Wittgenstein, and at nine o'clock opened their artillery-fire on Liebertwolkwitz. It extended along the whole line, and by ten o'clock one thousand cannon were answering each other, and causing the ground to tremble like an earthquake. So violent was the first attack of the allies, that they drove the enemy out of Markkleeberg, Wachau, and Liebertwolkwitz. Napoleon, however, had noticed that the enemy had brought his best troops into action, and had but little support to expect. Hence he ordered that the line of the allies should be broken at three points. Poniatowski was to attack the Prussians in the rear, at the moment when they were fighting savagely for the possession of Markkleeberg; and though four times repulsed, took it by storm on the fifth. The strongest wedge was directed against the centre at Wachau, which the French masses under Murat, Augereau, Mortier, and Drouot had orders to break through; while the corps under Lauriston, Macdonald, and Sebastiani were to march on Seiffertshain, and disperse the Austrians and Prussians under Klenau.

Prince Schwarzenberg observed the preparations for this dangerous manœuvre from the church-tower of Gautsch. He galloped off to Magdeborn, to bring up the reserves standing there, and sent orders to the troops on the other side of the Pleisse to cross the river at once. It was high time; Poniatowski by one o'clock had advanced to Kröbern, and was thus in the rear of the Prussians, whose position was then most dangerous; but the Austrians crossed the river at Twelve Bridges, and a frightful engagement began. The Poles offered a desperate resistance, and almost entirely destroyed the Sommariva light-cavalry regiment; but a battery of thirty guns which Bianchi brought up at Kröbern, and whose balls carried desolation into the ranks of the French, forced the latter to retreat towards evening. Markkleeberg was held, and even the village of Dölitz in front of it taken by storm.

Matters were worse at the centre. Napoleon bad concentrated a large number of guns on the heights of Liebertwolkwitz, which kept up such a murderous fire that Prince Eugene of Wurtemberg, commanding the centre, was unable to hold his ground. Not only did heavy masses of infantry, accompanied by horse artillery, pursue him in his retreat, but a body of cavalry under Murat dashed at him and carried every thing before it, like a mountain torrent. The cavalry of the Guard under Nansouty, and two cavalry corps, about 8000 to 10,000 sabres strong, made this frightful charge. The Russian cavalry were broken, the infantry ridden down, twenty-six guns captured, and the pursuit was continued up to Auenhain and the hill on which the allied monarchs had taken up their position with Schwarzenberg. Man and horse, however, had been exhausted by the charge, and hence Count Orloff was enabled to check their advance with a regiment of Cossacks of the Guard. Ere long the Silesian Cuirassiers and Russian Hussars of the Guard galloped up and tore from the enemy twenty-four of the captured guns. Prince Schwarzenberg placed himself at the head of the troops still held in reserve, and sent the Prus

sian and Russian Guards, with eighty guns, to the relief of the sorely menaced Güldengossa.

In the meanwhile Macdonald had stormed the Swedish Redoubt, and driven General Klenau back on Gross Pössna. The position of the allies was serious, and Napoleon felt so certain of victory that he thrice announced his success to the King of Saxony. After the third message, all the bells in the city were rung and prayers offered up in the churches; but the Emperor's joy was premature, for the battle still raged at Güldengossa, and the allies retained that village. The allies also stormed the sheepfolds at Auenhain, though amid streams of blood; and the French at last fell back in disorder on Wachau. The right wing of the allies had held its ground in the University wood, and the French attempt to turn this position by marching on Fuchshain was prevented by Platow with his Cossacks. While, however, Klenau was holding his ground, Macdonald dashed at Seiffertshain, and stormed it at 5 p.m., though unable to hold it owing to the brave attack of the Zach regiment led by General Schäfer. At a late hour Macdonald made a fresh attack, but was checked by the Silesian regiments under Ziethen. The engagement, which went on late into the night, had no decided result.

A furious engagement had also been going on at Connewitz, where Count Meerveldt tried to force the passage of the Pleisse, but was prevented by the Poles, and taken prisoner. Equally unsuccessful had been Giulay's effort to take the village of Lindenau, and his sole trophy consisted of two guns. The French lost the villages of Plagwitz and Leutsch; but Bertrand skilfully defended the line of retreat through Lindenau, and his opponent did not know how to take advantage of the terrain.

