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NARRATIVEOFTHE MOST REMARKABLE EVENTSWHICH OCCURREDIN AND NEAR LEIPZIG, IMMEDIATELY BEFORE, DURING, AND SUBSEQUENT TO, THE SANGUINARY SERIESOF ENGAGEMENTS BETWEEN

THE ALLIED ARMIES OF THE FRENCH, FROM THE14th TO THE 19th OCTOBER, 1813

Illustrated withMILITARY MAPS, EXHIBITING THE MOVEMENTS OF THE RESPECTIVE ARMIES. 

COMPILED AND TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMANBYFREDERIC SHOBERL. 

"Suave etiam belli certamina magna tueri Per campos instructa, tuà sine parte pericli. " LUCRET. Lib. Ii. 5. 

EIGHTH EDITION. 

_LONDON:_PRINTED FOR R. ACKERMANN, 101, STRAND, _By W. CLOWES, Northumberland court, Strand. _

1814. 

[Price _Five Shillings_. ]

PREFACE. 

After a contest of twenty years' duration, Britain, thanks to herinsular position, her native energies, and the wisdom of her counsels, knows scarcely any thing of the calamities of war but from report, andfrom the comparatively easy pecuniary sacrifices required for itsprosecution. No invader's foot has polluted her shores, no hostile handhas desolated her towns and villages, neither have fire and swordtransformed her smiling plains into dreary deserts. Enjoying a happyexemption from these misfortunes, she hears the storm, which is destinedto fall with destructive violence upon others, pass harmlessly over herhead. Meanwhile the progress of her commerce and manufactures, and herimprovement in the arts, sciences, and letters, though liable, fromextraordinary circumstances, to temporary obstructions, are sure andsteady; the channels of her wealth are beyond the reach of foreignmalignity; and, after an unparalleled struggle, her vigour and herresources seem but to increase with the urgency of the occasions thatcall them forth. 

Far different is the lot of other nations and of other countries. Thereis scarcely a region of Continental Europe but has in its turn drunkdeep within these few years of the cup of horrors. Germany, the theatreof unnumbered contests--the mountains of Switzerland, which for ages hadreverberated only the notes of rustic harmony--the fertile vales of thePeninsula--the fields of Austria--the sands of Prussia--the vast forestsof Poland, and the boundless plains of the Russian empire--havesuccessively rung with the din of battle, and been drenched with nativeblood. To the inhabitants of several of these countries, impoverished bythe events of war, the boon of British benevolence has been noblyextended; but the facts related in the following sheets will bear me outin the assertion, that none of these cases appealed so forcibly to theattention of the humane as that of Leipzig, and its immediate vicinity. Their innocent inhabitants have in one short year been reduced, by theinfatuation of their sovereign, and by that greatest of all curses, thefriendship of France, from a state of comfort to absolute beggary; andthousands of them, stripped of their all, are at this moment houselessand unprotected wanderers, exposed to the horrors of famine, cold, anddisease. 

That Leipzig, undoubtedly the first commercial city of Germany, and thegreat Exchange of the Continent, must, in common with every other townwhich derives its support from trade and commerce, have severely feltthe effects of what Napoleon chose to nickname _the Continental System_, is too evident to need demonstration. The sentiments of its inhabitantstowards the author of that system could not of course be veryfavourable; neither were they backward in shewing the spirit by whichthey were animated, as the following facts will serve to evince:--Whenthe French, on their return from their disastrous Russian expedition, had occupied Leipzig, and were beginning, as usual, to levy requisitionsof every kind, an express was sent to the Russian colonel Orloff, whohad pushed forward with his Cossacks to the distance of about 20 miles, entreating him to release the place from its troublesome guests. Hecomplied with the invitation; and every Frenchman who had not been ableto escape, and fancied himself secure in the houses, was driven from hishiding-place, and delivered up to the Cossacks, who were received withunbounded demonstrations of joy. 

About this time a Prussian corps began to be formed in Silesia, underthe denomination of the Corps of Revenge. It was composed of volunteers, who bound themselves by an oath not to lay down their arms till Germanyhad recovered her independence. On the occupation of Leipzig by theallies, this corps received a great accession of strength from thatplace, where it joined by the greater number of the students at theuniversity, and by the most respectable young men of the city, and otherparts of Saxony. The people of Leipzig moreover availed themselves ofevery opportunity to make subscriptions for the allied troops, and largesums were raised on these occasions. Their mortification wassufficiently obvious when the French, after the battle of Lützen, againentered the city. Those who had so lately welcomed the Russians andPrussians with the loudest acclamations now turned their backs on theirpretended friends; nay, such was the general aversion, that many stroveto get out of the way, that they might not see them. 

This antipathy was well known to Bonaparte by means of his spies, whowere concealed in the town, and he took care to resent it. When, amongothers, the deputies of the city of Leipzig, M. Frege, aulic counsellor, M. Dufour, and Dr. Gross, waited upon him after the battle of Lützen, heexpressed himself in the following terms respecting the corps ofrevenge: _Je sais bien que c'est chez vous qu'on a formé ce corps devengeance, mais qui enfin n'est qu'une poliçonnerie qui n'a eté bon àrien. _ It was on this occasion also that the deputies received from theimperial ruffian one of those insults which are so common with him, andwhich might indeed be naturally expected from such an upstart; for, when they assured him of the submission of the city, he dismissed themwith these remarkable words: _Allez vous en!_ than which nothing morecontemptuous could be addressed to the meanest beggar. 

It was merely to shew his displeasure at the Anti-Gallican sentiments ofthe city, that Napoleon, after his entrance into Dresden, declaredLeipzig in a state of siege; in consequence of which the inhabitantswere obliged to furnish gratuitously all the requisitions that hethought fit to demand. In this way the town, in a very short time, wasplundered of immense sums, exclusively of the expense of the hospitals, the maintenance of which alone consumed upwards of 30, 000 dollars perweek. During this state of things the French, from the highest to thelowest, seemed to think themselves justified in wreaking upon theinhabitants the displeasure of their emperor; each therefore, after theexample of his master, was a petty tyrant, whose licentiousness knew nobounds. 

By such means, and by the immense assemblage of troops which began to beformed about the city at the conclusion of September 1813, its resourceswere completely exhausted, when the series of sanguinary engagementsbetween the 14th and the 19th of the following month reduced it to thevery verge of destruction. In addition to the pathetic details of theextreme hardships endured by the devoted inhabitants of the field ofbattle, which extended to the distance of ten English miles roundLeipzig, contained in the following sheets, I shall beg leave tointroduce the following extract of a letter, written on the 22dNovember, by a person of great commercial eminence in that city, who, after giving a brief account of those memorable days of October, thusproceeds:--

 "By this five days' conflict our city was transformed into one vast hospital, 56 edifices being devoted to that purpose alone. The number of sick and wounded amounted to 36, 000. Of these a large proportion died, but their places were soon supplied by the many wounded who had been left in the adjacent villages. Crowded to excess, what could be the consequence but contagious diseases? especially as there was such a scarcity of the necessaries of life--and unfortunately a most destructive nervous fever is at this moment making great ravages among us, so that from 150 to 180 deaths commonly occur in one week, in a city whose ordinary proportion was between 30 and 40. In the military hospitals there die at least 300 in a day, and frequently from 5 to 600. By this extraordinary mortality the numbers there have been reduced to from 14 to 10, 000. Consider too the state of the circumjacent villages, to the distance of 10 miles round, all completely stripped; in scarcely any of them is there left a single horse, cow, sheep, hog, fowl, or corn of any kind, either hay or implements of agriculture. All the dwelling-houses have been burned or demolished, and all the wood-work about them carried off for fuel by the troops in bivouac. The roofs have shared the same fate; the shells of the houses were converted into forts and loop-holes made in the walls, as every village individually was defended and stormed. Not a door or window is any where to be seen, as those might be removed with the greatest ease, and, together with the roofs, were all consumed. Winter is now at hand, and its rigours begin already to be felt. These poor creatures are thus prevented, not only by the season, from rebuilding their habitations, but also by the absolute want of means; they have no prospect before them but to die of hunger, for all Saxony, together with the adjacent countries, has suffered far too severely to be able to afford any relief to their miseries. 

 "Our commercial house, God be thanked I has not been plundered; but every thing in my private house, situated in the suburb of Grimma, was carried off or destroyed, as you may easily conceive, when I inform you that a body of French troops broke open the door on the 19th, and defended themselves in the house against the Prussians. Luckily I had a few days before removed my most valuable effects to a place of safety. I had in the house one killed and two wounded; but, a few doors off, not fewer than 60 were left dead in one single house. --Almost all the houses in the suburbs have been more or less damaged by the shower of balls on the 19th. "

That these pictures of the miseries occasioned by the sanguinaryconflict which sealed the emancipation of the Continent from Gallicdespotism are not overcharged is proved by the concurrent testimony ofall the other accounts which have arrived from that quarter. Among therest a letter received by the publisher, from the venerable countSchönfeld, a Saxon nobleman of high character, rank, and affluence, manyyears ambassador both at the court of Versailles, before the revolution, and till within a few years at Vienna, is so interesting, that I amconfident I shall need no excuse for introducing it entire. Hisextensive and flourishing estates south-east of Leipzig have been thebloody cradle of regenerated freedom. The short space of a few days hasconverted them into a frightful desert, reduced opulent villages intosmoking ruins; and plunged his Miserable tenants as well as himself intoa state of extreme Want, until means can be found again to cultivate thesoil and to rebuild the dwellings. He writes as follows:--

 "It is with a sensation truly peculiar and extraordinary that I take up my pen to address you, to whom I had, some years since, the pleasure of writing several times on subjects of a very different kind: but it is that very difference between those times and the present, and the most wonderful series of events which have followed each other during that period in rapid succession, the ever-memorable occurrences of the last years and months, the astonishing success which rejoices all Europe, and has nevertheless plunged many thousands into inexpressible misery; it is all this that has long engaged my attention, and presses itself upon me at the moment I am writing. In events like these, every individual, however distant, must take some kind of interest, either as a merchant or a man of letters, a soldier or an artist; or, if none of these, at least as a man. How strongly the late events must interest every benevolent and humane mind I have no need to tell you, who must more feelingly sympathize in them from the circumstance that it is your native country, where the important question, whether the Continent of Europe should continue to wear an ignominious yoke, and whether it deserved the fetters of slavery, because it was not capable of bursting them, has been decisively answered by the greatest and the most sanguinary contest that has occurred for many ages. That same Saxony, which three centuries ago released part of the world from the no less galling yoke of religious bondage; which, according to history, has been the theatre of fifteen great battles; that same Saxony is now become the cradle of the political liberty of the Continent. But a power so firmly rooted could not be overthrown without the most energetic exertions; and, while millions are now raising the shouts of triumph, there are, in Saxony alone, a million of souls who are reduced to misery too severe to be capable of taking any part in the general joy, and who are now shedding the bitterest tears of abject wretchedness and want That such is the fact is confirmed to me by the situation of my acquaintance and neighbours, by that of my suffering tenants, and finally by my own. The ever-memorable and eventful battles of the 16th to the 19th of October began exactly upon and between my two estates of Störmthal and Liebertwolkwitz. All that the oppressive imposts, contributions, and quarterings, as well as the rapacity of the yet unvanquished French, had spared, became on these tremendous days a prey to the flames, or was plundered by those who called themselves allies of our king, but whom the country itself acknowledged as such only through compulsion. Whoever could save his life with the clothes upon his back might boast of his good fortune; for many, who were obliged, with broken hearts, to leave their burning houses, lost their apparel also. Out of the produce of a tolerably plentiful harvest, not a grain is left for sowing; the little that was in the barns was consumed in _bivouac_, or, next morning, in spite of the prayers and entreaties of the owners, wantonly burned by the laughing fiends. Not a horse, not a cow, not a sheep, is now to be seen; nay, several species of animals appear to be wholly exterminated in Saxony. I have myself lost a flock of 2000 Spanish sheep, Tyrolese and Swiss cattle, all my horses, waggons, and household utensils. The very floors of my rooms were torn up; my plate, linen, and important papers and documents, were carried away and destroyed. Not a looking-glass, not a pane in the windows, or a chair, is left. The same calamity befell my wretched tenants, over whose misfortunes I would willingly forget my own. All is desolation and despair, aggravated by the certain prospect of epidemic diseases and famine. Who can relieve such misery, unless God should be pleased to do it by means of those generous individuals, to whom, in my own inability to help, I am now obliged to appeal?

 "I apply, therefore, to you, Sir; and request you, out of love to your wretched country, which is so inexpressibly devastated, to solicit the aid of your opulent friends and acquaintance, who, with the generosity peculiar to the whole nation, may feel for the unmerited misery of others, in behalf of my wretched tenants in Liebertwolkwitz and Störmthal. These poor and truly helpless unfortunates would, with tears, pay the tribute of their warmest gratitude to their generous benefactors, if they needed that gratitude in addition to the satisfaction resulting from so noble an action. You will not, I am sure, misunderstand my request, as it proceeds from a truly compassionate heart, but which, by its own losses, is reduced so low as to be unable to afford any relief to others. Should it ever be possible for me to serve you or any of your friends here, depend upon my doing all that lies within my poor ability. Meanwhile I remain, in expectation of your kind and speedy fulfilment of my request, "Sir, "Your most obedient friend and servant, "COUNT SCHONFELD. "

 _Leipzig, Nov. 22, 1813. To Mr. Ackermann, London. _

 "P. S. --I have been obliged, by the weakness of my sight, to employ another hand. I remember the friendly sentiments which you here testified for me with the liveliest gratitude. My patriotic way of thinking, which drew upon me also the hatred of the French government, occasioned me, four years since, to resign the post of ambassador, which I had held twenty-five years, and to retire from service[1]. "

From documents transmitted to the publisher by friends at Leipzig, havebeen selected the narratives contained in the following sheets, whichwere written by eye-witnesses of the facts there related. The principalobject of their publication is not so much to expose tine atrocities ofGallic ruffians, as to awaken the sympathies and call forth the humanityof the British nation. Like that glorious luminary, whose genial raysvivify and invigorate all nature, Britain is looked up to by the wholecivilized world for support against injustice, and for solace indistress. To her liberality the really unfortunate have never yetappealed in vain; and, with this experience before his eyes, thepublisher confidently anticipates in behalf of his perishing countrymenthe wonted exercise of that godlike quality, which

 "---- droppeth as the gentle rain from Heaven? And blesseth him that gives and him that takes. "

FOOTNOTES:

[1] R. ACKERMANN would not feel himself justified in printing thisletter, nor in presuming to make an appeal to the British public inbehalf of the writer, were he not personally acquainted with thecharacter of this unfortunate and patriotic nobleman, who is held in thehighest veneration and respect for his benevolence to his numeroustenantry, his liberality to strangers, and his general philanthropy. Torelieve the distresses which he has so pathetically described, thepublisher solicits the contributions of the benevolent. A distinct bookhas been opened for that charitable-purpose at No. 101, Strand, in whicheven the smallest sums, with the names of the donors, may be entered, and to which, as well as to the original letter, reference may be madeby those who feel disposed to peruse, them. 

NARRATIVE, &c. 

You know, my dear friend, how often I have expressed the inconsideratewish to have some time or other an opportunity of witnessing a generalengagement. This wish has now been accomplished, and in such a way ashad well nigh proved fatal to myself; for my life had like to have beenforfeited to my curiosity. I may boast, however, with perfect truth, that, during the four most tremendous days, I was wholly unaffected bythat alarm and terror which had seized all around me. On those four daysI was a near and undisturbed observer of a conflict which can scarcelybe paralleled In the annals of the world: a conflict distinguished by acharacter which raises it far above your ordinary every-day battles. Itsconsequences will extend not to Europe only, but to regions separatedfrom it by vast oceans. You must not expect from me a narrative thatwill enter into military details, but merely a faithful historicalpicture of what fell under my own observation; of what my own eyes, assisted by an excellent telescope, could discover from one of thehighest buildings in the city, in the centre of operations, in the midstof a circumference of more than eighteen leagues; and what I saw andheard while venturing, at the hazard of my life, out of the city, notindeed up to the mouths of the infernal volcanoes, but close in therear of the French lines, into the horrible bustle and tumult of thebaggage-waggons and bivouacs. We were here exactly in the middle of theimmense magic circle, where the incantations thundered forth fromupwards of fifteen hundred engines of destruction annihilated manythousands, in order to produce a new creation. It was the conflict ofthe Titans against Olympus. It is unparalleled in regard to thecommanders, great part of whom knew nothing of defeat but from thediscomfiture of their opponents, and among whom were three emperors, aking, and the heir-apparent to a throne;--it is unparalleled in regardto the form, for it was fought in a circle which embraced more thanfifteen miles;--it is unparalleled in regard to the prodigious armiesengaged, for almost half a million of warriors out of every region ofEurope and Asia, from the mouth of the Tajo to the Caucasus, with neartwo thousand pieces of cannon, were arrayed against one another;--it isunparalleled in regard to its duration, for it lasted almost one hundredhours;--it is unparalleled in regard to the plan so profoundly combinedand so maturely digested by the allies, and characterized by an unity, which, in a gigantic mass, composed of such, multifarious parts, wouldhave been previously deemed impossible;--it is unparalleled also inregard to its consequences, the full extent of which time alone candevelop, and the first of which, the dissolution of the confederation ofthe Rhine, the overthrow of the Continental system, and the deliveranceof Germany, are already before our eyes:--finally, it is unparalleled inregard to single extraordinary events, the most remarkable of which is, that the majority of the allies of the grand army, who had fought underthe banners of France in so many engagements with exemplary valour andobstinacy, in the midst of this conflict, as if wakened by an electricshock, went over in large bodies, with their drums beating and with alltheir artillery, to the hostile legions, and immediately turned theirarms against their former associates. The annals of modern warfareexhibit no examples of such a phenomenon, except upon the mostcontracted scale. You may possibly object, that in all this there issome exaggeration; and that, if I rate the battle of Leipzig so highly, it is only because I happened to be an eye-witness of it myself; thatthe French army is by no means annihilated; that in the uncommon talentsof its leader it possesses a sure pledge that it will regain from itsenemies those laurels which on various occasions they have ravished fromit for a moment. You may employ other arguments of a similar kind; butto these I boldly reply, that neither do I consider the French army asannihilated; that such a calamity could scarcely befall a force which inthe month of May, after ten engagements, numbered not less than 400, 000men, and was conducted by a general who had already won near fiftybattles: but this I maintain, that the mighty eagle, which proudlyaspired to encompass the whole globe in his flight, has had his wingscrippled at Leipzig to such a degree, that in future he will scarcely beinclined to venture beyond the inaccessible crags which he has chosenfor his retreat. For my part, I cannot help considering the battle ofLeipzig as the same (only on an enlarged scale) as that gained near thisvery spot 180 years ago, by the great Gustavus Adolphus. In thisconflict it was certainly decided that Napoleon, so far from being ableto sustain such another engagement in Germany, will not have it in hispower to make any stand on the right bank of the Rhine, nor recoverhimself till secure with the relics of his dispirited army behind thebulwarks of his own frontier. 

Four times had the sun pursued his course over the immense field ofbattle before the die of Fate decided its issue. The whole horizon wasenveloped in clouds of smoke and vapours; every moment fresh columns offire shot up from the circumjacent villages; in all points were seen theincessant flashes of the guns, whose deep thunders, horriblyintermingled with continual volleys of small arms, which frequentlyseemed quite close to the gates of the city, shook the very ground. Addto this the importance of the question which was to be resolved in thismurderous contest, and you may form a faint conception of the anxiety, the wishes, the hopes, --in a word, of the cruel suspense which pervadedevery bosom in this city. 

To enable you to pursue the train of events, as far as I was capable ofinforming myself respecting them, I will endeavour to relate them asthey occurred. It was not till the arrival of marshal Marmont with hiscorps of the army in this neighbourhood that any idea of the probabilityof a general engagement at Leipzig began to be entertained. Thatcircumstance happened in the beginning of October. These guests broughtalong with them every species of misery and distress, which dailyincreased in proportion as those hosts of destroyers kept graduallyswelling into a large army. They were joined from time to time byseveral other corps; the city was nearly surrounded by bivouacs; and, gracious God! what proceedings! what havoc!--We had frequently beeninformed that all Saxony, from Lusatia to the Elbe, resembled one vastdesert, where nothing was to be seen but towns laid waste andplundered, villages reduced to ashes, naked and famishinginhabitants;--that there was no appearance of any other living creature;nay, not even a trace of vegetation remaining. These accounts wenaturally regarded as exaggerations, little imagining that in a shorttime we should have to give to our distant friends the same details ofhorror respecting our own vicinity. Too true it is that no nation hasmade such progress in the art of refinement, and is so ingenious indevising infernal torments, as that, which, under the name of allies andprotectors, has made us so inexpressibly wretched. Ever since the battleof Lützen, Leipzig had been one of the principal resources of the grandFrench army, and they showed it no mercy. Numberless hospitalstransformed it into one great infirmary; many thousands of troops, quartered in the habitations of the citizens, one prodigious _corps degarde_; and requisitions of meat, bread, rice, brandy, and otherarticles, one vast poor-house, where the indigent inhabitants were indanger of starving. But for this well-stored magazine, the great Frencharmy had long since been obliged to abandon the Elbe. No wonder thenthat this point should have been guarded with the utmost care. Itrequired commissaries and inspectors, such as those who had the controlover our store-houses and granaries, to complete the master-piece, toreduce that Leipzig, which had once patiently sustained, without beingentirely exhausted, the burdens of a war that lasted seven years--toreduce it, I say, in six months, to so low an ebb, that even the opulentwere in danger of perishing with hunger; that reputable citizens couldno longer procure the coarsest fare; and that, though their heartsoverflowed with pity and compassion, they were absolutely incapable ofaffording the slightest relief, not so much as a crust of bread, to thesick and wounded soldier. It is impossible to give you any idea of thedexterity and rapidity with which the French soldiers will so totallychange the look of a village, a field, or a garden, that you shall notknow it again, how well soever you may have been acquainted with itbefore. Such was the fate of Leipzig, and of the beautiful environs ofour inner city-walls. 

