal

10. Before leaving Wilna, Alexander made a last effort to restore peace between the two empires. On the 25th June he wrote with his own hand, a long and eloquent letter to Napoleon, in which he declared that "if he would withdraw his forces from the Russian territory, he would forget all that had passed, and be ready to hearken to terms of accommodation." This letter was despatched by M. Batachof; but Napoleon was so much irritated at the proposal to retire behind the Niemen, that it led to nothing. "I will treat of peace," said he, "at Wilna, and retire behind the Niemen when it is concluded." Hostilities accordingly continued. Barclay, with the principal Russian army, left Wilna on the 28th of June, and on the same day Napoleon entered it. He remained there for seventeen days; a delay which military historians have pronounced the greatest fault in his whole life. It is certain that it gave time to the Russian commanders to retire in admirable order, and exhibits a striking contrast to the rapidity with which he pursued his broken enemy after the battle of Jena, or the combats of Ratisbon and Echmühl. Already the extraordinary consumption of human life in the cam-culated to favour the hope that a napaign had become apparent; for as the Emperor reviewed the troops at Wilna, they were almost struck down by the pestilential smell which the westerly wind blew from the long line of carcasses of horses and bodies of men which lay unburied on the road from Kowno. But on the other hand, it is

tional restoration was in contemplation. The few days given at Wilna to the repose of the army, were devoted to the organisation of a provisional government extending over all Lithu ania. The country was divided into four governments; and prefects, mayors, and assistants, were elected as in the

tion of the Lithuanians offered him, yet political considerations of insurmountable weight prevented him from taking that decisive step in favour of the restoration of Poland, by which alone its independence, in the midst of so many powerful neighbours, could be effected; viz., the reunion of all its partitioned provinces under one head. He was well aware of the ardent but unsteady and factious character of the Poles, and deemed the aid of their tumultuous democracy dearly pur

French empire. Six regiments of infantry, and one of cavalry, were directed to be raised, one of which formed part of Napoleon's Guard; and the constant presence of Maret, his minister for foreign affairs, whose anxiety for the restoration of Poland was so well known, in all his diplomatic labours, inspired the general hope that some decisive measure for the reversal of the great act of injustice under which it had suffered was in contemplation. The enthusiasm being universal, the men raised were very numer-chased, if the friendship of Austria or ous; and if roused to effort by a more Prussia, his present firm allies, were generous policy, might have produced endangered in its acquisition. the most important effects. As it was, the auxiliary force they brought forward was by no means inconsiderable. Altogether the Poles furnished to Napoleon, in the course of the campaign, no less than eighty-five thousand

men.

12. The first address of the Polish Diet to the Emperor was signally characteristic of the profound feelings of undeserved injury by which that gallant nation were animated.-"Why have we been effaced from the map of Europe? By what right have we been attacked, invaded, dismembered? What have been our crimes, who our judges? Russia is the author of all our woes. Need we refer to that execrable day when, in the midst of the shouts of a ferocious conqueror, Warsaw heard the last groans of the population of Praga, which perished entire by fire or sword? These are the titles of Russia to Poland; force has forged them, force can alone burst their fetters. Frontiers traced by a spoliating hand can never extinguish our common origin, or destroy our common rights. Yes! we are still Poles! The day of our restoration has arrived! the land of the Jagellons and the Sobieskis is to resume all its glory." The clergy were next admonished to solicit the divine protection; and an address was published to the Lithuanians in the Russian army, calling upon them to range themselves under the banners of their country. But though Napoleon was not insensible to the advantages which the co-opera

13. He replied, therefore, to the address of the Polish Diet,—" I approve of your efforts, and authorise you to continue them. I will do all in my power to second your resolutions. If you are unanimous, you may indulge the hope of compelling the enemy to recognise your rights; but in these remote and widely-extended countries, it is solely in the unanimity of the efforts of the population that you can find hopes of establishing it. Let Lithuania, Samogitia, Volhynia, Podolia, and the Ukraine, be animated by the same spirit which I have witnessed in the grand-duchy of Warsaw, and Providence will crown your efforts with success. I must at the same time inform you, that I have guaranteed the integrity of the Austrian dominions, and can sanction no movement which may endanger the peaceable possession of her Polish provinces." These words froze every heart with horror. It was evident that he was willing enough to disturb Russia by a revolt in her Lithuanian dominions, but had no inclination to embroil himself with Austria or Prussia by a general re union of the Polish provinces; and without that, it was universally felt the restoration of the kingdom would prove an illusory dream. The provincial government which he had estab lished did not possess the confidence of the nation; no guarantee for the restoration of the monarchy was given; distrust and dissatisfaction succeeded to the transports of inconsiderate joy; and Napoleon, by yielding to the dic