To the north-west of Leipzig another battle was being fought. Blücher brought up his army of 56,000 men on October 16, in two columns, one of which he left at Radefeld, under Sacken, because he apprehended an attack in the direction of Podelwitz. Ney might have appeared on the battle-field; but while marching up the tremendous artillery-fire led him to Wachau, where he suspected that the chief danger lay. Thus Marmont remained, with 29,000 men, to face the Prussians, and Blücher found him in position between Wahren and Lindenthal. York drove the French out of the former village, and they occupied the heights near Möckern. York saw that the latter place was the key of this favourable position, which was protected by powerful batteries on both wings. The attack and defence were equally savage. The enemy contended desperately for every house, and when they were driven out of the burning village, their artillery continued to play on it. Under the protection of their guns, they once more advanced, and the Prussians suffered fearfully. All the reserves were led into action; at last, even the Silesian Landwehr, under Steinmetz, who advanced at the double, and afforded the second Line brigade, which was in disorder, time to rally. The battle would probably have lasted a long time had not a French ammunitionwagon blown up and broken a square. At this moment the hussars and

dragoons charged, the infantry stormed the heights, and the victory was secured. The Prussians took forty-three guns and 2000 prisoners, but lost one-third of the troops they led into action. The enemy fled in the direction of Gohlis.

Of Sacken's corps, only Langeron's division was engaged. By Blücher's orders it advanced on the villages of Great and Small Wiederitzch, in the rear of the Prussians, which were occupied by a French division and Dombrowski's cavalry. The battle raged for the possession of these two villages. They were several times taken by storm, and then recaptured by the French, until the Russians eventually held their ground, and the enemy fled toward the Parthe, leaving eleven guns behind them.

We can only devote a few words to the bloody work of this day, on which the French had 144,000, the allies 185,000 men in action; for the full reports of the generals engaged at the different points of the battle occupy an entire volume. The allies had felt the disadvantage of fighting with a concentrated foe most deeply on the east side of the city, where Napoleon had his best troops under his own command; and hence the result had been imperfect there. Still, the issue was of such importance that the successful result of the battle could be foreseen, even though it must be gained at a fearful cost. It would have been necessary for Napoleon on this day to inflict a severe defeat on the allies, in order to be able to calculate on final victory. He knew that the number of his foes would be increased, for heavy columns were on the march. Hence he could only think of getting away, and congratulate himself on still holding Lindenau, and an open line of retreat.

October 17th. Both armies bivouacked in the positions they occupied at the close of the battle. Amid the wide circle of watch-fires, the firecolumns of eight burning villages rose high in the air, and illumined the field of death, whose silence was only disturbed at intervals by a shot. Napoleon had his tent erected in a dried-up pond, and his guards encamped around; but apprehension robbed him of sleep. He saw that he was beset, and that a renewal of the contest could hardly bring him any advantage. The great number of wounded in Leipzig could not find shelter. Many lay in the open streets, and hunger forced even the crippled to beg for food from house to house; but the inhabitants had little to give, as all convoys had been intercepted for several days past, and the horrors of want were beginning to be felt. Under such circumstances Leipzig could not be held, even if the assault of the allies were repulsed. The Emperor summoned several generals to his bedside to consult with them about his position, and at length came to the resolution of sending his prisoner, Count Meerveldt, with propositions of peace to his father-in-law. He had known this general for a long time, and he had been employed as negotiator in the armistices of Leoben and Austerlitz, and in the treaties of Campo Formio and Vienna. Napoleon clung to the circumstance that this military diplomatist had fallen into his hands with the superstitious hope of a similar result. He sent for

Meerveldt, and commanded him to make proposals to the Emperor Francis to allow the French an unimpeded retreat across the Saale; in return for which he offered an armistice, and the cession of all the fortresses held by the French in Prussia. Meerveldt found his emperor at his head-quarters at Pegau; but the Austrian army had been reinforced by the arrival of Colloredo, the certainty of a decisive victory had been heightened, and the emperor declined the proposition point-blank.

October 17th was a Sunday, and the three monarchs felt the less disposed to desecrate it because they expected the arrival of 100,000 men. This day, at 11 a.m., the first Austrian corps d'armée, under Colloredo, reached the field of battle, and relieved the exhausted troops. Later in the day Benningsen arrived, and Bubna's division took up position at Möckern. Kleist concentrated his corps at Güldengossa; while the Crown Prince Bernadotte, with his Swedes, was expected from the north.