You must know that the bread and forage waggons of a great French armyare destined merely, as they pass through the villages, to receive thestores collected from all the barns, cellars, lofts, and stables, whichare taken by force from the wretched husbandman, who is beaten, cut, andmangled, till he puts-to his last horse, and till he carries his lastsheaf of corn and his last loaf of bread to the next bivouac; and thenhe may think himself fortunate, if he is suffered to return home withouthorses or waggon, and is not compelled to accompany the depredators manymiles without sustenance of any kind. In all other armies, whetherRussians, Prussians, Austrians, or Swedes, when the troops are not drawnout in line of battle opposite to the enemy, in which case it isnecessary to send back the carriages into the rear, care is always takenthat waggons with bread and forage, and herds of cattle, shall followthe marching columns. Whenever the army halts, magazines are immediatelyestablished; and, if even the stores necessary for it are required atthe cost of the country, this case bears no comparison with that whereevery attendant on the waggon-train is at full liberty to pillage tillhis rapacity is satisfied. Woe to the country where, as in our's, hundreds of thousands of such commissaries are allowed to exercise theirdestructive office at discretion! Ask the inhabitants of more thantwenty villages round Leipzig, and many hundred others at a greaterdistance, which certainly fared no better, what soldiers they were whocarried off roofs, doors, windows, floors, and every kind of householdfurniture and agricultural implements, and threw them like uselesslumber into the watch-fires?--Ask those unfortunates what soldiers theywere who pillaged barns and cellars, and ransacked every corner of thehouses; who tore the scanty clothes from the backs of the poorest class;who broke open every box and chest, and who searched every dunghill, that nothing might escape them?--They will tell you that it was the sohighly vaunted French guards, who always led the way, and were theinstructors of their comrades. 

It is a great misfortune for a country when, in time of war, the supplyof the troops is left to themselves by the military authorities, andwhen that supply is calculated only from one day to another; but thiscalamity has no bounds when they are French troops who attack yourstores. It is not enough for them to satisfy the calls of appetite;every article is an object of their rapacity: nothing whatever is leftto the plundered victim. What they cannot cram into their knapsacks andcartouch-boxes is dashed in pieces and destroyed. Of the truth of thisstatement the environs of Leipzig might furnish a thousand proofs. Themost fortunate of the inhabitants were those who in good time removedtheir stores and cattle to a place of safety, and left their houses totheir fate. He who neglected this precaution, under the idea that thepresence of the owner would be sufficient to restrain those locusts, ofcourse lost his all. No sooner had he satisfied one party than anotherarrived to renew the demand; and thus they proceeded so long as a morselor a drop was left in the house. When such a person had nothing more togive, he was treated with the utmost brutality, till at length, strippedof all, he was reluctantly compelled to abandon his home. If you shouldchance to find a horse or a cow, here and there, in the country roundour city, imagine not that the animal was spared by Frenchgenerosity:--no such thing! the owner must assuredly have concealed itin some hiding-place, where it escaped the prying eyes of the Frenchsoldiers. Nothing--absolutely nothing--was spared; the meanest bedsteadof the meanest beggar was broken up as well as the most costly furniturefrom the apartments of the opulent. After they had slept upon the bedsin the bivouacs, as they could not carry them away, they ripped themopen, consigned the feathers to the winds, and sold the bed-clothes andticking for a mere trifle. Neither the ox, nor the calf but two daysold; neither the ewe, nor the lamb scarcely able to walk; neither thebrood-hen, nor the tender chicken, was spared. All were carried offindiscriminately; whatever had life was slaughtered; and the fields werecovered with calves, lambs, and poultry, which the troops were unable toconsume. The cattle collected from far and near were driven along inimmense herds with the baggage. Their cries for food in all the highroads were truly pitiable. Often did one of those wretches drive awayseveral cows from the out-house of a little farmer, who in vain imploredhim upon his knees to spare his only means of subsistence, merely tosell them before his face for a most disproportionate price. Hay, oats, and every species of corn, were thrown unthreshed upon the ground, wherethey were consumed by the horses, or mostly trampled in the dirt; and ifthese animals had stood for some days in the stable, and been suppliedwith forage by the peasant, the rider had frequently the impudence torequire his host to pay for the dung. Woe to the field of cabbages, turnips, or potatoes, that happened to lie near a bivouac! It wascovered in a trice with men and cattle, and in twenty-four hours therewas not a plant to be seen. Fruit-trees were cut down and used for fuel, or in the erection of sheds, which were left perhaps as soon as theywere finished. Though Saxony is one of the richest and most fertileprovinces of Germany, and the vicinity of Leipzig has been remarkablefor abundance, yet it cannot appear surprising, that, with such wantonwaste, famine, the most dangerous foe to an army, should have at lengthfound its way into all the French camps. Barns, stables, and lofts, wereemptied; the fields were laid bare; and the inhabitants fled into thewoods and the towns. Bread and other provisions had not been seen in ourmarkets for several days, and thus it was now our turn to endure thepressure of hunger. It was a fortunate circumstance that many familieshad laid in a quantity of potatoes, which indeed might yet be purchased, though at an exorbitant price. The bakers of this place were obliged towork up the small stock of flour in their possession for the use of thetroops; and all other persons were driven from the doors by the guardswith the butt-ends of their muskets; though the citizen who came inquest of bread had perhaps twenty men quartered upon him, who allexpected him to find wherewith to satisfy their craving appetites. 

Such was what might be termed the prologue to the grand tragedy whichwas about to be performed in an amphitheatre of many square miles, andto the catastrophe of which we looked forward with an anxiety that hadrisen to so high a pitch, because, in case of the longer continuance ofthis state of things, our own annihilation might be hourly expected. That the grand armies of the allies were approaching Leipzig, on everyside, we had heard through several private channels. Napoleon hadquitted Dresden, which he had been compelled to abandon almost solely bythe want of all the means of subsistence. We were long uncertainrespecting his route, and so perhaps was he himself at first. Many, whowere qualified to form a judgment respecting military operation's, wereof opinion that he would make a push with his whole force upon Berlinand the Oder. They supposed that those parts were not sufficientlycovered, and considered the fortresses on the Elbe as his _pointd'appui_ in the rear. This opinion, however, seemed to lose much of itsprobability, as other French corps, under Ney, Regnier, Bertrand, andMarmont, kept arriving here, and were afterwards joined by that ofAugereau. We had received authentic information that princeSchwarzenberg had already advanced to Altenburg with the grand combinedarmy of Austria, Russia, and Prussia; and also that the crown-prince ofSweden had his head-quarters at Zörbig. Upon the whole, however, ourintelligence was unsatisfactory. For several days (that is to say, fromthe 10th) it was reported that the emperor of the French would certainlyremove his head-quarters hither; that he had taken the road to Wurzen, and was coming by way of Duben. This account was confirmed by severaldetachments of the French guard. It is universally known that thisgeneral preferably chooses those days on which he founds his claim toglory, in order to distinguish them by new achievements. His proximityto us, and the approaching 14th of October[2], strengthened theanticipation of some important event in our neighbourhood. The lighttroops of the allies, whom we took for the advanced guard of thecrown-prince of Sweden, were distinctly to be seen from the steeples ofthe city, on the north side of it, towards Breitenfeld and Lindenthal. Daily skirmishes ensued, and wounded French were hourly brought in. Thebustle in the city increased; the king of Naples had arrived, and fixedhis head-quarters at Konnewitz. Innumerable generals and staff-officersfilled all the houses. Not a moment's rest was to be had; all were inbivouac. They seemed wholly ignorant of the motions of the allies; forthe same troops who went out at one gate often returned before night atanother; so that there was an incessant marching in and out at all thefour principal avenues of the city. These movements of cavalry, infantry, and carriages, ceased not a moment even during the night Itwas very rarely that a troop of cavalry, sent out upon patrol or picketduty, returned without having lost several men and horses, who wereinvariably, according to their report, kidnapped by the Cossacks. Uponthe whole, all the troops with whom the French had any rencounters werecalled by them _Cossacks_--a name which I have heard them repeatmillions of times, and to which they never failed to add, that "thefellows had again set up a devilish hurrah. "

The Cossacks are indisputably the troops of whom the French are mostafraid. With them, therefore, all the light cavalry who come upon themunawares are sure to be Cossacks. In revenge for the many annoyanceswhich they were incessantly suffering from these men, they applied tothem the opprobrious epithet of _brigands_. Often did I take pains toconvince them that troops who were serving their legitimate sovereign, and fighting under the conduct of their officers, could not be termedbanditti; my representations had no effect, --they were determined tohave some satisfaction for their disappointment in a thousand attemptsto master such enemies. Their vanity was far too great to suffer them todo justice to those warriors; and they never would admit what thousandshad witnessed, namely, that thirty French horse had frequently run awayfrom two Cossacks. If Napoleon had twenty thousand Russian Cossacks inhis service, the French journalists and editors of newspapers wouldscarcely be able to find terms strong enough to extol these troops; andthe French have just reason to rejoice that the emperor Alexander has nosuch rivals of their government in his pay, otherwise we should hear oftheir exploits only, and the vaunted French horse-guards would longsince have sunk into oblivion. 

All the preparations that were making now evidently denoted that we wereon the eve of important events. The French corps had already rangedthemselves in a vast semicircle, extending from north to east, andthence to south-west. The country towards Merseburg and Weissenfelsseemed to be merely observed. For this purpose the eminences beyond thevillage of Lindenau were occupied. Here the access to the city is themost difficult, a causeway only leading to it in this direction. Thecountry on the right and left consists of swampy meadows and wood-land, every where intersected by ditches and muddy streams. If you inquiredof the French officers what might be the total strength of their armyabout Leipzig, their statements were so various, that it was impossibleto fix with the least confidence upon any number as a medium. By whatstandard, indeed, can you judge of a force rated by some at 150, 000, byothers at 400, 000 men? They unanimously agreed, on the other hand, thatthe allies would be opposed by fifteen corps, exclusively of the guards. I had an opportunity of forming a tolerably correct estimate of onedivision of Marmont's corps, which consisted at the utmost of 4000, sothat the whole might amount to 12, 000 men; and it was one of thosewhich, in comparison of others, had sustained the least loss. Even thatof Augereau, which was incontestably the most complete, as it had justcome out of cantonments, was computed at scarcely 15, 000 men. If, then, we take 10, 000 for the average, the total amount of the French armiescollected near Leipzig, as the wrecks only of several were thenremaining, can scarcely have reached 170, 000, even including the guards. Such a force, however, commanded by so many generals who had heretoforebeen acknowledged the ablest in Europe, together with wore than 600pieces of artillery, was still fully sufficient to make itselfrespected, and even feared, by an enemy of double its number. One singlespecies of troops alone was below mediocrity:--the cavalry, both inregard to the horses and the men, the former from weakness and want ofsustenance, and the latter from ignorance of their business. With theforce of the allies we are yet unacquainted, but at all events they musthave been more numerous. 

The 14th of October at length dawned. It had preceded by several rainydays; but this was merely lowering. The cannon thundered at intervalstowards Liebertwolkwitz. In the forenoon wounded French, chieflycavalry, kept coming in singly. With whom they had been engaged theyknew not--_Cossacks_, of course. We looked forward with certainty to ageneral engagement. It became every hour more dangerous for theinquisitive to venture out or in at the gates. There was no end to themarching of horse and foot and the rolling of carriages; at every tenpaces you met in all directions with _corps de garde_, by whom everynon-military person without distinction was ordered back, sometimes withfair words, and at others with rudeness. Several couriers had been sentforward to announce the speedy arrival of the king of Saxony andNapoleon. The hero of the age, as he has been styled, actually cameabout noon, not, as we anticipated, by the Dresden road, but by thatfrom Berlin. He passed hastily through the city, and out at the farthestGrimma gate, attended by some battalions and squadrons of his guards. Acamp-chair and a table were brought in all haste, and a great watch-firekindled in the open field; not far from the gallows. The guardsbivouacked on the right and left. The emperor took possession of thehead-quarters prepared for him, which were any thing but magnificent, being surrounded only by the relics of the stalks and leaves of thecabbages consumed by his soldiers, and other matters still moreoffensive. The table was instantly covered with maps, over which theemperor pored most attentively for a considerable time. Of what waspassing around him he seemed not to take the smallest notice. Thespectators, of whom I was one, crowded pretty close about him. Onoccasion of his visit to the city, a few months before, the French haddiscovered that the people of Leipzig were not so malicious as they hadbeen represented, but tolerably good-natured creatures. They weretherefore allowed to approach unobstructed within twenty paces. A longtrain of carriages from the Wurzen road, the cracking of the whips ofthe postilions, together with a great number of horse-soldiers and tallgrenadiers, announced the arrival of another distinguished personage, and called the attention of the by-standers that way. It was the king ofSaxony, with his guards and retinue. He alighted, and a kind salutationensued between him and his august ally. The king soon afterwards mounteda horse, and thus proceeded into the city. Napoleon meanwhile remainedwhere he was. He sometimes rose from his seat, went up to thewatch-fire, held his hands over it, rubbed them, and then placed thembehind him, whilst with his foot he pushed the wood, consisting of dryboards and rafters from the nearest houses, into the flame, to make itburn more fiercely. At the same time he very frequently took snuff, ofwhich he seemed to have but a small quantity left in his gold box. Atlast he scraped together what was left with his finger, and poured itout upon his hand. When all was gone, he opened the box several timesand smelt to it, without applying to any of the marshals and generalsaround him to relieve his want. As the discharges of artillery towardsProbstheide grew more and more general and alarming, and the woundedkept returning in continually increasing numbers, I was rather surprisedthat the commander should, on this occasion, contrary to his usualcustom, quietly remain so far from the field of battle, which was nearten miles distant, apparently without giving himself the least concernabout the event. 

It was about four in the afternoon when one of his aid-de-camps came atfull speed from the city, and made a report. The drums instantly beat toarms, and the divisions of the guards broke up. The emperor immediatelymounted his horse, and followed them. He directed his course towards theKohlgärten[3], leaving the field of battle on the right. I soonperceived the cause of this movement: the message informed him of thearrival of the whole of his guards, for whom he had been waiting. Theycame from Düben, entering by the Halle gate, and now made a countermarchupon Dresden. When I beheld their endless files and cannon withoutnumber pouring out of the city, I certainly gave up the allies for lost. I was thoroughly convinced that Napoleon had no other plan than tostrike off to the right behind the Kohlgärten, with his new army, and, proceeding from Stötteritz, to turn his enemies on the right flank, and, as he had often done before, to attack and annihilate them. I washowever egregiously mistaken. The emperor went with his retinue scarcelya thousand paces, to the first houses of the Kohlgärten, where he tookup his quarters, and quietly passed the night. The guards and the wholetrain likewise stopped in that neighbourhood, and there bivouacked. Itgrew dark. The palisades at the gate had left but a narrow passage, through which troops and artillery kept pouring without intermission. People on horseback and on foot, who wanted to return into the city, hadbeen already detained for several successive hours; the crowd everymoment increased, and with it the danger. To seek another entrance wasimpracticable, as a person would run the risk of being detained by thethousands of pickets, and shot, or at least dragged to the filthiestbivouacs. The night was dark as pitch, and no hope left of getting home. It rained fast, and not a corner was to be found where you might takeshelter. I was in the midst of more than a thousand horses, whichthreatened every moment to trample me under their feet. Fortunately forme, they were all tolerably quiet The thunder of the artillery had longceased; but, had it even continued, it could not possibly have beenheard amidst the rattling of carriages and cannon; the shouts ofsoldiers and officers, as sometimes cavalry, at others infantry, wantedto pass first; the incessant cursing, cracking, pushing, and thrusting. Never while I live shall I witness such a scene of confusion, of whichindeed it is impossible to convey any conception. It continued withoutintermission from four in the afternoon till twelve at night, so thatyou may figure to yourself the disagreeable situation in which I wasplaced. No sooner had the first columns arrived at their bivouacs in theneighbouring villages, than a thousand messengers came to announce theintelligence in a way that sufficiently proved what unwelcome visitorsthey were. Weeping mothers with beds packed up in baskets, leading twoor three stark-naked children by the hand, and with perhaps anotherinfant at their back; fathers seeking their wives and families;children, who had lost their parents in the crowd trucks with sickpersons forcing their way among the thousands of horses; cries of miseryand despair in every quarter:--such were the heralds that most feelinglyproclaimed the presence of the warriors who have been celebrated in somany regions, and whose imposing appearance has been so often admired, all these unfortunates crowded into the filthy corner formed by the oldhospital and the wall at the Kohlgärten-gate. Their cries andlamentations were intermingled with the moans and groans of the woundedwho were going to the hospitals, and who earnestly solicited bread andrelief. A number of French soldiers, probably such as had loitered inthe rear, searched every basket and every pocket for provisions. Theyturned without ceremony the sleeping infants out of the baskets, andcared not how the enraged mothers lacerated their faces in return. Thescenes of horror changed so quickly, that you could not dwell more thanhalf a minute upon any of them. The tenderest heart became torpid andinsensible. One tale of woe followed on the heels of another, --"Such aperson too has been plundered!--Such an one's house has been set onfire!--This man is cut in pieces; that has been transfixed with thebayonet!--Those poor creatures are seeking their children!"--These werethe tidings brought by every new fugitive. If you asked the French whenthe march would be over, you received the consolatory answer--"Notbefore six o'clock in the morning. " During the night the sound of drumsand trumpets incessantly announced the arrival of fresh regiments. Atlength, about midnight, the bustle somewhat subsided, at least so far asregarded the marching of troops. I now seized the favourable moment, andfelt myself as it were a new creature; when, having made my way throughthe crowd of horses with extraordinary courage and dexterity, I oncemore set foot in the city. _Thus the morning and the evening completedthe first day of horror. _

Notwithstanding the unpleasant circumstances in which my curiosity hadinvolved me on the preceding day, I had in fact seen and heard nothingas far as related to my principal object. It was no battle, but merelyan indecisive, though warm, affair. The first act of the piece concludedwith aft illumination extending farther than the eye could reach, andoccasioned by the innumerable watch-fires which were kindled in everyquarter, and gradually spread farther and farther, as the lines of thebivouacking army were lengthened by the arrival of fresh columns. By wayof variety, the flames rising from a number of burning houses in thedistance formed as it were points of repose. Scarcely was the night overwhen all eyes and ears were on the alert, in expectation that thesanguinary scene would commence with the morning's dawn. All, however, remained quiet. People, therefore, again ventured abroad, and therethought themselves more secure than the preceding day, because theymight the more easily avoid the danger while at a distance-than theycould have done the night before. It required, to be sure, considerablestrength of nerves not to be shocked at the spectacles which every wherepresented themselves. Many dead bodies of soldiers, who had come sickinto bivouac, lay naked in the fields and upon the roads. The heirs hadtaken especial care to be on the spot at the moment of their decease, totake possession of all that the poor wretches had to bequeath. Themortality among the horses had been still greater: you met with theircarcasses almost at every step; and, which way soever you turned youreyes, you beheld a still greater number which Death had so firmly seizedin his iron grasp, that they inclined their heads to the ground, andfell, in a few minutes, to rise no more! Scarcely was there sufficientroom on the high road for a slender pedestrian to find a passage. Allthe fields were covered with troops and baggage. Even on the place ofexecution they had erected bivouacs, and not the most inconvenient, because they were there less crowded than in other places. Except singlemusket-shots, nothing was to be heard but incessant cries of _Serrez!Serrez!_ (Closer! Closer!)--The dice yet lay in the box, and were notdestined to be thrown that day. It was probably spent in reconnoitring, in order to make up the parties for the grand game in which empires werethe stake. The preparations for the defence of the city became moreserious and alarming. The exterior avenues had been previouslypalisaded, and provided with _chevaux de frise_; but the greater part ofthem were completely closed up. Loop-holes were formed in every wall, and _tirailleurs_ posted behind them. In every garden and at every hedgeyou stumbled upon pickets. As the inner town is better secured by itsstrong walls against a first onset, they contented themselves there withsawing holes in the great wooden gates, for the purpose of firingthrough them. Every thing denoted the determination not to spare thecity in the least, however unfit in itself for a point of defence. Theonly circumstance calculated to tranquillize the timid was the presenceof our king, for whom, at any rate, Napoleon could not but have somerespect. 

