Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/283

* NAPOLEON I. 241 NAPOLEON I. bian campaign. Napoleon found the country Jevas- tulecl and abandoned as he advanced, with nu enemy to make a stand against liim. Like Charles Xll., a century earlier, he was being lured to his ruin. At Smolensk (August 17th- 18th) the French encountered the first serious resistance. Napoleon as he advanced had to leave large bodies of troops along his line of march, and he detached a large force to the northward to capture Mitau and Riga and tlireateu Saint Petersburg. Russian discontent became pronounced as the people saw Barclay de T(dly and liagration permitting Napoleon to ad- vance unresisted on their ancient capital, Mos- cow. The two generals allowed themselves to be superseded liy Kutusoff, who chose his ground, and on September 7th ofl'ered battle to the French at Borodino (q.v.). It was the bloodiest battle of the century, the losses probably aggregating 40,- 000 on each side. The loss to Napoleon, who could obtain no reenforcements, was fatal, but still he pressed on and entered Moscow (September 14th) onh' to find himself robbed of the fruit of victory by the terrible confhigration Avhich broke out two days later. With a folly that seemed mad- ness. Napoleon lingered in the city until October lilth before beginning the retreat. The hard- fought drawn battle of Malo-Yaroslavitz (October '24th) compelled Napoleon to retreat by the same desert road on which he had advanced, instead of by a more southerly route through country not yet devastated by war. Suft'erings from the cold and from lack of food were intensified liy the constant presence of the Russians on the flanks and in the rear. The expected supplies were not found at Smolensk, and the sufferings of the French reached their terrible climax at the cross- ing of the Beresina (November 2th-28th), where thousands perished in spite of the heroic efforts of Oudinot and Ney. A week later Napoleon turned over the command to Murat and hastened to reach Paris and organize a new army before the news of the great disaster shoiild become known in Western Europe. Ney, the bravest of the brave, in command of the rear-guard, pro- tected the retreat, but only 20,000 out of the 400,000 who had crossed the Niemen in .June re- crossed it in December. The disaster, however, was greater than the mere loss of an army of 400.000 men. Napoleon had lost his prestige, and henceforth Castlereagh, the English Foreign jMinister, and the Czar Alexander supplanted Napoleon as controllers of the destinies of Eu- rope. The Czar advanced into Eastern Prussia, where he in.stalled as Governor the ex-Minister Stein, who placed himself at the head of a great Prussian patriotic rising against Napoleon. Driven by this outburst of national spirit, Fred- crick William III. signed an alliance with the Czar at Kalisz (February 27. 1S13). Austria, under jMetternich, hesitated between Napoleon and Alexander and olTered to mediate. Napo- leon sent into Germany a new army made up of conscripts and of troops withdrawn from Spain, and on April 20th. at Weimar, assumed the direc- tion of the campaign of 1813, which he had de- cided to fight on the line of the Elbe, where Eug&ne de Beanharnais and Davout were strug- gling to check the Russians and repress the Prus- sians. Successes at Liitzen and Oross-Gc'irschen (May 2d) on the great plain aroimd Leipzig enabled Napoleon to occupy Dresden as his base of operations, and advance to Bautzen, where he defeated the Allies on .May 20th-21st. Napoleon should h;ive followed up this move- ment with vigor, but lie hesitated because of the untrained condition of his army and of the atti- tude of Austria. Bernadotte, after the Treaty of Stockholm with England (March 3d), had landed at Stralsund, prepared to take an active part in the overthrow of Napoleon, whom he had learned to hate bitterly. Moreau, the only surviving French rival of Napoleon, was sununoned from America to act as chief adviser of the Allies. England signed new treaties with Prussia and Russia (June 14th- 1.5th), and the Czar and Met- ternich signed at Reichenbaeh (June 27lli) a secret treaty, by which Austria bound herself to join the Allies if Napoleon did not accept her proposals before the expiration of the truce, on August 10th. This was equivalent to a treaty of alliance, for it was certain that the Congress of Prague would accomplish nothing. On Au- gust lOtli the Austrian army under Schwarzen- berg began operations in Bohemia in concert with the allied army luider Bliicher in Silesia. The vic- tory of Wellington at Vittoria (June 21, 1813) encouraged the Allies and made a great victory an absolute necessity to Napoleon, who promptly took the oft'ensive and attempted to force a battle with Bliicher near Giirlitz and crush him and then turn against Schwarzenberg. Bliicher evaded battle and Scliwarzcnbcrg advanced to at- tack Dresden. Napoleon reached Dresden just in time, and on August 26th-27th won his last great victory. (See Dresden, Battle of.) For the moment Dresden was saved, but the success was more than oft'set by the defeats inflicted upon his subordinates, Oudinot at Grossbeeren (August 23d), Maedonald on the Katzbach (August 2Gth), Vandamnie at Kulni (August 29th- 30th ), and Ney at Dennewitz ( September 0th). The losses of Napoleon during the ten ■ days' campaign were almost overwhelming and irretrievable, while reenforcements speedily made good the losses of the Allies. Napoleon failed to appreciate that the line of the Elbe had become untenable from the moment that Austria joined the Allies, and instead of falling back of the Rhine and ofl'ering to negotiate, he continued to struggle to hold Dresden. Constant rains and bad roads had been an important factor in the August campaigns and prevented Napoleon, in spite of his boundless energy and activity, from accomplishing anything in Septem- ber. This failure was fatal, for in October the Allies, who had defined their relations in the Treaty of Toplitz (September lOth), took the offensive and developed their campaign with such skill that Napoleon was completely deceived until they had nearly completed their disposi- tions. Bliicher. unpereeived. crejit around Napo- leon's left, got in touch with Bernadotte. and ad- vance<l toward Leipzig from the north, while Schwarzenberg was advancing from the soutli toward the same place. Napoleon left Gouvion Saint-Cyr to hold Dresden and Inirriedly concen- trated all available forces to protect Leipzig and hold his lines of communication. For three days (October Kith, ISfh. and lOth), -the Battle of the Nations' raged around Leipzig, and on the last day the Frencli were driven out of Leipzig in a disas- trous rout. (See Leipzig. Batti.e.s of.) Napoleon retreated hastily behind the Rhine, .stopping only to destroy, at Hanau (October 30th). the army