Marshal "Forwards," who was uninformed of the resolutions of the monarchs, alone knew no rest. He had relieved York's maltreated Prussians by sending Sacken to the front, and determined to drive back the foe to the left bank of the Parthe. In the first place, he had the village of Eutritzsch stormed by Langeron: Marmont evacuated the village, but was determined to hold Gohlis; for it was the base of the left wing of his position. Arrighi was ordered to maintain the communication with his cavalry; but Wasiltschikoff dashed at him with his Cossacks, and drove him back to the gates of Leipzig, where he captured a number of prisoners and five guns. Blücher, in his report, declares this attack one of the boldest in the whole of the war. The French squares resisted the first attack, until they also were repulsed by the Russian infantry to Pfaffendorf. Blücher was just preparing to drive them out of this position with Langeron's corps, and attack Leipzig itself, when orders arrived from headquarters to cease fighting. Simultaneously Bernadotte, who had unaccountably delayed his advance, announced his arrival on the old Swedish victorious field of Breitenfeld, and requested the Prussian hero to exchange places with him. The old man felt annoyed at the thought of surrendering to the Swedes the certainty of a success for which he bad paved the way, and declined the offer. This was followed by an invitation to a conference at Breitenfeld, which was held on the night of October 17. It was difficult to induce Blücher; but when daylight of the eventful day was breaking, and any disturbance of the union seemed dangerous, he consented to reinforce the army of the Crown Prince with 30,000 men, though he made it a condition that Langeron must cross the Parthe at Mölkau with these troops. Thus, while the army of the north was swollen to over 90,000 men, Blücher only retained 20,000 at Möckern. The seventh French corps, under Reynier, had received orders to check Bernadotte's advance. As it was only 12,000 strong, it might have been easily crushed; but it escaped this danger, took up position at Paunsdorf, and had to guard the Parthe as far as Theckla, with the help of the sixth corps under Marmont, and the third under Souham. The Prince

of the Moskwa, who had his head-quarters at Reudnitz, was commanderin-chief of these three corps.

October 18th. It must have been a peculiarly painful feeling for the Emperor of the French and his army to engage in a mighty struggle with the consciousness that, even in the best case, they could only secure a certainty of retreat. This conviction the daring Murat himself had expressed in the presence of his brother-in-law, and his arrangements proved that the latter was beginning to be of the same opinion. As he could bring scarce 150,000 men into action, and had learned that the allies had nearly double at their disposal, through the reinforcements they had received, the Emperor found it necessary to draw his position more closely together, and have his troops better in hand. The movements to carry out this plan began at 2 a.m., and at 5 the Emperor drove to Lindenau to give General Bertrand his personal instructions to march on Weissenfels and cover the line of retreat. Marshal Oudinot held the important post of Lindenau with two divisions of the young Guard.

Through the new order of battle, the French army formed a large quadrangle round Leipzig. The western side extended from Lindenau to Dölitz; on the southern, Poniatowski, who had received the marshal's staff on the evening of the 16th, held the line from Connewitz to Dölitz; Augereau, the bush-surrounded ponds at Lösnig; Victor, Probstheida, as the key of the position; and Lauriston, Stötteritz; while advanced posts occupied Dösen and Zuckelhausen. The northern line, which ran from the city to Thekla, was defended by Macdonald, Reynier, Souham, and Marmont. Arrighi and Dombrowski's cavalry were extended to the north of Pfaffendorf; while the Emperor held the old Guard, and a strong body of cavalry, in reserve near the Clay Hill.

The entire artillery of the allies may be estimated at 1000 pieces, and the cannonade with which they opened the action at about eight o'clock was really frightful. The Poles were opposed by the hereditary Prince of Hesse Homburg, who commanded the first Austrian corps d'armée, a division of the second, two reserve divisions, and two cavalry divisions. With this body of troops he opened the ball, and dashed at the enemy's position between Dölitz and Dösen. Poniatowski, who wished to display his gratitude for the marshal's staff, defended these villages desperately. The Prince of Hesse Homburg, while urging on his troops, was dangerously wounded; and Baron Bianchi assumed the command on the left, Colloredo on the right wing. Bianchi called up his reserves, and made such a furious attack on the above villages, that Poniatowski was obliged to ask the Emperor for supports; and the division of the Guard advanced to bis aid. They succeeded in driving the Austrians beyond Dösen; but Schwarzenberg sent up Wimpffen and Grath's divisions, and the Russian Guard as a support. Giulay also gave several of his regiments, and the Austrians were enabled to storm and hold Dösen. The sanguinary struggle lasted till nightfall, without gaining another foot of ground; but the Poles were half destroyed, and their weakness would

VOL. IX.

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