As there was no appearance of gleaning much information abroad, I nowsought a wider prospect upon a steeple. --So much I had ascertained fromall accounts, that it was principally the Austrians who had beenengaged the preceding day. Some hundreds of prisoners had been broughtin; the church-yard had been allotted to these poor fellows for theirabode, probably that they might study the inscriptions on thegrave-stones, and thus be reminded of their mortality. Nothing was giventhem to eat, lest they should be disturbed in these meditations. So faras the telescope would command were to be seen double and triple lines, the end of which the eye sought in vain. The French army stretched in avast semicircle from Paunsdorf to Probstheide, and was lost in the woodsof Konnewitz. It occupied therefore a space of more than one German mile(five English miles). Behind all these lines appeared reserves, who wereposted nearer to the city. On this side the main force seemed to beassembled. Towards the north and west the ranks were more broken anddetached. Of the armies of the allies, only some divisions could yet bediscerned. The Cossacks were plainly distinguished at a distance of twoleagues. They had the boldness to venture within musket-shot of theFrench lines, alight, thrust their pikes into the ground, and let theirhorses run about. The king of Saxony himself witnessed their audacitywhilst in the midst of the French army, about half a league fromLeipzig. A number of these men came unawares upon him; and a Saxonofficer, with eighty horse, was obliged to face about against them, tillthe king had reached a place of safety. This was the principal reasonwhy he made his entry into the city on horseback. 

The 15th of October, which had been universally expected to give birthto important events, was now quietly passed. For many weeks the city hadnot been so tranquil as it was on the night of that day. Nothing butthe incessant _Qui vive?_ at the gates, denoted the presence of thetroops. On my return about eight o'clock from the suburbs, I wassuddenly surprised by an unusual phenomenon: in the direction of Pegau, I saw three white rockets ascend to a great height amid the darkness. Istood still, and waited to observe what would follow. In about a minutefour red ones rose above the horizon, apparently from Halle. After thisthere was nothing more to be seen. That they were signals could not bedoubted, any more than that those signals must have been made by thecombined troops. I concluded that they must have armies in thosequarters, and that they were informing one another by these luminousmessengers of the points at which they had arrived. It now became morecertain than ever that the 16th would be the great day that shoulddecide the fate of Germany. I expressed my conjectures to several Frenchofficers, that, according to all appearance, fresh armies of the allieswere on their march toward Leipzig. They contradicted me point-blank;partly because, as they said, the crown-prince of Sweden and generalBlücher had been obliged to retreat precipitately across the Elbe, as animmense French army was in full march upon Berlin; and partly becausethey were convinced that the reinforcements which might be coming upcould be of no great consequence; and were confident, that, at allevents, they should be perfectly prepared to receive the enemy. Neverdid they make so sure of the most complete victory as they didpreviously to the then approaching engagement. Besides the French ingarrison in the city, there were many German troops, who expressedlittle hope, and, on the other hand, declared their resolution to makeno resistance, but to pass over to the allies, as many of their comradeshad already done; and there was no reason to doubt theirsincerity. --Thus passed the second day, between hope and fear. 

The dawn of the 16th of October was enveloped in a thick fog. It wasgloomy, rainy, and cold. It was imagined that the hostile armies, thoughso eager for the combat, would restrain their ardour to engage till thefog should have cleared away. Soon after six, however, the thunder ofthe artillery began to roll from Liebertwolkwitz. It grew more violent, and approached nearer;--this was probably the moment when the Austriansstormed that place. The firing _en pelotons_ was already heard. From ourelevated position we could discern nothing, the dense fog concealingevery object at the distance of one hundred paces. About ten, theartillery thundered along the whole line of battle. The atmospherebecame clearer, and the clouds dispersed. Every flash from the cannonwas distinctly visible on the side of Konnewitz. Already a thousandengines of death hurled destruction among the contending armies. Thefire of jägers and sharp-shooters rattled on all sides, and we soondiscovered whole ranges of battalions and regiments. It was a generalengagement;--that was evident enough to every one, even though he hadnever before heard a cannon fired in all his life. On the side of theHalle and Ranstädt gates all was yet quiet, and I began to imagine thatmy rockets had deceived me. For six hours the guns had roared, and allthe lines were enveloped in clouds of smoke, through which the flashesincessantly darted like lightning. As yet neither party seemed to havereceded an inch. The thunders of the artillery still continued toproceed from the same spot. No longer could the firing of single gunsbe distinguished; hundreds were every moment discharged, and united inone single protracted roar. How many victims must already have strewedthe field!--At length, about eleven o'clock, a considerable changeseemed to have taken place. The firing did not appear more distant, butbecame less general; single shots were heard, and the combatants seemeddisposed to make a pause in the work of death. All on a sudden a new andtremendous cannonade commenced beyond Lindenau, towards Lützen, not muchmore than half a league from the city. The batteries of the alliesseemed to fire from Kleinschocher: those of the French were posted onthe heights of Lindenau. The corps of count Giulay had arrived there, and now it appeared that my interpretation of the rockets was correct. Ithen turned my eyes quickly towards the north, in the direction ofHalle, where before there was little or nothing to be seen. How was Iastonished when I now beheld lines of soldiers stretching farther thanthe eye could reach, and fresh columns advancing behind them. Itappeared as if the troops which had been so furiously engaged the wholemorning were but the advanced guards of the immense armies that nowextended themselves more and more before me. Whence the French lineswhich were so rapidly ranged opposite to them could have sprung, I amyet at a loss to conceive: an hour before, I should have estimated themat scarcely 10, 000 men; and, what I now saw, my inexperienced eyecomputed at more than 200, 000 on both sides. This prodigious army seemedabout to form in order of battle. A few cannon-shot which it fired wereprobably designed only to announce its arrival to the other chiefs. Immediately afterwards, the cannonade beyond Lindenau, which had lastedabout two hours, entirely ceased. On the left wing of the French theaction was still very vigorously continued. It was about twelve o'clockwhen we descended, to learn what accounts had meanwhile been received inthe city, that our relations with the lower world might not be totallysuspended. Before the residence of our sovereign there was a crowd ofofficers of all ranks. The city-guard was drawn out on parade as well asthe grenadier-guard. A full band was playing, by French order, thoughnobody could conceive what was the meaning of all this, while the cannonwere yet thundering before the city. We soon learned that the allies hadsustained a total defeat; that an Austrian prince, the archdukeFerdinand, had lost an arm, and been taken prisoner with 40, 000 men; andthat an immense quantity of artillery had been captured. Thisintelligence had been forwarded by marshal Ney from the field of battle, and preparations were instantly made to celebrate the victory. Aregiment of the French guards marched to the promenade before thecity--now, alas! an offensive sewer, --and, agreeably to command, expressed their exultation in the acquisition of these new laurels by aloud _Vive l'empereur!_ Of the citizens, but a very small portion tookpart in their joy; for what else could they have expected from such avictory than inevitable death by famine? The more intelligent shooktheir heads; and in truth there were but too many reasons to suspect thetruth of the account. If you asked the wounded, who in troops eitherhobbled or were carried in at the gates, the answer, was, _Les Cossaquesont encore la même position_--(The Cossacks are still in the sameposition). None of them had heard any thing about captured cannon, butthey well knew that they had themselves lost five pieces that morning. Iwas unable to comprehend how the French commander-in-chief, possessingin so eminent a degree the quality of a correct military _coup d'œil_, could so early announce that he had won the battle, when such numerousarmies of the allies had but just arrived upon the field, and had notyet fired a single shot. Country-people, who had fled from theneighbourhood of Grimma, declared that a fresh army of Russians, undergeneral Bennigsen, was in full march towards that place. In truth, onlya small part of the allied forces had yet been engaged. Bennigsen, thecrown-prince of Sweden, and field-marshal Blücher, had not yet enteredthe lists. If this fiction was intended merely to pacify our king at theexpense of truth, it was evident that this object could not be attainedwithout compromising him;--a kind of treatment wholly unmerited by aprince who was never guilty of wilful falsehood[4]. 

In the midst of these rejoicings for the victory, the thunder of theartillery was again heard from Lindenau. The tremendous roar was almostimmediately repeated from Taucha, Wiederitsch, and Breitenfeld. TheSwedish army and that of Blücher were now engaged. We again repaired toour lofty station. There was not a point round the city where the fatalengines were not dealing forth destruction. We knew not which way firstto direct the glass. "Only look here, " cried one. "Oh! that's nothing atall, " replied another, "you must come this way. "--"You none of you seeany thing, " exclaimed a third: "you must look yonder--there the cavalryare cutting away--and hark how the fresh artillery is beginning tofire. " It was singular enough that just at the very point where theallies were reported to have sustained so signal a defeat, that is tosay, on their left wing, at Liebertwolkwitz, the cannonade again becamethe most violent. Fresh troops, with artillery, including a large bodyof Polish cavalry, were seen hastening out by the Ranstädt gate towardsLindenau. Napoleon himself rode with the king of Naples along thecauseway to the Kuhthurm (cow-tower), as it is called, probably toobserve how things were going on. The allies strove to make themselvesmasters of the pass near Lindenau. Their infantry had actuallypenetrated into the village, but was driven back, and this was succeededby a tremendous fire of riflemen, which was near enough for us todistinguish the discharge of every single piece. I remarked on thisoccasion the incredible exertions of the French _voltigeurs_, whodefended a ditch near the Kuhthurm, ran to and fro on the bank withinconceivable agility, availed themselves of the protection afforded byevery tree and every hedge, and fired away as briskly as though theyhad carried with them the confederation of the Rhine, as their ownproperty, in their cartouch-boxes. Cannon-balls and shells had fallen inthe village itself, which was set on fire in several places. Whetherfriend or enemy had the advantage it was impossible to judge, on accountof the broken nature of the ground and the woods, behind which theengagement was the hottest It was evident that one party exerted itselfas strenuously to defend as the other did to take this importantposition. The French retained it; therefore the prize of victory in thisinstance must be adjudged to them. At Breitenfeld, Lindenthal, andWiederitsch, the fortune of the day was different. There the lines ofthe allies evidently advanced. The cannonade was an infalliblebarometer. The French artillery receded, and was already driven back soclose upon Gohlis and Eutritzsch, that the balls of their opponents fellin both villages. Night drew on: the vast field of battle becamegradually enveloped in darkness, and the horizon was now illumined bythe flashes of the guns alone, followed at long intervals by the lowthunder of the report. The battle had lasted the whole day all round thecity. The church-clocks struck six; and, as if all parties hadunanimously agreed to suspend at this moment the horrid work ofslaughter, the last cannon-shot was fired beyond Lindenau. The fire ofsmall arms, however, was yet kept up; but, as though the mortal strugglebecame more and more faint, that too gradually ceased. Nothing now wasseen around the horizon but one immense circle of many thousandwatch-fires. In all directions appeared blazing villages, and from theirnumber might be inferred the havoc occasioned by this arduous day. Itseffects were still more plainly manifested when we descended into thestreets. Thousands of wounded had poured in at all the gates, and everymoment increased their numbers. Many had lost an arm or a leg, and yetlimped along with pitiable moans. As for a dressing for their wounds, that was a thing which could not yet be thought of; the poor wretcheshad themselves bound them up with some old rag or other as well as theywere able. All of them were seeking hospitals, the arrangements forwhich had, in truth, been most miserably neglected by the French. Uponthe whole, I have had occasion to remark that the soldier, who has beencrippled in the service, and incapacitated for further warfare, hasnowhere so little regard paid to his situation as in the French army. Atleast such is the case just at the moment when he has most need ofattention, that is to say, just after he is wounded. No carriages orother conveyances were provided for the removal of these mangled andmutilated soldiers, though the lives of thousands might perhaps havebeen preserved by such a precaution. When the combined Russian andPrussian army marched six months before to Lützen, and prepared forbattle, the amplest provision was made in regard to this point; and itis well known that their army was thus enabled to carry off by far thegreater part of the wounded, and to afford them medical relief. Such, onthe contrary, were the arrangements of the French, that, five days afterthat engagement, soldiers with their wounds still undressed, and nearperishing for want of sustenance, were found on the field of battle, andat last owed their preservation chiefly to the surgeons and inhabitantsof this city. To each French column are attached a great number of_ambulances_, but they are never to be found where they are mostwanted. It is universally asserted that the French army surgeons arevery skilful men; but, as they seem to consult their own convenience ina very high degree, and their number is too small--for a completeregiment has but five--the arrangements for hospitals in a campaignduring which several great battles take place, and in which it is foundnecessary to crowd the sick and wounded much too closely together, aswas the case in Saxony, are always most deplorable. But to return fromthis digression:--

For the reception of the wounded, in this instance, orders had beengiven to clear out the corn-magazine, which is capable of accommodatingabout 2, 500. Each of these poor fellows received a written ticket at theouter gate of the city, and was directed to that hospital. The personswho superintended this business never gave it a thought to distributeonly such a number of these billets as the building would hold of sick, but continued to send all that came to the corn-magazine, long after itwas too full to admit another individual. Overjoyed on having at lastfound the spot, the wretched cripple exerted his last remains ofstrength, that he might obtain relief as speedily as possible at thehands of the surgeons. Judge then of the feelings of the unfortunate manwhen his hopes were here most cruelly disappointed; when he found manyhundreds of his fellow-sufferers moaning with anguish on the wet stones, without straw to lie upon, without shelter of any kind, without medicalor surgical attendance, nay, even without a drop of water, for whichthey so often and so earnestly petitioned;--when he was peremptorilyrefused admittance at the door, and he too had no other resource than toseek a couch like the rest upon the hard pavement, which his woundsvery often were unable to endure. No more attention was here paid tohim than the stones on which he gave vent to his anguish. Many hobbledfarther in quest of something to appease the cravings of hunger andthirst. But who could give it them? Extreme want had long prevailed inthe city; the very inhabitants had great trouble and difficulty toobtain for money sufficient to make a scanty meal for themselves andtheir families. The fainting soldier might think himself fortunate ifhis solicitations procured him a crust of bread or an apple. Thousandswere not so lucky. --Such was the state of things at the magazine; suchwas the spectacle exhibited in all the streets, and especially in themarket-place, where every corner provided with a shelter was convertedinto an hospital. The consequences were inevitable. Many; as mightnaturally be expected, perished, in the night, of hunger, agony, andcold. Their lot was enviable--they no longer needed any humanassistance. What heart would not have bled at such scenes ofhorror!--and yet it was the very countrymen of these unfortunatewretches who seemed to care the least about them, and passed by with themost frigid indifference, probably because they are so familiarized withsuch spectacles. O ye mothers, ye fathers, ye sisters of France, had yehere beheld your agonized sons and brothers, the sight, like a hideousphantom, would surely have haunted you to the last moment of your lives. The laurels acquired by your nation have indeed been purchased at a mostexorbitant price. 

I have forgotten to mention a circumstance worthy of notice in thehistory of this day. It is this; that in the midst of the cannonade allround Leipzig--when the whole city shook with the thunders of theartillery, and the general engagement had, strictly speaking, but justcommenced--all the bells of the churches were rung by French command, tocelebrate the victory won in the forenoon. Such an instance wascertainly never afforded by any battle which had scarcely begun, andterminated in the total and decisive overthrow of him who had alreadyfancied himself mounted in triumph upon the car of victory. This day, however, the engagement still remained undecided, according to thereports of those who returned from different points of the field ofbattle. The French had stood as if rooted to the spot--the allies, likerocks of granite. The former had fought like men, the latter like lions. Both parties, inspired with mutual respect, desisted from hostilitiesduring the night. 

The combined troops, who had not been able in two sanguinary days tobring the contest to an issue, had, however, during that time gainedseveral essential advantages. They had ascertained the strength of theirantagonist, and made themselves acquainted with the nature of theground. They knew what points were the most vulnerable, and could thenceinfer how the enemy would manœuvre. They were enabled to make their owndispositions accordingly, and to give to the plan of the grandengagement that perfection by which it is so peculiarly characterized. In this point of view the allies had, without our suspecting it, advanced a considerable step on the night of the third day. 

According to the general opinion of the inhabitants of Leipzig, the 17thwas destined to be the important day on which the last act of the greattragedy was to be performed. We were, however, mistaken. The morningcame, and we heard nothing from either side. We had long ceased to takenotice of single shots. The French lines occupied Probstheide, and allthe points where they had the preceding day been posted. The order ofbattle had, however, been considerably changed. The vast armies whichhad been drawn up to the west and north had almost entirely disappeared. In the forenoon a cannonade commenced about Gohlis, but soon ceasedagain. In the meadows between the city and Lindenau were posted somecavalry. At a greater distance but few troops were to be seen; and theallies seemed to have renounced any farther attempts on that pass. Theleft wing of the French grand army extended to Abtnaundorf, and hadstrong corps posted as far as Taucha; the centre stretched behind theKohlgärten and Stötteritz to Probstheide, and the right wing reachedbeyond Konnewitz to the wood and the Elster. Several lines were advancedto Markleeberg. The combined army occupied parallel positions. You willnot expect me to say more respecting the order of battle, especially asa circumstantial account of it has already appeared. The motives whichoccasioned a kind of truce to be observed during the whole of this dayare unknown to me. This phenomenon was, the more surprising, as Napoleonis not accustomed long to defer business of such importance. From what Ican learn, there was no parleying, as has been asserted, between thecontending parties. Several Frenchmen assigned, as a reason, that theemperor expected a strong reinforcement of three corps, and thereforeundertook nothing on this day. On all sides columns of smoke were yetseen rising from the villages that were reduced to ashes. All at oncethe church of Probstheide also appeared in flames. It soon fell in, andis now totally demolished. This fire is said to have been occasioned bynegligence. 

All the large edifices in the city were now selected for the purpose ofbeing converted into hospitals. The number of the wounded keptcontinually augmenting, and by far the greatest part of them had stillno other shelter than the streets. Many, though after three days ofsuffering, were yet unable to obtain any assistance. The king resolutelyremained in the city, in order, as the event shewed, there to await hisfate, whatever it might be. Our condition became every moment morealarming; and, in proportion as our anxiety grew more painful, our hopesdiminished. What will become of us before this time to-morrow? was thegeneral question on the evening of that day, and we looked forward withdejection and despondency to the morrow's dawn. We felt much lessanxiety in the midst of the thunder of the artillery than we did at theclose of this fourth day. It resembled the dead calm which precedes theimpending storm. The combined troops took their leave of us for thenight, as they had done on the preceding, with the discharge of threecannon. It had been Sunday, and you might almost have imagined that thecontending parties had suffered it to pass thus peaceably, out ofrespect to the commandment--_Thou shalt keep the sabbath-day holy. _

The 18th of October at length appeared. It was a day equal in importanceto many a century; and the fewer History can produce that deserve to beclassed along with it, the more memorable it will remain. All thatpreceded it had merely opened the way, and there were yet almostinaccessible cliffs to climb before we could flatter ourselves with thehope of reaching the wished-for goal. The leaders of the allies hadalready shewn the ablest French generals, in several grand engagements, that they possessed sufficient means and talents to dissolve the charmof their invincibility. They were now about to enter the lists with thehero whom a thousand panegyrists, during a period of near twenty years, had extolled far above the greatest generals of ancient and moderntimes; whose enemies had to boast of but one victory over him at most--avictory which he himself did not admit, as he ascribed the totaldestruction of his army in Russia to physical causes alone. It was theconqueror of Marengo, Austerlitz, Friedland, Ratisbon, Wagram, andMojaisk. Fresh laurels entwined his brow at Lützen, Bautzen, andDresden. Here at Leipzig the allies attempted to wrest them from him whograsps so firmly. It was easy to foresee that with unshaken resolutionhe would risk all, in order, as on former occasions, to gain all, and toput an end to the campaign with a single blow. He seemed to contemplatenothing less than the utter annihilation of the allies, as all thebridges far and near were broken down to cut off their retreat. Whetherthe situation in which he had placed himself was such as to justifythese hopes, I shall leave to the decision of those who are betterqualified to judge. His confidence in victory must, however, have beenvery strong, as he had made such inadequate preparations for his ownretreat. 

The action commenced in the centre of the French army beyondProbstheide, probably with the storming of the villages in its front, for we afterwards learned that they were several times taken andrecovered. They have been more or less reduced to heaps of rubbish. Thatthe work of slaughter might be completed on this day, it had been begunwith the first dawn of morning. So early as nine o'clock all the immenselines from Taucha to Konnewitz were engaged. As the latter village laynearest to us, we could see what was passing there the most distinctly. From Lösnig, a village situated beyond Konnewitz, a hollow, about twothousand paces in length, runs from north-west to south-east. It isbordered with a narrow skirt of wood, consisting of alders, limes, andoaks, and forms an angle with the village. Beyond this line wereadvanced several French batteries, the incessant movements of which, aswell as every single shot, might be clearly distinguished with ourglasses. To make myself better acquainted with this neighbourhood, Iexplored two days afterwards this part of the field of battle, and foundthat the French artillery must there have formed an open triangle; forthe road which runs straight from Leipzig, behind Konnewitz throughDehlis and Lösnig, of course from north to south, was also lined byFrench batteries. The houses of those villages had served them for a_point d'appui_ in the rear, and were most of them dreadfully shatteredby the balls of the Austrians. The artillery of the latter seems to havehad a great advantage in regard to the ground. The French cannon broughtinto the line from Konnewitz to Dehlis and Lösnig stood in ahollow--those of the Austrians on eminences. These last had moreover theadvantage of enfilading the two angles formed by the batteries of theFrench. That this had actually been the case was evident from thenumbers of French cannoniers and horses lying dead in rows in the lineof the above-mentioned villages, where they had been swept down by theguns of their opponents. On the eminences where the hostile cannon wereplanted the number of dead was much smaller, and these were apparentlynot artillery-men, but infantry, who were probably engaged in coveringthose batteries. The firearms which lay beside them confirmed theconjecture. This pass must nevertheless have been obstinately defended, as it was not taken the whole day. The fire of musketry grew more andmore brisk--a proof that the combatants were already in close action. The French _tirailleurs_ could not be driven out of the woods, on whichtheir right wing was supported. We remarked frequent charges of cavalry, which seemed to decide nothing. All the villages lying beyond Konnewitz, on the road to Borna, as far as Markleeberg, were on fire. The thunderfrom the French centre, as well as from the left wing, graduallyapproached nearer to the city. The seventh corps, under general Reynier, was in the left wing, and posted towards Taucha. It was principallycomposed of Saxons. They had just come into action, and the allies hadalready brought up a great number of guns against them. To the no smallastonishment and consternation of their leader, they suddenly shoulderedtheir arms, marched forward in close files with their artillery, andwent over to the enemy. Several French battalions, misled by thismovement, joined them, and were immediately disarmed and made prisonersby the allies. The French cuirassiers, suspecting the design of theSaxons, followed, apparently with the intention of falling upon them. The Saxons faced about, and compelled them, by a smart fire of musketry, to return. A volley of small arms was discharged after them, but with nomore effect--it did them no injury. Their horse-artillery turned about, and soon dismounted that of the French. They were greeted with a joyful_hurrah!_ by the Cossacks, who cordially shook hands with their newcomrades. The Saxons desired to be immediately led back to the attack ofthe French. The hearts of these soldiers individually had long glowedwith revenge for all the devastations committed in their native land bytheir allies and companions in arms, for whom they had so often shedtheir blood in torrents. The generals of the allies refused on very goodgrounds to comply with their desire. The Saxons marched a league intothe rear of the field of battle, and there bivouacked. Their artilleryonly was afterwards invited to take part in the engagement, and didgreat execution. This circumstance had an essential influence on theissue of the contest, inasmuch as the defection of a body of more than8000 men facilitated the advance of the right wing of the allies. Butfor this step the Saxons would have fared very badly, as their opponentshad already ranged upwards of thirty pieces of cannon against theirline, and were bringing up still more to the attack. These now provedthe more galling to the ranks of the French, who were driven back almostto the Kohlgärten. From my position this advance of the allies was notto be perceived except by the approach of the thunder of the artillery. The French centre yet stood immoveable; at least we could not observefrom the city any change which denoted a retrograde movement. Thesanguinary character of this tremendous conflict might be inferred fromthe thousands of wounded, who hobbled, crawled, and were carried in atthe gates. Among the latter were many officers of rank. If you inquiredof those who returned from the field, how the battle was going on, thereply almost invariably was--"Badly enough, --the enemy is very strong. "A Saxon cuirassier declared, without reserve, that it might beconsidered as decided, adding, "We have lost a deal of groundalready. "--Stötteritz and Schönefeld were stormed the same evening. Allthe streets were covered with wounded, and fortunate were they whocould find a shelter. As for surgical aid and refreshments, these werenot to be thought of. A far greater number of those miserable wretcheswere yet left behind in the villages, as might be seen from the detachedlimbs, which were piled in heaps, especially at Probstheide. 

Had any of the allied corps succeeded this day in penetrating on anyside into our city, nothing less than the total destruction of theFrench army would probably have been the consequence; since it mightfrom this place, as from the centre of the field of battle, have fallenupon the rear of any part of the French force, and have hemmed in boththe centre and the wings. This misfortune Napoleon had taken good careto prevent. He now felt, however, that his strength was broken, and thathe was no longer in a condition to maintain the contest. He resolvedupon retreat, but carefully sought to conceal this intention from hisenemies. Though night had come on; yet the cannon thundered as furiouslyas in the morning, and the fire of musketry was brisker than ever. Along column, with an endless train of artillery, was seen defiling fromProbstheide to Konnewitz. Again I trembled for the cause of the allies. These, I imagined, were the French guards, marching to the attack of theright wing. Now methought the moment had arrived when Napoleon wouldstrike the decisive blow, which he had so often deferred till the verylast hour. Soon afterwards the cannonade seemed to gain redoubledvigour, and continued an hour without intermission, so that every housein the city was shaken. As, however, it at length ceased withoutremoving to a greater distance, we naturally concluded that this lastattack had proved unsuccessful. More than ten great conflagrationsillumined the whole horizon amid the obscurity of night. 

The excessive bustle in the city rendered it impossible for us toobserve that the retreat had in fact commenced. The greatest part of thepersons attached to the army had already left the city, while the otherswere making all the requisite preparations for their departure. Most ofthem had wonderfully changed the tone in which they had spoken thepreceding day. They now talked of the miseries of war, deplored thesufferings of the people, and declared that peace would be the greatestof blessings for all parties. The multitude of French officers here wasso great, that even those of high rank on the staff were obliged to putup with the most wretched accommodations, for which they paidhandsomely, leaving their horses and equipages in the street, where theformer frequently ran away. One of these officers sought a night'slodging in a mean house in the author's neighbourhood. He was called upat midnight, and informed that his column had just begun to retreat. Heinquired whether the whole army was doing the same--the messengerreplied that he did not know. This circumstance first confirmed mybelief that the French had sustained a defeat, and rendered theconjecture that their whole army was retreating highly probable. ManyFrench _employés_ and soldiers had, several days before, while they yethad an opportunity, exchanged their uniform for the plainest attire, that, under this peaceful ægis, they might the more calmly await theissue of events; and that, in case the allies should come upon them toounexpectedly, they might, under the disguise of honest citizens, hastenaway to their beloved Rhine without being challenged by the lances ofthe Cossacks. With greater composure than any of them did generalBertrand, the governor of the city, who, perhaps, as an intelligentofficer, was the least confident of victory, look forward to the event. He abandoned not his post at the precipitate departure of the emperor, and was in consequence made prisoner the following day. 

Such was the conclusion of the fifth day. It beheld a field of battle, of unparalleled extent, strewed with slain; and left one of the mostflourishing districts of Saxony, as it were, one general conflagration. With anxious solicitude the people of Leipzig awaited its coming, andwith expectations unfulfilled they witnessed its close. Though itappeared probable to us all, that, in this colossal engagement, victoryhad wholly forsaken the Gallic eagles, still the fate of our city wasfar from being decided. We were yet in the midst of the crater of thetremendous volcano, which by one mighty effort might hurl us into atoms, and leave behind scarcely a vestige of our existence. Napoleon hadreceived a severe blow; and now it behoved him to oppose an immediatebarrier to the impetuous course of the conquerors, and to prevent thetotal loss of his yet remaining army, artillery, and baggage. The onlybulwark that he could employ for this purpose was Leipzig. All that arthad formerly done to render it a defensive position had long sincedisappeared. Planks, hedges, and mud walls, were scarcely calculated toresist the butt-end of a musket. This deficiency it was every wherenecessary to supply by living walls, and that was in fact done in such away as filled us all with consternation. 

At day-break on the 19th the allies put the finishing hand to the greatwork. A considerable part of the French army, with an immense quantityof artillery, had already passed through and into the city with greatprecipitation. The troops that covered the retreat were furiouslyattacked, and driven on all sides into the city. Napoleon attempted toarrest the progress of victory by an expedient which had so often beforeproduced an extraordinary effect, that is, by negotiation. A proposalwas made to evacuate the city voluntarily, and to declare the Saxontroops there as neutral, on condition that the retreating army shouldhave sufficient time allowed to withdraw from it with its artillery andwaggon-train, and to reach a certain specified point. The allies tooclearly perceived what an important advantage would in this case begained by the French army, which was less anxious for the fate of thecity than to effect its own escape. These terms were rejected, andseveral hundred pieces of artillery began to play upon Leipzig. Our fatewould have been decided had the allied sovereigns cherished sentimentsless generous and humane than they did. It behoved them to gainpossession of Leipzig at any rate; and this object they might haveaccomplished in the shortest way, and with inconsiderable loss tothemselves, if they had bombarded it for one single hour with shells, red-hot balls, and Congreve rockets, with which an English battery thataccompanied them was provided. Their philanthropic spirits, on thecontrary, revolted at the idea of involving the innocent population of a_German_ city in the fate of Moscow and Saragossa. They resolved tostorm the town, and to support the troops employed in this duty withartillery no farther than was necessary to silence the enemy, and toforce their way through the palisaded avenues and gates. Meanwhile thedischarges of artillery, quite close to us, were so tremendous, thateach seemed sufficient to annihilate the city. The king of Saxonyhimself sent flags of truce, entreating that it might be spared. Theallies replied that this should be done in as far as the defence of theenemy might render it practicable: they promised, moreover, security topersons and property after the place should be taken, and to enforce asrigid discipline as it was possible on such an occasion. To theseassurances they annexed the condition that no French should be secretedin the city, declaring that every house in which one or more of themshould be found would run the risk of being reduced to ashes. Thecannon, though only in a proportionably small number from the north andeast, immediately began to play. They were partly directed against thepalisades at the gates, partly against the French artillery whichdefended the avenues. For more than two hours balls and shells from theeast and north frequently fell in the city itself, and in the suburbs. Many a time I was filled with astonishment at the effects of one singleball, which often penetrated through two thick walls, and pursued itscourse still farther. Though they seldom fell in the streets, it wasimpossible to venture abroad without imminent hazard of life, as thesetremendous visitors beat down large fragments of roofs, chimneys, andwalls, which, tumbling with a frightful crash, threatened to bury everypassenger beneath their ruins. Still greater havoc was made by theshells, which, bursting as soon as they had descended, immediately settheir new habitations in flames. Fortunately for us, but few of theseguests were sent into the city. The most that fell came from the north, that is, in the direction of Halle. Three times did fires break out inthe Brühl, which, in a short consumed several back buildings contiguousto the city wall, and nothing but the instantaneous measures adopted fortheir extinction prevented farther damage. The allies had no otherobject, in dispatching these ministers of destruction, than to shew theretreating enemy, who, in the general confusion and bustle, could nolonger move either forward or backward, that, if they now forbore toannihilate him, it was because the innocent citizens might be involvedin equal destruction with the fugitives. Pfaffendorf, a farm-house nearthe north side of the city, had previously been set on fire, when theRussian jägers had penetrated thither through the Rosenthal, and wasconsumed to the very walls. As this place had been converted into anhospital, many poor fellows there fell a sacrifice to the flames. 

You may easily conceive the sensations of the inhabitants of the uppertown when we beheld the black clouds of smoke rising from the lower, while the incessant fire of the artillery rendered it impossible for usto repair thither, to obtain information or to afford assistance. Here, as every where else, the fears of the inhabitants were wound up to thehighest pitch. A cry was raised that several streets were already inflames, and every one now hastened to his own house, that he might be athand in case a similar accident should happen there. It became more andmore dangerous to remain in the upper stories, which the inhabitantsaccordingly quitted, and betook themselves to the kitchens and cellars. If such were the terrors of the inmates, old and young, the fears andanxiety of the French who chanced to be in the houses surpassed alldescription. Many of them were seen weeping like children, and startingconvulsively at every report of the cannon. In the midst of this hideousuproar I made another attempt to learn what was passing in the suburbs. In the streets I found inexpressible confusion, people running in alldirections, officers driving their men to the gates. Cries and shoutsresounded from all quarters, though very few of the persons from whomthey proceeded knew what they would be at. At this time cartouch-boxesand muskets were to be seen thrown away here and there in the streets. The Saxon grenadier guards were drawn out with wonderful composure andgrounded arms, before the royal residence. Every unarmed personanxiously sought to gain the nearest house, but commonly found it shutagainst him. Several had already lost their lives or been severelywounded by the balls which fell in all directions. Napoleon was still inthe city; he was at this moment with our king, with whom he had ananimated conversation, which lasted near an hour. Soon afterwards I sawhim, accompanied by the king of Naples, proceeding on horseback towardthe Ranstädt gate. I had meanwhile taken the opportunity of slippinginto a house which overlooks that street, and now for the first timebeheld a French retreat in the height of its confusion. Not a vestige ofregularity was any where observable. The horse and foot guards pouredalong in mingled disorder. They would probably have marched in quickertime, had they been permitted by the waggons and cannon, which werelocked in one another, and obstructed the way. Between these they wereobliged to pass singly, and I really thought that it would be at leastsix hours before they could all have effected their passage. Immensedroves of cattle were cooped up among the crowd. These seemed to beobjects of particular concern to the French. They sought out a space, however narrow, along the town-ditch, by which they might drive forwardtheir horned favourites. Whoever was bold enough, and had any hopes ofbeing able to conduct these animals into his own habitation, had now anopportunity of making an advantageous bargain. A few pieces of silvermight be carried off with much greater facility than a huge clumsy ox. Notwithstanding all the efforts to preserve this valuable booty from thegeneral wreck, it was absolutely impossible to save the whole of it. Many horned cattle and horses were left behind, and now innocentlysought a scanty repast by the city-walls. That, amidst all this"confusion worse confounded, " there was no want of shouting andblustering, you may easily imagine, though nobody got forward any fasterfor all this noise. On a sudden we saw at a distance the emperorhimself, with not a numerous retinue, advancing on horseback into themidst of this chaos. He got through better than I expected. I afterwardslearned that he took a by-road through a garden to the outer Ranstädtgate. Prince Poniatowsky attempted, higher up, to ford the Elster. Thebanks on each side are of considerable height, soft and swampy; thecurrent itself narrow, but in this part uncommonly deep and muddy. Howso expert a rider should have lost the management of his horse, I cannotimagine. According to report, the animal plunged headlong into the waterwith him, so that he could not possibly recover himself. He fell avictim to his temerity, and was drowned. His body was found several daysafterwards, and interred with all the military honours due to hisrank[5]. 

As the commander-in-chief had so precipitately quitted the city, wecould no longer doubt the proximity of the enemy to our walls. The fireof the artillery and musketry in the place, which gradually approachednearer, was a much more convincing proof of this than we desired. Themen already began to cut away the traces, in order to save the horses. The bustle among the soldiers augmented; a weak rearguard had taken postin Reichel's garden, to keep the allies in check, in case they shouldpenetrate into the high road. We thought them still at a considerabledistance, when a confused cry suddenly proclaimed that the Russians hadstormed the outer Peter's gate, and were coming round from theRossplatz. The French were evidently alarmed. The Russian jägers cameupon them all at once, at full speed, with tremendous huzzas and fixedbayonets, and discharged their pieces singly, without stopping. I nowthought it advisable to quit my dangerous post, and hasten home with allpossible expedition. I was informed by the way that the Prussians hadthat moment stormed the Grimma gate, and would be in the city in a fewminutes. On all sides was heard the firing of small arms, intermixed attimes with the reports of the artillery, already playing upon thewaggon-train in the suburbs. Musket-balls, passing over the city wall, likewise whizzed through the streets; and, when I ventured to put myhead out of the window, I observed with horror, not far from my house, two Prussian jägers pursuing and firing at some Frenchmen who wererunning away. Behind them I heard the storm-march, and huzzas and shoutsof _Long live Frederic William!_ from thousands of voices. A company ofBaden jägers was charged with the defence of the inner Peter's gate. These troops immediately abandoned their post, and ran as fast as theirlegs would carry them to the market-place, where they halted, and, likethe Saxon grenadier guards, fired not a single shot. 

Thus the so long feared and yet wished-for hour was at length arrived. What we should never have expected after the 2nd of May, namely, to seea single Prussian again at Leipzig, was nevertheless come to pass. Theyhad then left us as friends, and, by their exemplary conduct, hadacquired our highest respect. We bore them, as well as the Russians, inthe most honourable remembrance. They now appeared as enemies, whoseduty had imposed on them the task of storming the city. Our sons andbrothers had fought against them. What might not be our fate? We had notforgotten that which befell Lübeck, seven years before, under similarcircumstances. But they were the warriors of Alexander, Francis, Frederic William, and Charles John; terrible as destroying angels to thefoe, kind and generous to the defenceless citizen. As far as theauthor's knowledge extends, not a man was guilty of the smallest excesswithin our walls. They even paid in specie for bread, tobacco, andbrandy. The suburbs, indeed, fared not quite so well. There many aninhabitant suffered severely; but how was it possible for the commandersto be present every where, and to prevent all irregularities, after aconflict which had raged in every corner of the city? Would you comparethe victors, upon the whole, with our late friends and protectors, gothrough all Saxony, and then judge in whose favour the parallel must bedrawn. 

It was half past one o'clock when the allies penetrated into the city. The artillery had been but little used on this occasion, and in theinterior of the place not at all. Had not the allies shewn so muchtenderness for the town, they might have spared the sacrifice of somehundreds of their brave soldiers. They employed infantry in the assault, that the city might not be utterly destroyed. The grand work was nownearly accomplished. Obstinately as the French in general defendedthemselves, they were, nevertheless, unable to withstand the iron massesof their assailants. They were overthrown in all quarters, and drivenout of the place. The streets, especially in the suburbs, were strewedwith dead. The writer often counted eight in a very small space. Inabout an hour you might venture abroad without danger in all parts ofthe town. But what sights now met the eye! Leipzig, including thesuburbs, cannot occupy an area of much less than one (German) squaremile. In this extent there was scarcely a spot not covered with housesbut bore evidence of the sanguinary conflict. The ground was coveredwith carcasses, and the horses were particularly numerous. The neareryou approached to the Ranstädt gate, the thicker lay the dead bodies. The Ranstädt causeway, which is crossed by what is called the Mühlgraben(mill-dam), exhibited a spectacle peculiarly horrid. Men and horses wereevery where to be seen; driven into the water, they had found theirgrave in it, and projected in hideous groups above its surface. Here thestorming columns from all the gates, guided by the fleeing foe, had forthe most part united, and had found a sure mark for every shot in theclosely crowded masses of the enemy. But the most dreadful sight of allwas that which presented itself in the beautiful Richter's garden, oncethe ornament of the city, on that side where it joins the Elster. Therethe cavalry must have been engaged; at least I there saw a great numberof French cuirasses lying about. All along the bank, heads, arms, andfeet, appeared above the water. Numbers, in attempting to ford thetreacherous river, had here perished. People were just then engaged incollecting the arms that had been thrown away by the fugitives, and theyhad already formed a pile of them far exceeding the height of a man. 

The smoking ruins of whole villages and towns, or extensive tracts laidwaste by inundations, exhibit a melancholy spectacle; but a field ofbattle is assuredly the most shocking sight that eye can ever behold. Here all kinds of horrors are united; here Death reaps his richestharvest, and revels amid a thousand different forms of human suffering. The whole area has of itself a peculiar and repulsive physiognomy, resulting from such a variety of heterogeneous objects as are no whereelse found together. The relics of torches, the littered and trampledstraw, the bones and flesh of slaughtered animals, fragments of plates, a thousand articles of leather, tattered cartouch-boxes, old rags, clothes thrown away, all kinds of harness, broken muskets, shatteredwaggons and carts, weapons of all sorts, thousands of dead and dying, horribly mangled bodies of men and horses, --and all theseintermingled!--I shudder whenever I recall to memory this scene, which, for the world, I would not again behold. Such, however, was thespectacle that presented itself in all directions; so that a person, whohad before seen the beautiful environs of Leipzig, would not have knownthem again in their present state. Barriers, gardens, parks, hedges, andwalks, were alike destroyed and swept away. These devastations were notthe consequence of this day's engagement, but of the previousbivouacking of the French, who are now so habituated to conductthemselves in such a manner that their bivouacs never fail to exhibitthe most deplorable attestations of their presence, as to admit no hopesof a change. The appearance of Richter's garden was a fair specimen ofthe aspect of all the others. Among these the beautiful one of Löhr wasparticularly remarkable. Here French artillery had been stationedtowards Göhlis; and here both horses and men had suffered most severely. The magnificent buildings, in the Grecian style, seemed mournfully tooverlook their late agreeable, now devastated, groves, enlivened inspring by the warbling of hundreds of nightingales, but where nownothing was to be heard, save the loud groans of the dying. The darkalleys, summer-houses, and arbours, so often resorted to for recreation, social pleasures, or silent meditation, were now the haunts of death, the abode of agony and despair. The gardens, so late a paradise, weretransformed into the seat of corruption and pestilential putridity. Asimilar spectacle was exhibited by Grosbosch's, Reichel's, and all theother spacious gardens round the city, which the allies had been obligedto storm. --The buildings which had suffered most were those at the outergates of the city. These were the habitations of the excise and otherofficers stationed at the gates. Most of them were so perforated asrather to resemble large cages, which you may see through, than solidwalls. All this, however, though more than a thousand balls must havebeen fired at the city, bore no comparison to the mischiefs which mighthave ensued, and which we had every reason to apprehend. We now lookforward to a happier futurity; the commerce of Leipzig will revive; andthe activity, industry, and good taste of its inhabitants, will, doubtless, ere long, call forth from these ruins a new and morebeautiful creation. 

I now summon your attention from these scenes of horror to others of adifferent kind, the delineation of which is absolutely necessary tocomplete the picture. Those hosts which had so long been the scourge ofGermany and Europe, and had left us this last hideous monument of theirpresence, perhaps never to return, were now in precipitate flight, asthough hurried away by an impetuous torrent. The terrors of the MostHigh had descended upon them. The conqueror had appeared to them atLeipzig in the most terrific form, and with uplifted arm followed closeat their heels. About a league beyond the city the ardour of the pursuitsomewhat abated; at Markranstädt the routed army first stopped to takebreath, and to form itself in some measure into a connected whole. Thebooty taken by the allies was immense. The suburbs were crowded withwaggons and artillery, which the enemy had been obliged to abandon. Itwas impossible for the most experienced eye to form any kind of estimateof their numbers. The captors left them all just as they were, andmerely examined here and there the contents of the waggons. Many of themwere laden with rice, which was partly given away, especially by thePrussians. Many a Frenchman probably missed the usual supply of it forhis scanty supper. All the streets were thronged with the allied troops, who had fought dispersed, and now met to congratulate one another on theimportant victory. Soon after the city was taken, their sovereigns madetheir entry. The people pressed in crowds to behold their august and solong wished-for deliverers. They appeared without any pomp in thesimplest officers' uniforms, attended by those heroes, a Blücher, Bülow, Platow, Barklay de Tolly, Schwarzenberg, Repnin, Sanders, &c. &c. , whomwe had so long admired. The acclamations of the people were unbounded. Tens of thousands of voices greeted them with _Huzzas_ and _Vivats_; andwhite handkerchiefs, --symbols of peace, --waved from every window. Somefew indeed were too unhappy to take part in the general joy on thismemorable day. It was the only punishment, but truly a severe one, forthe abject wretches who have not German hearts in their bosoms. Neverdid acclamations so sincere greet the ears of emperors and kings asthose which welcomed Alexander, Francis, Frederic William, and CharlesJohn. They were followed by long files of troops, who had so gloriouslysustained the arduous contest under their victorious banners. In themidst of Cossacks, Prussian, Russian, Austrian, and Swedish hussars, appeared also our gallant Saxon cavalry, resolved henceforward to fightfor the liberty of Germany, and the genuine interests of their nativeland. 

A great number of regiments immediately continued their march withouthalting, and took some the road to Pegau, and others that to Merseburg, in order to pursue the enemy in his left flank and in his rear. Blücher's army had the preceding day advanced to the neighbourhood ofMerseburg, where it was now posted in the right flank of the retreatingforce. Leipzig had nothing more to fear. French officers and soldierswere every where seen intermixed with their conquerors. It was only hereand there that they were collected together and conveyed away. Of thegreater part but little notice was taken in the first bustle, as all thegates were well guarded, and it was scarcely possible for one of them toescape. Numbers had fled during the assault from their quarters into thesuburbs. Many seemed to have left behind valuable effects and money, asI should conjecture from various expressions used by some, who offered, several Napoleon-d'ors to any person who could assist them to reachtheir lodgings. For this, however, it was now too late. Strict orderswere issued against the secreting or entertaining of Frenchmen, and theywere therefore obliged to seek, for the moment, a refuge in thehospitals. 

Only a small part of the combined troops had gone in pursuit of theFrench. By far the greatest portion reposed in countless ranks round thetown from the fatigues of the long and sanguinary conflict. Part of thearmy equipage entered, and all the streets were soon crowded to suchexcess that you could scarcely stir but at the risk of your life. Theallied monarchs alighted in the market-place, where the concourse ofguards and equipages was consequently immense. Here I saw the lateFrench commandant of the city coming on foot with a numerous retinue ofofficers and commissaries, and advancing towards the Russian generals. The fate of general Bertrand was certainly most to be pitied; he was atruly honest man, who had no share in those inexpressible miseries inwhich we had been for the last six months involved. I felt so much theless for the commissaries, whom I have ever considered as the Pandora'sbox of the French army, whence such numberless calamities have spreadover every country in which they have set foot. At the residence of oursovereign I observed no other alteration than that a great number ofSaxon generals and officers were collected about it. The lifegrenadier-guards were on duty as before, and a battalion of Russiangrenadiers was parading in front of the windows. No interview, that Iknow of, took place between the king of Saxony the allied sovereigns. The king of Prussia remained here longest in conversation with theprince-royal. The emperors of Austria and Russia, as well as thecrown-prince of Sweden, returned early to the army. After the departureof the Prussian monarch, our king set out under a strong escort ofCossacks for Berlin, or, as some asserted, for Schwedt. 

The French hospitals which we had constantly had here since thebeginning of the year, and which, since the battle of Lützen and thedenunciation of the armistice, had increased to such a degree as tocontain upwards of 20, 000 sick and wounded, may be considered as amalignant cancer, that keeps eating farther and farther, and consumingthe vital juices. It was these that introduced among us a dreadfullydestructive nervous fever, which had increased the mortality of theinhabitants to near double its usual amount. Regarded in this point ofview alone, they were one of the most terrible scourges of the city; butthey proved a still more serious evil, inasmuch as the whole expense ofthem fell upon the circle. The French never inquired whence theprodigious funds requisite for their maintenance were to be derived, norever thought of making the smallest compensation. If we reckon, for sixmonths, 10, 000 sick upon an average, and for each of them 12 groschenper day (and, including all necessaries, they could scarcely be kept atthat rate), the amount for each day is 5000, and, for the six months, the enormous sum of 900, 000 dollars, which the exhausted coffers wereobliged to pay in specie. This calculation, however, is so far below thetruth, that it ought rather to be greatly augmented. A tolerableaggregate must have been formed by proportionable contributions from allour country towns, and this was for the service of the hospitals alone:judge then of the rest. 

Previously to the battle of Leipzig the state of the inmates of thesepestilential dens, these abodes of misery, was deplorable enough, asthey were continually becoming more crowded and enlarged. Many of thepersons attached to them, and in particular many a valuable andexperienced medical man, carried from them the seeds of death into thebosom of his family. With their want of accommodations, cleanliness wasa point which could not be attained, and it was impossible to pass themwithout extreme disgust. As Leipzig was for a considerable time cut offfrom the rest of the world by the vast circle of armies, like themariner cast upon a desert island, the wants of these hospitals becamefrom day to day more urgent. Provisions also at length began to fail. The distress had arrived at its highest pitch, when the thousands fromthe field of battle applied there for relief. Not even bread could anylonger be dispensed to these unfortunates. Many wandered about withoutany kind of shelter. Then did we witness scenes which would havethrilled the most obdurate cannibals with horror. No eye could havebeheld a sight more hideous at Smolensk, on the Berezyna, or on the roadto Wilna--there at least Death more speedily dispatched his victims. Thousands of ghastly figures staggered along the streets, begging atevery window and at every door; and seldom indeed had Compassion thepower to give. These, however, were ordinary, familiar spectacles. Neither was it rare to see one of these emaciated wretches picking upthe dirtiest bones, and eagerly gnawing them; nay, even the smallestcrumb of bread which had chanced to be thrown into the street, as wellas apple-parings and cabbage-stalks, were voraciously devoured. Buthunger did not confine itself within these disgusting limits. More thantwenty eye-witnesses can attest that wounded French soldiers crawled tothe already putrid carcasses of horses, with some blunt knife or othercontrived with their feeble hands to cut the flesh from the haunches, and greedily regaled themselves with the carrion. They were glad toappease their hunger with what the raven and the kite never feed on butin cases of necessity. They even tore the flesh from human limbs, andbroiled it to satisfy the cravings of appetite; nay, what is almostincredible, the very dunghills were searched for undigested fragments todevour. You know me, and must certainly believe that I would not relateas facts things which would be liable to be contradicted by the wholecity. Thus the hospitals became a hot-bed of pestilence, from which thesenses of hearing, smell, and sight, turned with disgust, and one of themost fatal of those vampyres which had so profusely drained our vitals, and now dispensed destruction to those who had fed them and to the sickthemselves. 

The great church-yard exhibited a spectacle of peculiar horror. Thepeaceful dead and their monuments had been spared no more than any othercorner of the city. Here also the king of terrors had reaped a richharvest. The slight walls had been converted into one great fort, andloop-holes formed in them. Troops had long before bivouacked in thisspot, and the Prussian, Russian, and Austrian prisoners, were hereconfined, frequently for several successive days, in the mosttempestuous weather and violent rain, without food, straw, or shelter. These poor fellows had nevertheless spared the many handsome monumentsof the deceased, and only sought a refuge from the wet, or a lodging forthe night, in such vaults as they found open. This spacious ground, which rather resembled a superbly embellished garden than aburial-place, now fell under the all-desolating hands of the French. Itsoon bore not the smallest resemblance to itself; what Art had, in thespace of a century, employed a thousand hands to produce, was in a shorttime, and by very few, defaced and destroyed. The strongest iron doorsto the vaults were broken open, the walls stripped of their decorationsand emblems of mourning, the last tributes of grief and affectionannihilated, and every atom of wood thrown into the watch-fire; so thatthe living could no longer know where to look for the remains of thedeceased objects of their love. The elegant rails, with which thegenerality of the graves were encompassed, for the most partdisappeared, and the only vestiges of them to be found were their ashes, or the relics of the reeking brands of the watch-fire. On the 19th thiswretched bulwark also was stormed, and thrown down as easily as afowler's net. The carcasses of horses now replaced upon the graves themonuments of mourning for the peaceful dead. After the battle part ofthe French prisoners were confined in this place. The church of St. John, which stands in it, had, as early as the month of May, beenconverted into an hospital, which, ever since the beginning of October, was crowded with sick. It could hold no more; the sick and prisonerswere therefore intermingled, and lay down pell-mell among the graves. What had hitherto been spared was now completely destroyed. In thiscase, indeed, dire necessity pleaded a sufficient excuse. Who could findfault with Distress and Despair if they resorted to the only means thatcould afford them the slightest alleviation? Who could grudge them ashelter in the cold autumnal nights, even though they sought it in thedreary abode of mouldering corpses? Every vault which it was possiblefor them to open was converted into a chamber and dwelling-place, whichat least was preferable to a couch between hillocks soaked with rain orcovered with hoar frost. They descended into the deepest graves, brokeopen the coffins, and ejected their tenants, to procure fire-wood towarm their frozen limbs. I myself saw a French soldier who had fallenamong a heap of coffins piled up to the height of more than twelve feet;and, unable to clamber up again, had probably lain there several days, and been added by Death to the number of his former victims. Theappearance of the skulls, before so carefully concealed from the view ofthe living, now thrown out of the coffins into the graves, was trulyghastly. 

In spite of all the exertion of the new authorities, appointed by theallies to alleviate the general misery, it was utterly impossible forany human power to restore order in the horrid chaos which the Frenchhad left behind them. A severe want of all necessaries was felt in thecity; the circumjacent villages, far and wide, were plundered and laidwaste. From them, of course, no supply could be obtained. More thanthirty hospitals were not capable of receiving all the sick and woundedwho applied for admission. Where were to be found buildings sufficientlyspacious, mattresses, bedding, utensils, provisions, and the prodigiousnumber of medical attendants, whose services were so urgently requiredby these poor creatures? Every edifice at all adapted to the purpose hadlong been occupied; and so completely had every thing been drained byrequisitions, that the hospital committee had for some time been unableto collect even the necessary quantity of lint. Almost every barber'sapprentice was obliged to exercise his unskilful hands in the service ofthe hospitals. It would have been impossible to procure any thing withmoney, had it been ever so plentiful; and this resource, moreover, wasalready completely exhausted. The most acute understanding and the mostinvincible presence of mind were inadequate to the providing of a remedyfor these evils. No where was there to be seen either beginning or end. The city was covered with carcasses, and the rivers obstructed with deadbodies. Thousands of hands were necessary to remove and bury thesedisgusting objects before any attention could be paid to the clearing ofthe field of battle about Leipzig. As all sought relief, there was ofcourse none to afford it. It was difficult to decide whether first tobuild, to slaughter, to brew, to bake, to bury the dead, or to assistthe wounded, as all these points demanded equally prompt attention. 

In the city lay many thousands of newly-arrived troops, who came fromthe fight, and were both hungry and thirsty. Notwithstanding theirmoderation, some of these could obtain nothing, and others but a veryscanty supply. Gladly would every citizen have entertained them in thebest manner; but not even a glass of the worst beer or brandy was now tobe had. Many of them naturally ascribed this to ill will, and evenobserved that every thing was denied them because they were notFrenchmen. How little did they know of our real situation! In the housewhere I live six of the Prussian foot-guards were quartered. Theycomplained when nothing was set before them but dry potatoes; butlistened with calmness to the excuses that were offered. Without makingany reply, four of them took up their arms, and departed. In about anhour they returned, bringing with them two cows, which they had takenfrom the French. These they presented to their host, and immediatelyfell to work and killed then. In two hours the family was abundantlysupplied with meat, so that it could assist others; and, as great partwas pickled, it was supplied for a considerable time. Frenchmen wouldcertainly not have acted thus. 

Among the thousands of facts which might be adduced to prove that it wasabsolutely impossible for any thing whatever to be left in the town, that its resources were completely exhausted, and that extreme wantcould not but prevail, let one instance suffice. There were in the citytwo granaries, one of which, in the palace of Pleissenburg, had beenfilled at the king's cost, and the other, called the corn-magazine, atthe expense of the magistrates. The former had long been put inrequisition by French commissaries, and had been chiefly applied to theprovisioning of the French garrisons of Wittenberg and Torgau. As thiswas the king's property, it was perhaps but right to demand it for thefortresses which were to defend the country. The stores possessed by themagistrates were purchased in those years when a scarcity of cornprevailed in Saxony. To afford some relief the government had importedgreat quantities from Russia, by way of the Baltic and the Elbe. Themagistrates of Leipzig had bought a considerable part of it, that theymight be able to relieve the wants of the citizens in case a similarcalamity should again occur. It was ground and put into casks, eachcontaining 450 pounds. They had in their magazine 4000 such casks, whichhad been left untouched even in the year 1806, and were carefullypreserved, to be used only in cases of extreme necessity. This wascertainly a wise and truly paternal precaution. So valuable a storewould have been sufficient to protect the city from hunger for aconsiderable time. As the French army behaved all over Saxony as thoughit had been in an enemy's country, and consumed every thing far andnear, the most urgent want was the inevitable consequence. They forgotthe common maxim, that the bread of which you deprive the citizen andthe husbandman is in fact taken from yourself, and that the soldier canhave nothing where those who feed him have lost their all. The countryround Dresden was already exhausted. Soldiers and travellers coming fromthat quarter could scarcely find terms to describe the distress. Theyunanimously declared that the country from Oschatz to Leipzig was a realparadise, in comparison with Lusatia and the circle of Misnia, as far asthe Elbe. Of this we soon had convincing proofs. It was necessary topick out a great number of horses from all the regiments, and to sendback numerous troops of soldiers to the depots. Don Quixote's Rosinantewas a superb animal compared with those which returned to Dresden. Mostof them had previously perished by the way. Here they covered all thestreets. The men sold them out of hand, partly for a few groschen. Agreat number were publicly put up to auction by the French commissaries;and you may form some idea what sorry beasts they must have been, whenyou know that a lot of 26 was sold for 20 dollars. After some time thewhole of the horse-guards arrived here. They were computed at 5000 men, all of whom were unfit for service. How changed! how lost was their onceimposing appearance! Scarcely could troops ever make so ludicrous, sogrotesque, and so miserable a figure. Gigantic grenadiers, with caps ofprodigious height, and heavy-armed cuirassiers, were seen riding uponlean cows, which certainly did not cut many capers. It was wonderfulthat the animals shewed no disposition to decline the singular honour. Their knapsacks were fastened to the horns, so that you were puzzled tomake out what kind of a monstrous creature was approaching. Carbineers, with cuirasses and helmets polished like mirrors, lay without boots andstockings in wheelbarrows, to which a peasant had harnessed himself withhis dog, and thus transported the heroes. Few of the horses were yetable to carry the knapsack, and much less the rider. The men weretherefore obliged to drag the jaded beasts by the bridle through thedeepest morasses, and thought themselves fortunate when at last theanimals dropped to rise no more. Compared with these endless caravans, aband of strolling players might be considered as the triumphantprocession of a Roman emperor. All these men were proceeding to Erfurtand Mentz. 

These, and similar scenes which we had daily witnessed, were a naturalconsequence of the French system of supply, and the prodigious bodies oftroops, which bore no proportion to the resources of a small tract ofcountry. Attempts had been made, but without success, to find otherprovinces abounding in grain and forage. The fertile fields of Silesiaand Bohemia were beyond their reach. The angel with the fiery swordvigilantly guarded the avenues to them against the fallen children ofAdam. It was now absolutely necessary to devise some expedient; and tothe French all means were alike. Some rice had been procured by way ofthe Elbe and the Rhine. The stocks in the warehouses of the tradesmen ofLeipzig were now put in requisition, and sent off to the army; and Ishrewdly suspect that no part of them was paid for. These, however, werebut small privations; to relieve the general want required no less amiracle than that by which 4000 men were fed with five small loaves. Thevaluable stores in the city magazine had not yet been discovered. Butwhere is the door, however strong, through which their eagle eyes wouldnot at last penetrate? The flour was soon spied out, and forthwithdestined for the hungry stomachs of the French. The barrels were rolledaway with incredible expedition, and conveyed to the bakehouses. Eachbaker was supplied with two a day, which he was obliged to make up withall possible dispatch into bread, and to carry to the Cloth-hall. Herethe loaves were piled up in immense rows, and sent off to the famishingarmy. From morning till night nothing was to be seen but waggons loadingand setting out. Not a morsel, however, was given to the soldiersquartered upon the citizens; their superiors well knew that the patientlandlord had yet a penny left in his pocket to help himself out with. Thus the fine magazine was stripped; and its valuable contents, whichwould have kept twenty years longer without spoiling, and had beenpreserved with such care, were dissipated in a moment. You may easilyconceive how severe a misfortune this loss proved to the city, and howkeenly it was felt, when you know that we were in a manner besieged forseveral weeks, and that not a handful of flour was to be had even at themills themselves. 

If you now take into the account the state of the city in a financialpoint of view, you may judge how dreadful its condition in general musthave been. In no town is a better provision made for the indigent thanin Leipzig. Here were poor-houses, under most judicious regulations, where food, fire, and lodging, were afforded. These buildings wereconverted into hospitals, their inmates were obliged to turn out, and atlength the necessitous were deprived of their scanty allowance--thefunds were exhausted, and no fresh supplies received. The citizen sunkunder the weight of his burdens; it was impossible to lay any new onesupon him. Among the different sources of income enjoyed by the city, theauthor knows of one which at each of the two principal fairs commonlyproduced 4000 dollars; whereas the receipts from it at the lateMichaelmas fair fell short of 100 dollars. All the other branches ofrevenue, whether belonging to the king or to the city, fared no better. 

Such was the state of a city, which a few years since might justly benumbered among the most opulent in Germany, and whose resources appearedinexhaustible. It may be considered as the heart of all Saxony, onaccount of the manifold channels for trade, manufactures, and industry, which here meet as in one common centre. Hence the commerce of Saxonyextends to every part of the globe. With the credit of Leipzig, that ofall Saxony could not fail to be in a great measure destroyed. Had thisstate of things continued a little longer, absolute ruin would probablyhave ensued, as the total suspension of trade would certainly haveoccasioned the removal of all the yet remaining monied men. So low, however, the city was not destined to fall. The fatal blow alreadyimpended over Leipzig, which was on the point of being reduced to a heapof ashes. Black storm-clouds gathered thick around it; but they passedoff; and a new sun, the cheering hope of better times, burst forth. Large bodies of troops are yet within our walls; and they are a heavyburden to the impoverished inhabitants, under their presentcircumstances. We shall, however, be relieved of some part of it, on thereduction of the fortresses upon the Elbe, which the enemy may yetdefend for some time, though without any other prospect than that offinal surrender, and of wielding for the last time his desolating armson the shores of that river. Symptoms of reviving trade and commercebegin at least to appear. The gates are no longer beset with the Arguseyes of French inspectors. The patient indeed, brought as he has been tothe very gates of death, is yet extremely weak, and requires the aid ofcrutches. Long will it be before he is free from pain, but his recoveryis sure: he has quitted the close sick room, and is now consigned tobetter care, to the hands of Prudence and Philanthropy, who areacquainted with his condition, and will infallibly restore him to hisformer health and vigour. 

The confederation of the Rhine and the Continental system, --termssynonymous with all the evils which have brought Germany and Europe tothe brink of destruction, --will in future have no other signification inthe vocabularies of the writers on political economy than that intervalof severe probation when Germany seemed to be annihilated, but yet rosefrom her ruins with renewed energies, and, united more firmly than ever, by new ties, with the other states of Europe, resumed her ancientrights. The battle of Leipzig was the watch-word for this greatrevolution. History, therefore, when partiality and passion shall havelong been silent, will not fail to class it among the most importantevents recorded in her annals. 

Here permit me to conclude my letters respecting those eventful days ofOctober, which must ever be so deeply impressed upon the memories of usall. What may be called the military part of my narrative may beimperfect; the names of the generals who commanded, the positions ofparticular corps, and other circumstances of minor importance, mayperhaps be incorrect; yet the circumstantial details which I have givenwill enable you to form to yourself in some measure a complete pictureof that memorable conflict. 

FOOTNOTES:

[2] The 14th of October is the anniversary of the battles of Ulm and ofJena. 

[3] What is yet called the Kohlgärten was formerly gardeners' ground forthe supply of the city, and is now converted into a fashionable village, consisting chiefly of the country-houses of merchants; and where is alsoa public garden for the recreation of the citizens. 

[4] The following fact will serve to shew how completely the king ofSaxony was duped by the imperial plunderer:--The king was standing withone of his ministers at a window of his palace in Dresden at the momentwhen a drove of remarkably fine cattle, intended for the French army, passed by. His majesty took occasion to praise the paternal care whichthe emperor manifested for his troops, in procuring them such abundantsupplies of provisions. "But, " replied the minister, "your majesty issurely not aware that it is at the expense of your poor subjects, asNapoleon pays for nothing. "--"Impossible!" exclaimed the king withevident indignation. While they were yet in conversation, intelligencewas brought from his domain of Pillnitz, which is well known to be themost beautiful in Saxony, that the French had taken away by force allhis fine cattle, and just driven them through the city. These were thevery same beasts which he had seen passing, and now for the first timehe became sensible at what price Bonaparte obtained provisions from hisfaithful ally. 

[5] Prince Joseph Poniatowsky was nephew to Stanislaus Augustus, thelast king of Poland, and there is no doubt that he was cajoled into asubservience to the views of the French emperor by the flatteringprospect of the restoration of his country to its former rank among thenations of Europe. The circumstances attending his death, as related byhis aid-de-camp, are as follow:--On the 19th of October, when the Frencharmy began to retreat, the prince was charged by Napoleon with thedefence of that part of the suburbs of Leipzig which lies nearest to theBorna road. For this service he had only 2000 Polish infantry assignedhim. Perceiving the French columns on his left flank in full retreat, and the bridge completely choked up with their artillery and carriages, so that there was no possibility of getting over it, he drew his sabre, and, turning to the officers who were about him, "Gentlemen, " said he, "it is better to fall with honour. " With these words he rushed, at thehead of a few Polish cuirassiers and the officers surrounding him, uponthe advancing columns of the allies. He had been previously wounded onthe 14th and 16th, and on this occasion also received a musket-ball inhis left arm. He nevertheless pushed forward, but found the suburbs fullof the allied troops, who hastened up to take him prisoner. He cut hisway through them, received another wound through his cross, threwhimself into the Pleisse, and with the assistance of his officersreached the opposite bank in safety, leaving his horse behind in theriver. Though much exhausted he mounted another, and proceeded to theElster, which was already lined by Saxon and Prussian riflemen. Seeingthem coming upon him on all sides, he plunged into the river, andinstantly sunk, together with his horse. Several officers, who threwthemselves in after him, were likewise drowned; and others were taken onthe bank or in the water. The body of the prince was found on the fifthday (Oct. 24), and taken out of the water by a fisherman. He was dressedin his gala uniform, the epaulets of which were studded with diamonds. His fingers were covered with rings set with brilliants; and his pocketscontained snuff-boxes of great value and other trinkets. Many of thosearticles were eagerly purchased by the Polish officers who were madeprisoners, evidently for the purpose of being transmitted to his family;so that the whole produced the fisherman a very considerable sum. 

CONCLUDING REMARKS. 

In the battle of Leipzig the reflecting observer discovers somethinggrand; but there is also much that puzzles one who is not a soldier, andis accustomed to find in all Napoleon's campaigns a consistency of planwhich he here looks for in vain. If in his earlier combinations he didnot in every instance take all possibilities into the account, butoverlooked some, this must be ascribed not so much to the want ofmilitary penetration, as to his firm confidence in his good fortune, andin his ability to turn unforeseen accidents to his own advantage, or atleast to render them harmless. Rarely has a general been so highlyfavoured by fortune for a long series of years as he. It is no wonderthen that this confidence at length increased to such a degree asfrequently to become the height of temerity. In Russia, Napoleon metwith many circumstances which he had not taken into his calculation; buthe nevertheless penetrated to Moscow. Here he for the first timeexperienced such a reverse as no general ever yet sustained. His immensearmy was entirely annihilated. His stern decree created a new one, toall outward appearance equally formidable. From the haste with which itscomponent parts were collected, it could not but be deficient inintrinsic energy, and it was impossible to doubt that this would beshewn in time. In this respect his antagonists had a decided advantage, as must have been obvious to him after the battles of Lützen andBautzen. Had he not been so vastly superior in number to the Russian andPrussian army in the first engagement, he would indisputably have beendefeated on that occasion. --The political relations of Europe hadmoreover undergone an extraordinary change. He could not for a thousandreasons be a moment doubtful of the choice of Austria. If with a strongand well-appointed army she could not by negotiation bring about a peaceupon the basis of a future balance of power among the principal statesof Europe, in which Prussia and Russia were willing to acquiesce, therecould be no question that for the sake of her own existence she wouldespouse the cause of those two powers. This Napoleon seems to haveconsidered as impossible, or the advantages already obtained must haveinspired him with the confidence that even the accession of Austria tothe alliance could not prevent the prosecution of his victorious careerto the Vistula. Could he have expected to encounter the whole Austrianarmy in Silesia, or to reduce the fortresses of Upper Silesia, with suchrapidity as to be able a third time to menace Vienna, and to compel theforce assembled on the Bohemian frontiers to return with precipitationto cover the capital? This would have been too presumptuous an idea. Heprobably fancied himself strong enough, with 400, 000 men, led on byhimself and the ablest generals of the age, to cope, if even Austriashould declare against him, with all three powers; especially if hepresumed that he should be able to force all the combined armies unitedto a general engagement, and to annihilate them with a single blow. Theproposals for peace were rejected: not the slightest disposition wasshewn to treat, and the armistice of two months answered no otherpurpose than to convince Austria of the absolute necessity of joiningthe cause of the allies, and exerting all her energies to conquer thatpeace by the sword, which there was not the least hope of accomplishingby negotiation. By the accession of Austria the grand alliance had nowgained a manifest superiority, as well in regard to the number of troopsas to the geographical advantages of the theatre of war and resources. After the renewal of hostilities Napoleon still seemed determined topursue his plan of advancing beyond the Oder. The allies were not to bedeceived by these demonstrations, but unexpectedly took post with theirmain force in Bohemia, along the Saxon frontier, leaving in Silesia andBrandenburg, where the crown-prince of Sweden had by this time arrivedwith his gallant troops, armies strong enough to keep him in check by avigorous defensive system. The great Bohemian army was destined foroffensive operations. This plan was equally grand and judicious. Silesia, and all Saxony, to the Elbe, could not fail, in consequence, tobe lost to Napoleon. That river, while he had only Prussia and Russia toencounter, was a sure support in his rear; but no sooner had Austriadeclared herself than it was no longer of any military consequence. Dresden was the central point for the French army. There were organizedall the military bureaus, and all the branches of administration for theeconomy of the army. The allies opened the campaign with a hasty advanceupon that important city. If the enterprise proved successful, itsconsequences would be incalculable; if it miscarried, nothing would belost for the grand object; and at any rate the expedition would be adiversion, which would immediately draw the French out of Silesia. Napoleon now saw how egregiously he was deceived in his reckoning. Hehastened precipitately to save the Saxon capital. The army arrivedbreathless. The allies were already assaulting the suburbs; and, hadNapoleon come one hour later, Dresden would have been in their power. Owing to the unexpected appearance of so prodigious a force, and stillmore to physical accidents, the grand enterprise of the alliesmiscarried. The battle of Dresden terminated to their disadvantage, buttheir primary object was attained. Napoleon's force was divided intothree great armies. Should any of them sustain a defeat, all Saxony tothe right of the Elbe would be lost to him. The engagements of Jauer, Grossbeeren, and Dennewitz, proved disastrous to the French generals, and Lusatia and the right bank of the Elbe were soon in the hands of theallies. All the attempts to penetrate to Prague and Berlin ended in thediscomfiture and annihilation of whole French corps. Oudinot, Ney, Regnier, Bertrand, and the terrible Vandamme, were in succession sototally defeated, that it was not possible even for the Frenchreporters, with all their address, to cloak their disasters. The alliesevery where acted offensively. Saxony, surrounded by Silesia, Bohemia, and Brandenburg, was now, from its situation, likely to become, earlieror later, the grave of the French armies: the allies had every where thechoice of their operations; they were neither to be turned nor brokenthrough. It was evident that the long and obstinate continuance ofNapoleon at Dresden could not fail to prove ruinous to him. Of whatservice could the Elbe be to him, when Bohemia, the key to that river, was in the hands of his opponents? These had it in their power to turnhis flank as far as the Saale, without hazard or any great impediment, as the event actually proved. Napoleon was cooped up in a narrow space, where in time, even without being defeated, he would have been in dangerof starving with his army. Dresden was to him, in some respects, whatWilna had been in 1812. Leipzig, an open place, was now of far greaterimportance to him than Minsk was then. How easily might he have lost it, as the allies were advancing in considerable force upon that place! Itwas not lost, to be sure; but the communication between Dresden andLeipzig, and Leipzig and Erfurt, was, if not cut off, at leastinterrupted; his supplies became more and more precarious, and a largegarrison, which it was deemed necessary to reinforce with strongdetachments from the main army, was locked up in Leipzig. 

When in August Austria declared herself decidedly in favour of Russiaand Prussia, it was natural to expect that Napoleon would have totallyrelinquished the useless defence of Saxony, and have adopted a new planof operations, in order to cover and preserve the other states of theconfederation of the Rhine. That he would infallibly be compelled toevacuate Saxony, was evident from the slightest inspection of the map. In this beautiful province he could expect no other glory than that ofplunging it, by his inflexible obstinacy, into the most abject misery. The combined monarchs had nothing to fear for their own dominions; theyneeded to do no more than to carry on for some time a mere war ofobservation, and to recruit their forces. They might quietly await themoment when Napoleon should leave Dresden, and, on his arrival, forcehim to a general engagement in any situation which they should deem mostadvantageous. Too late did Napoleon resolve upon retreat. He was obligedto commence it in the midst of an immense quadrangle which the alliesformed about him, and to direct his course towards Leipzig. He couldnot, however, yet determine to give up Dresden, but left there aconsiderable army, thus weakening himself, and sacrificing it, as wellas the garrisons of the fortresses on the Elbe and Oder, to no purposewhatever, in case he should lose a battle. At length, near Leipzig, hewas forced, into the arduous conflict. Since the latter half of August, the talents which he had heretofore displayed for comprehensive andprofound combinations seemed to have totally deserted him. All hismeasures and plans appeared imperfect, and betrayed a vacillation whichhe had never yet manifested. He seems to have been as uncertainrespecting the strength of his antagonists as in regard to their grandplan of deciding the fate of the campaign with a single blow. 

In the battle of Leipzig we perceive none of that forethought whichcharacterizes his other engagements. The possibility of losing it seemsnever to have entered into his calculations; otherwise he would scarcelyhave endeavoured to prevail upon the king of Saxony to repair to Leipzigto witness his defeat. In the most favourable event he had a right toanticipate no other result than an unmolested retreat: the allieshowever, were producing a very different one from what he expected. Ofthis he might have convinced himself so early as the 16th, when heencountered the strongest resistance at all points which he had probablydeemed the weakest. From that day all his measures were calculated onlyfor the moment. He boasted of victory when the battle was scarcelybegun. He every where strove to check the impetuous advance of his foesat the expense of those means which were so necessary for his ownretreat. It could not be difficult for Napoleon to foresee, on the 16th, that, in case he should be defeated, he had no other route left than toretreat westward, in the direction of Lützen and Merseburg. Henevertheless caused all the bridges over the numerous muddy streams onthat side to be destroyed, instead of diligently providing temporaryones in addition. He was acquainted with the situation of the city, through the centre of which he would be obliged to pass. He knew theposition of his army, which might, indeed, enter it by three spaciousroads, from north, east, and south; but had only one outlet, and thisthe very narrowest of all, for itself and its train, many miles inlength. Let the reader figure to himself a routed army, and that aFrench army, in which all order is so easily lost, converging in threecolumns to one common centre. The passage at the outermost gate towardsLützen is so narrow as to admit only one single waggon at a time. Whenwe consider that at the Kuhthurm again the road is but just wide enoughfor one carriage; that, on the west side of the city, the Elster, thePleisse, and their different branches, intersect with their thousandmeanders the marshy plains covered with wood, which are scarcelypassable for the pedestrian; when we farther consider the incessantstoppages of the whole train at every little obstacle, and figure toourselves all the three columns united in a road, the two principalpasses of which are scarcely 30 feet in breadth; we shall rather beastonished that the whole French army was not annihilated than surprisedat the prodigious quantity of waggons and artillery which it was obligedto abandon. Even in the night between the 18th and 19th, when Napoleonmust have been perfectly aware of his situation, there would still havebeen time to throw bridges across the different streams, so that thearmy might have marched in five or six columns to Lindenau, and beenagain collected at this place, from which several convenient roadsbranch off. Such dispositions as circumstances required might then havebeen made, and the retreat might have been effected with inconsiderableloss. Such a precaution was the more necessary, as he could not beignorant that Blücher's troops had already gained a march upon him, andwas waiting for him at the Saale. Thus the want of a few paltry woodenbridges proved as ruinous to the French army as the battle itself. Itlost, solely because it was unprovided with them, great part of its yetremaining artillery, several thousands of dead, who were mostly drowned, and a great number of prisoners. It was evident that such a retreat, conducted without order and without plan, was likely to be attended withthe total destruction of the remnant of the army before it could reachthe Rhine. By the actions on the Unstrut and Saale, at Eisenach andHanau, this force was actually so reduced, that, on its arrival at theRhine, it must probably have entirely lost its military consequence. Howinfinitely inferior is Napoleon in this branch of the military art tothe immortal Moreau, to whom he would have owed everlasting obligations, had he, at his glorious death, bequeathed to him the transcendent art ofconverting retreats into victories!

In regard to boldness, Napoleon certainly belongs to the generals of thefirst rank. He has undertaken and executed the rashest enterprises. But, if the true hero shines with the greatest lustre in misfortune, likeHannibal and Frederic the Great, Napoleon must be classed far belowthem. He abandoned his army in Russia when it had most need of hisassistance; and the reason assigned for this desertion--thatcircumstances rendered his presence necessary in France--is by no meanssatisfactory to the rigid inquirer. During the seven-years' war, themore dangerous the situation of the Prussian army, the more Fredericfelt himself bound to continue with it, and to assist it with hiseminent military genius. The campaign of 1813 has clearly proved thatthe secret of Napoleon's most decisive victories has consisted in theart of assailing his opponents with a superior force. Napoleon would beincapable of attacking with 30, 000 men an army of 90, 000, posted in anadvantageous position, and defeating it, as Frederic did at Leuthen. Napoleon, like the Prussian monarch, attempted to penetrate intoBohemia, a country so dangerous for an army; but what a wretchedbusiness did he make of it, in comparison with the latter! Fredericwaged war that he might conquer peace; Napoleon never wished for peace, often as he has made a show of desiring it. Frederic knew how to stophis victorious career in time, for History had taught him that it is asdifficult to retain as to acquire glory. Napoleon imagined that his famewas susceptible of increase alone, and lost it all in the fields ofLeipzig. The hardly-earned laurels of France faded along with it. Withwhat feelings must he direct his views beyond the Rhine, where the eyesof so many thousands are now opened? He too has lived to witness dayswhich are far from agreeable to him. He, who represented it to thecountries which he forced into his alliance as a supreme felicity tohave their sons led forth to fight foreign battles, and to have manythousands of them sacrificed every year upon the altar of his ambition, now sees them all abandon him, and become his bitterest enemies. The_Great Empire_ is now an idle dream. Already is he nearly confinedwithin that ancient France, which has lost through him the flower of herpopulation. Long has discontent lurked there in every bosom; long haveher people beheld with indignation their youth driven across the Rhine, into foreign lands, where they were swept away by cold, famine, and thesword, so that few of them revisited their paternal homes. Will thenation again be ready to bathe foreign plains with the blood of half amillion of fresh victims? Scarcely can it be so infatuated. The Frenchtoo are now roused from their torpor: like the Germans, they willconfine their exertions to the defence of their own frontiers againstthose mighty armies of Europe, which, crowned with laurels, wield thesword in one hand, and bear the olive of peace in the other. 

SUPPLEMENT. 

The following letter, which cannot but be considered as most honourableto the writer, contains so many minute, but, at the same time, highlycharacteristic traits, that it cannot fail to prove extremelyinteresting to every reader. No other apology is necessary for itsintroduction here by way of Supplement. 

_Leipzig, Nov. 3, 1813. _

DEAREST FRIEND, You here see how ready I am to gratify your desire of knowing everything that passed in my neighbourhood and that befell myself in theeventful days of October. I proceed to the point without fartherpreamble. 

Ever since the arrival of marshal Marmont I have constantly resided atthe beautiful country-house of my employer at R***, where I imaginedthat I might be of some service during the impending events. The generalof brigade Chamois, an honest man, but a severe officer, was at firstquartered there. 

On the 14th of October every body expected a general engagement nearLeipzig. On that day several French corps had arrived in theneighbourhood. The near thunders of the artillery, which began to roll, and the repeated assurances of the French officers that the anniversaryof the battles of Ulm and Jena would not be suffered to passuncelebrated, seemed to confirm this expectation. The king of Saxonyentered by the palisadoed gates of the outer city, and Napoleon alsosoon arrived. The latter came from Düben, and took possession of abivouac in the open field, not far from the gallows, close to a greatwatch-fire. I was one of those who hastened to the spot, to obtain asight of the extraordinary man, little suspecting that a still greaterhonour awaited me, namely, that of sleeping under the same roof, nay, even of being admitted to a personal interview of some length with him. The state of things at my country-house did not permit me to be longabsent. I hastened back, therefore, with all possible expedition. Iarrived nearly at the same moment with a French _marechal de logis dupalais_, to whom I was obliged to shew every apartment in the house, andwho, to my no small dismay, announced "that the emperor would probablylodge there that night. " The man, having despatched his errand in greathaste, immediately departed. I communicated the unexpected intelligenceto the aid-de-camp of general Pajol, but expressly observed that I hadgreat doubts about it, as the _marechal de logis_ himself had not spokenpositively. The aid-de-camp appeared very uneasy; and, though I stroveto convince him that it must be some time before our distinguished guestcould arrive, he immediately packed up, and, notwithstanding all myearnest endeavours to detain him, he was gone with his servant in a fewminutes. Seldom have I witnessed such an extraordinary degree ofanxiety as this man shewed while preparing for his departure. 

The _marechal de logis_ soon returned, and again inspected all theapartments, and even the smallest closets, more minutely than before. Heannounced that _sa majesté_ would certainly take up his head-quartershere, and asked for a piece of chalk, to mark each room with the namesof the distinguished personages by whom they were to be occupied. Whenhe had shewn me the apartment destined for the emperor, he desired thata fire might be immediately lighted in it, as his majesty was very fondof warmth. The bustle soon began; the guards appeared, and occupied thehouse and all the avenues. Many officers of rank, with numerousattendants, arrived; and six of the emperor's cooks were soon busilyengaged in the kitchen. Thus I was soon surrounded on all sides withimperial splendour, and might consider myself for the moment as itscentre. I might possibly have felt no small degree of vanity on theoccasion, had I not been every instant reminded that the part which Ishould have to act would be that of obedience alone. I heard the beatingof drums at a distance, which, as I presently learned, announced that Iwas shortly to descend into a very subordinate station. It proclaimedthe arrival of the emperor, who came on horseback in a grey surtout. Behind him rode the duke of Vicenza (Caulincourt), who, since the deathof marshal Duroc, has succeeded to his office. When they had come up tothe house, the master of the horse sprung from his steed with alightness and agility which I should not have expected in such araw-boned, stiff-looking gentleman, and immediately held that of theemperor. 

His majesty had scarcely reached his apartments when I was hastilysought and called for. You may easily conceive my astonishment andperturbation when I was told that the emperor desired to speak with meimmediately. Now, in such a state of things, I had not once thought forseveral days of putting on my Sunday clothes; but, to say nothing ofthis, my mind was still less prepared for an interview with a hero, themere sight of whom was enough to bow me down to the very ground. In thisemergency courage alone could be of any service, and I rallied myspirits as well as the short notice would permit. I had done nothingamiss--at least that I knew of--and had performed my duty as _maîtred'hotel_ to the best of my ability. After a general had taken charge ofme, I mustered my whole stock of rhetorical flourishes, best calculatedto win the favour of a mighty emperor. The general conducted me througha crowd of aid-de-camps and officers of all ranks. They took but littlenotice of such an insignificant being, and indeed scarcely deigned tobestow a look upon me. My conductor opened the door, and I entered witha heart throbbing violently. The emperor had pulled off his surtout, andhad nobody with him. On the long table was spread a map of prodigioussize. Rustan, the Mameluke, who has so long been falsely reported to bedead, was, as I afterwards learned, in the next room. --My presence ofmind was all gone again when I came to be introduced to the emperor, andhe must certainly have perceived by my looks that I was not a littleconfused. I was just going to begin the harangue which I had studiedwith such pains, and to stammer out something or other about the highand unexpected felicity of being presented to the most powerful, themost celebrated, and the most sincerely beloved monarch in the world, when he relieved me at once from my dilemma. He addressed me in French, speaking very quick, but distinctly, to the following effect:--

_Nap. _ Are you the master of this house?

_I. _ No, please your majesty, only a servant. 

_N. _ Where is the owner?

_I. _ He is in the city. He is advanced in years; and under the presentcircumstances has quitted his house leaving me to take care of it aswell as I can. 

_N. _ What is your master?

_I. _ He is in business, sire. 

_N. _ In what line?

_I. _ He is a banker. 

_N. _ (_Laughing. _) Oho! then he is worth a plum, (_un millionaire_, ) Isuppose?

_I. _ Begging your majesty's pardon, indeed he is not. 

_N. _ Well then, perhaps he may be worth two?

_I. _ Would to God I could answer your majesty in the affirmative. 

_N. _ You lend money, I presume?

_I. _ Formerly we did, sire; but now we are glad to borrow. 

_N. _ Yes, yes, I dare say you do a little in that way yet. What interestdo you charge?

_I. _ We used to charge from 4 to 5 per cent. ; now we would willinglygive from 8 to 10. 

_N. _ To whom were you used to lend money?

_I. _ To inferior tradesmen and manufacturers. 

_N. _ You discount bills too, I suppose?

_I. _ Formerly, sire, we did; now we can neither discount nor get anydiscounted. 

_N. _ How is business with you?

_I. _ At present, your majesty, there is none doing

_N. _ How so?

_I. _ Because all trade is totally at a stand. 

_N. _ But have you not your fair just now?

_I. _ Yes, but it is so only in name. 

_N. _ Why?

_I. _ As all communication has for a considerable time been suspended, and the roads are unsafe for goods, neither sellers nor buyers will runthe risk of coming; and, besides, the greatest scarcity of moneyprevails in this country. 

_N. _ (_Taking much snuff_) So, so! What is the name of your employer?

I mentioned his name. 

_N. _ Is he married?

_I. _ Yes, sire. 

_N. _ Has he any children. 

_I. _ He has, and they are married too. 

_N. _ In what capacity are you employed by him?

_I. _ As a clerk. 

_N. _ Then you have a cashier too, I suppose?

_I. _ Yes, sire, at your service. 

_N. _ What wages do you receive?

I mentioned a sum that I thought fit. 

He now motioned with his hand, and I retired with a low bow. During thewhole conversation the emperor was in very good humour, laughedfrequently, and took a great deal of snuff. After the interview, oncoming out of the room, I appeared a totally different and highlyimportant person to all those who a quarter of an hour before had notdeigned to take the slightest notice of me. Both officers and domesticsnow shewed me the greatest respect. The emperor lodged in the firstfloor; his favourite Mameluke, an uncommonly handsome man, wasconstantly about his person. The second floor was occupied by theprince of Neufchatel, who had a very sickly appearance, and the duke ofBassano, the emperor's secretary. On the ground floor a front room wasconverted into a _sallon au service_. Here were marshals Oudinot, Mortier, Ney, Reynier, with a great number of generals, aid-de-camps, and other officers in waiting, who lay at night upon straw, crowded asclose as herrings in a barrel. In the left wing lodged the duke ofVicenza, master of the horse; and above him the physician to theemperor, whose name, I think, was M. Yvan. The right wing was occupiedby the _officiers du palais_. The smallest room was turned into thebed-chamber of a general; and every corner was so filled, that theservants and other attendants were obliged to sleep on the kitchenfloor. Upon my remonstrance to the valet of the _marechal du palais_ Iwas allowed to keep a small apartment for my own use, and thought toguard myself against unwelcome intruders by inscribing with chalk myhigh rank--_maitre de la maison_--in large letters upon the door. Atfirst the new-comers passed respectfully before my little cell, anddurst scarcely venture to peep in at the door; but it was not longbefore French curiosity overleaped this written barrier. For sometimethis place served my people and several neighbours in the village as aprotecting asylum at night. 

The keys of the hay-loft and barns I was commanded to deliver to theemperor's _piqueur_. --I earnestly entreated him to be as sparing of ourstores as possible, supporting this request with a bottle ofwine, --which, under the present circumstance, was no contemptiblepresent. He knew how to appreciate it, and immediately gave me a proofof his gratitude. He took me aside, and whispered in my ear, "As longas the emperor is here you are safe; but the moment he is gone--andnobody can tell how soon that may be--you will be completely stripped bythe guards; the officers themselves will then shew no mercy. You hadbest endeavour to obtain a safeguard, for which you must apply to theduke of Vicenza. "

This advice was not thrown away upon me: I immediately begged to speakwith the _grand ecuyer_. I explained my business as delicately aspossible, and be with great good humour promised to comply with myrequest. Determined to strike while the iron was hot, I soon, afterwardsrepeated my application in writing. 

After the emperor's arrival there was no such thing as a moment's restfor me. Gladly would I have exchanged my high function, which placed meupon an equal footing with the first officers of the French court, for anight's tranquil slumber. _M. Maitre de la maison_ was every momentcalled for. As for shaving, changing linen, brushing clothes--that wasquite out of the question. His guests had remarked his good will, andthey imagined that his ability was capable of keeping pace with it. Luckily it never came into my head, whilst invested with my highdignity, to look into a glass, otherwise I should certainly not haveknown myself again, and Diogenes would have appeared a beau incomparison. As to danger of life, or personal ill-treatment, I was underno apprehension; for who would have presumed to lay hands on soimportant a personage, who was every moment wanted, and whose place itwould have been absolutely impossible to supply?--I was much lessconcerned about all this than about the means of saving the property ofmy employer, as far as lay in my power. The danger of having every thingdestroyed was very great. 

The French guards had kindled a large fire at a small distance from thehouse. The wind, being high, drove not only sparks but great flakes offire towards it. The whole court-yard was covered with straw, which wasliable every moment to set us all in flames. I represented thiscircumstance to an officer of high rank, and observed that the emperorhimself would be exposed to very great risk; on which he ordered agrenadier belonging to the guards to go and direct it to be put outimmediately. This man, an excessively grim fellow, refused withoutceremony to carry the order. "They are my comrades, " said he: "it iscold--they must have a fire, and dare not go too far off--I cannotdesire them to put it out. "--What was to be done? I bethought myself ofthe duke of Vicenza, and applied directly to him. My representationsproduced the desired effect. He gave orders, and in a quarter of an hourthe fire was out. I was equally fortunate in saving a building situatednear the house. It had been but lately constructed and fitted up. Theyoung guard were on the point of pulling it down, with the intention ofcarrying the wood to their bivouacs. Their design was instantlyprevented, and one single piece of timber only was destroyed. A guardwas sent to the place, to defend it from all farther attacks. It hadbeen burned down only last summer, through the carelessness of someFrench dragoons. 

Late at night the king of Naples came with his retinue from Stötteritz. He was attended by a black Othello, who seems to serve him in the samecapacity as Rustan does his brother-in-law Napoleon. 

By day-break the emperor started with all his retinue, and took the roadto Wolkwitz. The king of Naples had already set out for the same place. All was quiet during the day, and towards night the emperor returned. Several French officers had asserted, the preceding night, that ageneral engagement would certainly take place on the 15th. Howimperfectly they were acquainted with the state of things, I couldperceive from many of their expressions. In their opinion the armies ofthe allies were already as good as annihilated. By the emperor'smasterly manœuvres, the Russians and Swedes--the latter, by the bye, hadnot yet come up--were according to them completely cut off from theAustrians. A _courier de l'empereur_ was honest enough to tell meplumply that they had done nothing all day but look at one another, butthat there would be so much the warmer work on the morrow. 

Very early indeed on the morning of the 16th, I remarked preparationsfor the final departure of the emperor. The _maitre d'hôtel_ desired abill of the provisions furnished him. I had already made out one, butthat would not do. It was necessary that the articles should be arrangedunder particular heads, and a distinct account of each given in. I ranshort of time, patience, and paper. All excuses were unavailing, andthere was no time to be lost. I readily perceived that all the elegancerequired in a merchant's counting-house would not be expected here, andaccordingly dispensed with many little formalities. I wrote upon thefirst paper that came to hand, and my bills were the most miserablescraps that ever were seen. The amount was immediately paid. Findingthat the _maitre d'hôtel_ had not the least notion that it would be butreasonable to make some remuneration to the servants, who had been soassiduous in their attendance, I was uncivil enough to remind him of it. He then desired me to give him a receipt for 200 francs, which Iimmediately divided among the domestics; though he remarked that I oughtto give each but three or four, at most. I also made out a distinctaccount for the forage, but this was not paid. 

At length arrived the long wished-for _sauvegarde_. It consisted ofthree _gens d'armes d'elite_, who had a written order from the baron deLennep, _ecuyer_ to the emperor, by virtue of which they were to defendmy house and property from all depredations. I immediately took a copyof this important protection, and nailed it upon the door. The house wasgradually evacuated; I was soon left alone with my guards, and sincerelyrejoiced that Heaven had sent me such honest fellows. It was impossible, indeed, to be quite easy; the thunders of the cannon rolled more andmore awfully, and I had frequent visits from soldiers. My brave _gensd'armes_, however, drove them all away, and I never applied in vain whenI besought them to assist a neighbour in distress. I shewed my gratitudeas far as lay in my power, and at least took care that they wanted fornothing. 

One of these three men went into the city, and returned in haste, bringing the news of a great victory. "_Vive l'empereur!_" cried he;"_la bataille est gagnée. _" When I inquired the particulars, he related, in the most confident manner, that an Austrian prince had been taken, with 30, 000 men, and that they were already singing _Te Deum_ in thecity. This story seemed extremely improbable to me, as the cannonade wasat that moment rather approaching than receding from us. I expressed mydoubts of the fact, and told him that the battle could not possibly beyet decided. The man, however, would not give up the point, but insistedthat the intelligence was official. When I asked him if he had seen thecaptive prince and the 30, 000 Austrians, as they must certainly havebeen brought into the city, he frankly replied that he had not. Severalpersons from the town had seen no more of them than he, so that I couldgive a shrewd guess what degree of credit was due to the story. 

In the afternoon of the 17th marshal Ney suddenly appeared at the doorwith a numerous retinue, and without ceremony took up his quarters inthe house. I saw nothing of the emperor all that day, nor did anycircumstance worthy of notice occur. On the 18th, at three in themorning, Napoleon came quite unexpectedly in a carriage. He wentimmediately to marshal Ney, with whom he remained in conversation aboutan hour. He then hastened away again, and was soon followed by themarshal, whose servants staid behind. His post must have been a verywarm one; for before noon he sent for two fresh horses, and a third wasfetched in the afternoon. The cannonade grow more violent, and graduallyapproached nearer. I became more and more convinced that the pompousstory of the victory the day before was a mere gasconade. So early astwelve o'clock things seemed to be taking a very disastrous turn for theFrench. About this time they began to fall back very fast upon the city. Shouts of _Vice l'empereur!_ suddenly resounded from thousands ofvoices, and at this cry I saw the weary soldiers turn about and advance. Appearances nevertheless became still more alarming. The balls from thecannon of the allies already fell very near us. One of them indeed wasrude enough to kill a cow scarcely five paces from me, and to wound aPole. 

The French all this time could talk of nothing but victories, with whichFortune had, most unfortunately, rendered them but too familiar. Onemessenger of victory followed upon the heels of another. "GeneralThielemann, " cried an aid-de-camp, "has just been taken, with 6000 men;and the emperor ordered him to be instantly shot on the field ofbattle. "--The most violent abuse was poured forth upon the Saxons, and Inow learned that great part of them had gone over to the allies in themidst of the engagement. Heartily as I rejoiced at the circumstance, Inevertheless joined the French officers in their execrations. Theconcourse kept increasing; the wounded arrived in troops. Towardsevening every thing attested that the French were very closely pressed. A servant came at full gallop to inform us that marshal Ney mightshortly be expected, and that he was wounded. The whole house wasinstantly in an uproar. _Mon Dieu, mon Dieu!_--cried one to another--_leprince est blessé--quel malheur!_ Soon after the marshal himselfarrived; he was on foot, and supported by an aid-de-camp. Vinegar washastily called for. The marshal had been wounded in the arm by acannon-ball, and the pain was so acute that he could not bear the motionof riding. 

The houses in the village were every where plundered, and theinhabitants kept coming in to solicit assistance. I represented theirdistress to an aid-de-camp, who only shrugged his shoulders, and gavethe miserable consolation that it was now impossible for him to put astop to the evil. 

At length, early on the 19th, we appeared likely to get rid in goodearnest of the monster by which we had been so dreadfully tormented. All the French hurried in disorder to the city, and our _sauvegarde_also made preparations to depart. Already did I again behold inimagination the pikes of the Cossacks. All the subsequent eventsfollowed in rapid succession. My _gens d'armes_ were scarcely gone whena very brisk fire of sharp-shooters commenced in our neighbourhood. In afew moments Pomeranian infantry poured from behind through the gardeninto the house. They immediately proceeded, without stopping, to thecity. It was only for a few minutes that I could observe with a glassthe confused retreat of the French. Joy at the long wished-for arrivalof our countrymen and deliverers soon called me away. The galling yokewas now shaken off, probably for ever. I bade a hearty welcome to thebrave soldiers; and, as I saw several wounded brought in, I hastened toafford them all the assistance in my power. I may ascribe to myunwearied assiduity the preservation of the life of lieutenant M**, aSwedish officer, who was dangerously wounded; and by means of it I hadlikewise the satisfaction to save the arm of the Prussian captain VonB***, which, but for that, would certainly have required amputation. Onthe other hand, all my exertions in behalf of the Swedish major VonDöbeln proved unavailing; I had the mortification to see him expire. 

I was incessantly engaged with my wounded patients, while more numerousbodies of troops continued to hasten towards the town. We now thoughtourselves fortunate in being already in the rear of the victorious army;but the universal cry was, 'What will become of poor Leipzig?' which wasat this moment most furiously assaulted. Various officers ofdistinction kept dropping in. The Swedish adjutant-general Güldenskiöldarrived with the captive general Reynier, who alighted and took up hisabode in the apartment in which the emperor had lodged. He was followedby the Prussian colonel Von Zastrow, a most amiable man, and soon afterthe Prussian general Von Bülow arrived with his suite. 

Our stock of provisions was almost entirely consumed, and you mayconceive my vexation at being unable, with the best will in the world, to treat our ardently wished-for guests in a suitable manner. I had longbeen obliged to endure hunger myself, and to take it as an especialfavour if the French cooks and valets had the generosity to allow me asmall portion, of the victuals with which they were supplied. 

At the very moment when marshal Ney arrived, a fire had broken out inthe neighbourhood, through the carelessness of the French. I hastened tothe spot, to render assistance, if possible. It was particularlyfortunate, considering the violence of the wind, and the want of meansto extinguish the flames, that only two houses were destroyed. Thefire-engines and utensils provided for such purposes had been carriedoff for fuel to the bivouacs. Such of the inhabitants of the village ashad not run away, just now kept close in their houses, not daring toventure abroad. A number of unfeeling Frenchmen stood about gazing atthe fire, without moving a finger towards extinguishing it. I called outto them to lend a hand to check the progress of the conflagration. Ascornful burst of laughter was the only reply: the scoundrels would notstir, and absolutely could not contain their joy whenever the flamesburned more furiously than usual. At the same time I witnessedproceedings, of which the wildest savage would not have been guilty. Isaw these same wretches, who, a few days afterwards, voraciouslydevoured before my face the flesh of dead horses, and even humancarcasses, wantonly trample bread, already so great a rarity, like brutebeasts in the dirt. 

For six or eight nights I had not been able to get a moment's sleep orrest, so that at last I reeled about like one drunk or stupid. The onlywonder is that my health was not impaired by these super-humanexertions. My dress and general appearance were frightful. When thewounded Swedish officer was brought in, he of course wanted a change oflinen. Not a shirt was to be procured any where, and I cheerfully gavehim that which I had on my back; so that I was obliged to go without onemyself for near three days. Several times during the stay of the FrenchI had assisted in extinguishing fires: even the presence of marshal Neywas not sufficient to make the French in our houses at all careful inthe use of fire. Those thoughtless fellows took the first combustiblethat fell into their hands, and lighted themselves about with it inevery corner. They ran with burning wisps of straw among large piles oftrusses, and this was often done in the house where the marshal lay, without its being possible to prevent the practice. A Frenchaid-de-camp, in my presence, took fifty segars out of my bureau, just atthe moment when I was too busy to hinder him. Whether he likewise helpedhimself to some fine cravats which lay near them, and which I afterwardsmissed, I will not pretend to say. 

I have suffered a little, you see; but yet I have fortunately escapedthe thousands of dangers in which I was incessantly involved. Neverwhile I live shall I forget those days. That same divine Providencewhich was so manifestly displayed in that arduous conflict, and whichcrowned the efforts of the powers allied in a sacred cause with soglorious and so signal a victory, evidently extended its care to me. After the battle of Jena, in 1806, Napoleon declared in our city thatLeipzig was the most dangerous of his enemies. Little did he imaginethat it would once prove so in a very different sense from that which heattached to those words. Here the arm of the Most High arrested hisvictorious career, of which no mortal eye could have foreseen thetermination. I would not exchange the glory--which I may justlyassume--the glory of having saved the property of my worthy employer, asfar as lay in my power, during those tremendous days of havoc anddevastation, for the laurel wreath with which French adulation attemptsmost unseasonably to entwine the brow of the imperial commander, onaccount of the battle of Leipzig. 

CHARACTERISTIC ANECDOTES. 

That Napoleon was not quite so much master of himself, during theretreat through Leipzig, as might have been supposed from hiscountenance, may be inferred from various circumstances. While ridingslowly through Peter's gate he was bathed in sweat, and pursued his waytowards the very quarter by which the enemy was advancing. It was nottill he had gone a considerable distance that he bethought himself, andimmediately turned about. He inquired if there was any cross-road toBorna and Altenburg; and, being answered in the negative, he took theway to the Ranstädt gate. 

 * * * * *

None of the French officers or soldiers could be brought to admit thatthey had sustained any material loss from the Russian arms in 1812; theymaintained, on the contrary, that famine and cold alone had destroyedtheir legions, and that it was impossible for a French army to bebeaten. What excuse will they now have to make, when they return, without baggage and artillery, to their countrymen beyond the Rhine?

 * * * * *

That the French prophesied nothing good of their retreat the eveningbefore it commenced, is evinced by the circumstance of their havingbroken up a great number of gun-carriages, and buried the cannon, orthrown them into marshes or ponds. These yet continue to be dailydiscovered, and that in places contiguous to houses which are fullyinhabited. It is rather singular that they were not observed whileengaged in this business, which must certainly have been performed withuncommon silence and expedition. 

 * * * * *

A Russian officer, to whom complaints were made respecting sameirregularities committed by the Cossacks in the villages, expressedhimself in the following manner in regard to those troops:--"Theofficers would gladly put a stop to such proceedings, which are strictlyprohibited, and severely punished;--but how is it possible for them tohave these men continually under their eye? The nature of the warfare inwhich they are engaged, which obliges them to be constantly makingextensive excursions, prevents this. We are often under the necessity ofleaving them for several days together to themselves, that they mayexplore every wood, every corner, and fatigue and harass the enemy. Inservices on which no other kind of troops can be employed, they arefrequently obliged to struggle alone for several days through everyspecies of hardship and danger; and then, indeed, it is no wonder ifthey occasionally indulge themselves. On account of the importantservice which they render to the army, we cannot possibly dispense withthem. The incessant vigilance of the Cossacks, who are every where atonce, renders it extremely difficult for the enemy to reconnoitre, andscarcely possible for him to surprise us; and so much the morefrequently are we enabled by them to take him at unawares. In a word, the Cossacks are the eye of the army;--and it is a pity only that itsometimes sees too clearly where it needs not see at all. "

*** _After the preceding Sheets were put to Press, the followingimportant Documents were received by the Publisher. _

MEMORIAL

Addressed by the City of LEIPZIG to the independent and benevolent

BRITISH NATION, In Behalf of the Inhabitants of the adjacent Villages and Hamlets, who have been reduced to extreme Distress by the MilitaryOperations in October, 1813. 

The prosperity of Leipzig depends upon commerce, as that of commercedepends upon liberty. Till 1806 it was a flourishing city. With Englandin particular, whose manufactures and colonial produce were allowed tobe freely imported, its commercial relations were of the highestimportance. For the opulence which Leipzig then enjoyed it was indebtedto its extensive traffic, which contributed to the prosperity of Saxonyin general; but it was more particularly the numerous adjacent villagesand hamlets that owed to our city their respectability, theirimprovements, and the easy circumstances of their inhabitants. 

The well-known events in October, 1806, rendered Saxony--the then happySaxony--dependent on the will of Napoleon. Commerce, and the liberty oftrade, were annihilated as by magic. A new code was enforced, andLeipzig was severely punished for the traffic which it had heretoforecarried on with England and which had been encouraged by its sovereign, as for a heinous crime. Since that catastrophe Saxony had sufferedseverely, its prosperity had greatly declined, and our city inparticular had, in addition to the general burdens, the most grievousoppressions of every kind to endure. How often did Leipzig resemble amilitary parade or hospital rather than a commercial city! How manypledges of our affection were snatched from us by the contagious feverspread among us by means of the hospitals!--But with the spring of thepresent year, with the season which usually fills every tender heartwith delight, commenced the most melancholy epoch for our country, as itbecame the theatre of a war which laid it waste without mercy, and ofthe most sanguinary engagements. After all the hardships which it hadsuffered, a lot still more severe awaited Leipzig and its vicinity. 

From the commencement of October last the French troops here kept dailyincreasing, as did also their sick and wounded in a most alarmingmanner. On the 14th Napoleon arrived with his army in our neighbourhood, and the different corps of the allied powers advanced on all sides. Onthe 15th commenced all round us a great, a holy conflict, for theliberation and independence of Germany, for the peace of Europe, for therepose of the world--a conflict which, after an engagement of threedays, that can scarcely be paralleled in history for obstinacy andduration, and at last extended to our city itself, terminated on the19th of October, through the superior talents of the generals and thevalour of their troops, which vanquished all the resistance of despair, in the most complete and glorious victory. The French still defendedthemselves in our unfortified town, and would have devoted it todestruction; the allies made themselves masters of it by assault at oneo'clock, and spared it. They were received with the loudest acclamationsby the inhabitants, whose joy was heightened into transport when theybeheld their illustrious deliverers, the two emperors, the king ofPrussia, and the crown-prince of Sweden, enter the place in triumph. During this engagement the Saxon troops went over to the banners of theallies. 

This eventful victory justifies the hope of a speedy peace, founded uponthe renewed political system of the balance of power, --an honourable, safe, permanent, and general peace, for which, with all its attendantblessings, Europe will be indebted, under divine Providence, to theinvincible perseverance of England in the contest with France, to thecombined energies of the south and the north, and to the exertions ofthe allied powers, and of the truly patriotic Germans by whom they werejoined. 

The battle of Leipzig will be ever memorable in the annals of History. Asevere lot has hitherto befallen our city. To the burdens andrequisitions of every kind, by which it was overwhelmed, were added thesuspension of trade, and the injury sustained by the entire suppressionthis year of our two principal fairs. Our resources are exhausted, andwe have yet here a prodigious number of sick and wounded;--upwards of30, 000 in more than 40 military hospitals, with our own poor and thetroops yet stationed here for our protection, to be provided for;besides which numberless just claims for the good cause yet remain to besatisfied. But from misfortune itself we will derive new strength andnew courage, and our now unfettered commerce affords us the prospect ofa happier futurity. We have lost much; but those days when we ourselvesknew the want of provisions, and even of bread--those days of horror, danger, and consternation--are past; we yet live, and our city has beenpreserved through the favour of Heaven and the generosity of theconquerors. 

One subject of affliction lies heavy upon our hearts. Our prosperousdays afforded us the felicity of being able to perform in its fullextent the duty of beneficence towards the necessitous. We have beforeour eyes many thousands of the inhabitants of the adjacent villages andhamlets, landed proprietors, farmers, ecclesiastics, schoolmasters, artisans of every description, who, some weeks since, were incircumstances more or less easy, and at least knew no want; but now, without a home, and stripped of their all, are with their familiesperishing of hunger. 

Their fields have gained everlasting celebrity, for there the mostsignal of victories was won for the good cause; but these fields, solately a paradise, are now, to the distance of from ten to twelve miles, transformed into a desert. What the industry of many years had acquiredwas annihilated in a few hours. All around is one wide waste. Thenumerous villages and hamlets are almost all entirely or partiallyreduced to ashes; the yet remaining buildings are perforated with balls, in a most ruinous condition, and plundered of every thing; the barns, cellars, and lofts, are despoiled, and stores of every kind carried off;the implements of farming and domestic economy, for brewing anddistilling--in a word, for every purpose--the gardens, plantations, andfruit-trees--are destroyed; the fuel collected for the winter, thegates, the doors, the floors, the wood-work of every description, wereconsumed in the watch-fires; the horses were taken away, together withall the other cattle; and many families are deploring the loss ofbeloved relatives, or are doomed to behold them afflicted with sicknessand destitute of relief. 

The miserable condition of these deplorable victims to the thirst ofconquest, the distress which meets our view whenever we cross ourthresholds, no language is capable of describing. The horrid spectaclewounds us to the very soul. 

But all these unfortunate creatures look up to Leipzig, formerly thesource of their prosperity;--their eloquent looks supplicate our aid;and the pang that wrings our bosoms arises from this consideration, thatneither the exhausted means of Leipzig nor those of our ruined countryare adequate to afford them that relief and support which may enablethem to rebuild their habitations, and to return to the exercise oftheir respective trades and professions. 

All the countries of our continent have been more or less drained bythis destructive war. Whither then are these poor people, who have suchneed of assistance--whither are they to look for relief? Whither but tothe sea-girt Albion, whose wooden walls defy every hostile attack, --whohas, uninjured, maintained the glorious conflict with France, both bywater and by land? Ye free, ye beneficent, ye happy Britons, whosegenerosity is attested by every page of the annals of sufferingHumanity--whose soil bus been trodden by no hostile foot--who know notthe feelings of the wretch that beholds a foreign master revelling inhis habitation, --of you the city of Leipzig implores relief for theinhabitants of the circumjacent villages and hamlets, ruined by themilitary events in the past month of October. We therefore entreat ourpatrons and friends in England to open a subscription in their behalf. The boon of Charity shall be punctually acknowledged in the publicpapers, and conscientiously distributed, agreeably to the object forwhich it was designed, by a committee appointed for the purpose. Thosewho partake of it will bless their benefactors, and their gratefulprayers for them will ascend to Heaven. 

 (Signed) FREGE AND CO. REICHENBACH AND CO. JOHANN HEINRICH KÜSTNER AND CO. 

 _Leipzig, Nov. 1, 1813. _

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 _We, the Burgomaster and Council of the city of Leipzig, hereby attest the truth of the deplorable state of our city, and of the villages around it, as faithfully and pathetically described in a Memorial dated November 1st, and addressed to the British nation by some of our most reputable and highly-respected fellow-citizens, namely, the bankers Messrs. Frege and Co. Messrs. Küstner and Co. Messrs. Reichenbach and Co. ; and recommend it to the generosity which has, in all ages, marked the character of the British nation. We have formally authenticated this attestation, by affixing to it the seal of our city, and our usual signature. _

 (L. S. ) D. FRIEDRICH HULDREICH CARL SIEGMANN, Acting Burgomaster. 

 _Leipzig, Nov. 18, 1813. _

Printed by W. Clowes, Northumberland-Court, Strand, London. 

FORMED JAN. 1814, FOR RELIEVING THE DISTRESS IN GERMANY. 

About eight years ago the calamities, occasioned by the war in differentprovinces of Germany, gave rise to a Subscription and the formation of aCommittee in London, to relieve the distresses on the Continent. By thegenerosity of the British Public, and with the aid of severalrespectable Foreigners resident in this country, the sum of nearly50, 000_l. _ was remitted to the Continent, which rescued multitudes ofindividuals and families from the extremity of distress, and the verybrink of ruin. The Committee received, both from Germany and Sweden, themost satisfactory documents, testifying that the various sumstransmitted had been received and conscientiously distributed; but at noperiod since the existence of this Committee has the mass of every kindof misery been so great, in the country to which their attention wasfirst directed. Never has the cry of the distressed Germans for helpbeen so urgent, their appeal to British benevolence so pressing, as atthe present moment. Who could read the reports of the dreadful conflictswhich have taken place in Germany, during the last eventful year; of themany sanguinary battles fought in Silesia, Lusatia, Bohemia, Saxony, Brandenburg, and other parts; and peruse the melancholy details ofsufferings, almost unexampled in the annals of history, without the mostlively emotions? Who could hear of so many thousands of familiesbarbarously driven from Hamburg, in the midst of a severe winter; of somany villages burnt, cities pillaged, whole principalities desolated, and not glow with ardent desire to assist in relieving distress somultifarious and extensive? _To the alleviation of sufferings sodreadful; to the rescue of our fellow-men, who are literally ready toperish: the views of the Committee are exclusively directed. _ Manywell-authenticated afflicting details of the present distress havingbeen, on the 14th Jan. 1814, laid before the Committee, it wasimmediately resolved, in reliance on the liberality of the Britishpublic, to remit, by that post, the sum of _Three Thousand Five HundredPounds_, to respectable Persons, with directions to form Committees ofDistribution at the several places following:--

 1. To Leipsic and its vicinity, £500 2. To Dresden and its vicinity, 500 3. To Bautzen and its vicinity, 500 4. To Silesia; on the borders of which, seventy-two villages were almost entirely destroyed, 500 5. To Lauenburg, Luneburg, and the vicinity of Harburg in Hanover, 500 6. To the many thousands who have been forced from their habitations in Hamburg, 1000

At subsequent Meetings the following sums were voted:--

 7. _Jan. 18_, To Erfurt, Naumburg, and their vicinity, £500 8. _Jan. 23_, To Hamburg and its vicinity, 1000 9. To Berlin, its vicinity, and hospitals, 100010. To Leipsic and its vicinity, 100011. To Silesia and Lusatia, 100012. For several hundred Children, turned out of the Foundling Hospital at Hamburg, 30013. _Jan. 31_, To Wittemberg and its vicinity, 50014. To Halle and its vicinity, 50015. To Dresden and its vicinity, 50016. To the towns, villages, and hamlets, between Leipsic and Dresden, 100017. _Feb 1_, To Hanover and its vicinity, 50018. To Stettin and its vicinity, 50019. _Feb 3_, To Stargard, its hospitals, and vicinity, 30020. _Feb 10_, To Liegnitz, Neusaltz, Jauer, Buntzlau, and the 72 villages, which are almost entirely destroyed, 200021. To Bautzen, with the recommendation of Bischoffswerda, Zittau, Lauban, Loban, and vicinity, 60022. To Culm and neighbourhood, 50023. To Dresden and vicinity, 50024. To Pirna, Freiberg, and vicinity, 50025. To Lützen and vicinity, 30026. For the unfortunate Peasantry in the vicinity Leipzig, 100027. To Torgau, 50028. To Naumburg and vicinity, 50029. To Weissenfels and vicinity, 50030. To Erfurt and Eisenach, 50031. To Dessau and vicinity, 50032. To Fulda, Hanau, and vicinity, 100033. To Schwerin, Rostock, and vicinity, 80034. To Wismar and vicinity, 20035. To Frankfurt and vicinity, 50036. To Lübeck and vicinity, 50037. To Lauenburg, Ratzeburg, Luneburg, Zelle, Harburg, Stade, and neighbouring villages, 100038. To Berlin and Whistock, 100039. To be held at Berlin, for the sufferers at Magdeburg, when that fortress shall be evacuated by the enemy, 100040. To Stettin, 50041. To Hamburg, 100042. To Bremen, 50043. To Wurzburg, 50044. _Feb 17_, To Stettin, 50045. To the Exiles from Hamburg, at Altona, Lübeck, Bremen, and wherever they may be, 300046. To Kiel, in Holstein, £50047. To Leipzig, Chemnitz, and Freyberg, and their vicinity, 200048. To Dresden, Pirna, and their vicinity, 2000 £36, 000 -------

At a General Meeting, convened by the Committee for relieving theDistress in Germany, and other parts of the Continent, on the 27th ofJanuary, at the City of London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street;

HENRY THORNTON, Esq. M. P. In the Chair;

The Chairman read a letter from His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, stating, that an illness, which had deprived him of his rest thepreceding night; totally incapacitated him from the proposed pleasure ofpresiding at a Meeting, the purpose of which was so congenial to hisfeelings, and in the success of which he avowed his heart to be deeplyengaged. 

The Secretary then read an interesting Memorial from the Inhabitants ofLeipsic, praying that relief from British benevolence, which formerexperience had taught them, to confide in. 

_The following Resolutions were agreed to:--_

1. That it appears to this Meeting that the distress arising out of theravages of war in Germany, and other parts of the Continent, isinconceivably great, and loudly calls on the British Nation for theexercise of its accustomed beneficence. 

2. That this General Meeting, convened by the Committee appointed in theyear 1805, for relieving the Distresses in Germany and other parts ofthe Continent, approves most cordially of the object of the Committee, and especially of the prompt measures taken at their meetings of the14th and 18th of January, anticipating the liberality of the BritishPublic, and sending immediate succour to the places in greatest need. 

3. That an addition to the Subscriptions already opened by the Committeebe now applied for, to meet the relief they have already ordered; andthat the Committee be desired, without delay, to use its utmostendeavours to procure further contributions, to alleviate, as much aspossible, the present unparalleled distress on the Continent. 

4. That it be recommended to the Committee in the distribution of thefunds to observe the strictest impartiality and that the measure ofdistress in each place or district do regulate the proportion of reliefto be afforded. 

5. That the several Bankers in the metropolis and the country be, andthey are hereby, requested to receive Subscriptions for this greatobject of charity; and that the country Bankers be, and they are hereby, requested to remit the amount received, on the first day of March, toHenry Thornton, Esq. Bartholomew-lane, with the names of Subscribers, and to continue the same on the first day of each subsequent month. 

6. That the Clergy of the Church of England, and Ministers of allreligious denominations, be, and they are hereby, earnestly requested torecommend this important object to their several congregations, and tomake public collections in aid of its funds. 

7. That all the Corporate Bodies in the United Kingdom be, and they arehereby, respectfully requested to contribute to this important object. 

8. That the most respectful thanks of this Meeting are due, and thatthey be presented, to his Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, for hiscondescending and, immediate acquiescence in the request that he wouldtake the Chair on this important occasion. 

Resolved, That the thanks of this Meeting be given to HENRY THORNTON, Esq. For the zeal and ability evinced in his conduct in the Chair. 

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A Sub-Committee having been commissioned to examine the documentalpapers and other sources from which Mr. Ackermann's _Narrative of themost remarkable Events in and near Leipzig, &c. _ is compiled, as someinsinuations have been thrown out that much of what is therein relatedis rather exaggerated, and Mr. Ackermann having furnished them with thesaid papers, they were found to consist of--

1. A Pamphlet, printed at Leipzig, entitled, "_Leipzig, während derSchreckenstage der Schlachten, im Monat October, 1813; als Beytrag zurChronik dieser Stadt. _" ("Leipzig, during the terrible Days of theBattles in the Month of October, 1813; being a Supplement to the Historyof this City. ")

2. A printed Advertisement of a large Work, to be accompanied with NinePlates, the Advertisement itself giving a brief but comprehensiveaccount of the battle of Leipzig. 

3. A second Advertisement, giving a similar description of these battlesin German and French. 

4. A Letter from Count Schönfeld to Mr. Ackermann, describing thedreadful condition of the villages in the neighbourhood of Leipzig, especially of those over which the storm of the battle passed. 

5. An Official Paper, signed by some of the principal Bankers andMerchants at Leipzig, containing an appeal to the benevolence of theBritish Public, in behalf of the sufferers. 

6. An Official Attestation of the truth of the statement made in thesaid Appeal, signed by the acting Burgomaster of Leipzig, with the CitySeal affixed. 

7. Several private Letters, entering more or less into the detail. 

The Sub-Committee, having read and considered the chief parts of theseseveral sources of information, were unanimous in their opinion, thatfar from any exaggeration of facts having been resorted to, inpresenting this Narrative to the British Public, facts have beensuppressed under an idea that they might shock the feelings ofEnglishmen, who, in general, by God's mercy, have so imperfect an ideaof the horrors of a campaign, and the unspeakable sufferings occasionedby the presence of contending armies, that, to hear more of the detailcontained in the said papers, might destroy the effect of excitingcompassion by creating disgust, and doubts of the possibility of theexistence of such enormities. 

The Sub-Committee were likewise fully persuaded that the accountscontained in these official and printed Papers could not have beenpublished at Leipzig itself, without being acknowledged by all asauthentic, as they would otherwise have been liable to the censure ofevery reader and reviewer; and therefore, comparing them also withvarious similar accounts, received from other places, they feel nohesitation in expressing their opinion, that the Narrative published byMr. Ackermann is a true and faithful representation of such facts ascame within the Reporter's own observation. 

 Rev. Wm. KUPER. Rev. Dr. SCHWABE. Rev. C. F. STEINKOPFF. Rev. C. J. LATROBE. 

 _Tuesday, Feb. 8th, 1814. _

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_The following are the Instructions given by the London Committee to theCommittees of Distribution on the Continent. _

Permit me to inform you, that the London Committee for relieving theDistresses in Germany, and other parts of the Continent, deeplysympathizing in the distressed situation of your town, (or district, )and anxiously wishing to afford some relief to the sufferinginhabitants, have devoted the sum of ---- to this purpose in thedistribution of which they request your attention to the followingpoints:--

1. The express design of this Charity is to relieve those who have beenplunged into poverty and distress by the recent calamities of the War. 

2. In the appropriation of its funds, the strictest impartiality is tobe observed. 

3. The distribution is to take place with the least possible loss oftime. 

4. No one family or individual is to receive too large a proportion ofthis Charity. The amount of the loss, and all the circumstances of thepersons to be relieved, are duly to be taken into consideration. 

5. For these purposes a Committee of Distribution is immediately to beformed, consisting of magistrates, clergymen, merchants, and such otherpersons as are most generally respected for their knowledge, discretion, and integrity. Should a Committed be already formed for the disposing ofcontributions received from other quarters, they are requested to choosefrom among its members a Sub-Committee for the management of the sumsreceived from London. 

6. This Committee is requested to keep an accurate list of every personand family they relieve, as well as the sum allotted to each, and totransmit to the London Committee such authentic accounts of the distressstill prevailing, together with such particulars relative to the goodeffects produced by the distribution of the charity, as may proveinteresting to the public. 

7. Finally, the Committee of Distribution will have the goodness, at theclose of their benevolent labours, to draw up a concise Report of themanner in which they have applied the funds intrusted to their care, accompanied with such documents as they may deem necessary, and to sendthe whole to the London Committee. 

8. The London Committee, considering themselves responsible to thePublic, whose Almoners they are, wish to lay particular stress on afair, equitable, and impartial distribution of this bounty; and aspersons of different ranks, and religious denominations, in GreatBritain, have been the contributors, they anxiously wish that the _mostdistressed_, without regard to any religious community, whetherChristians or Jews, Protestants or Catholics, may receive their dueproportion in the distribution. 

9. They now conclude with assurances of their deep interest in thesufferings of their brethren on the Continent; and consider it not onlya duty, but a privilege, to administer to their necessities, as far asthe kind providence of God, through the instrumentality of the BritishPublic, may enable them to dispense. 

10. The Committee of Distribution are requested to appoint aCorrespondent with the London Committees, and to transmit their lettersto

 R. H. MARTEN, } LUKE HOWARD, } Secretaries, _At the City of London Tavern, London. _

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Typographical errors corrected in text:

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