Cassell's History of England, Vol. 5 (of 8): From the Peninsular War to the Death of Sir Robert PeelAnonymous
History
Cassell's History of England, Vol. 5 (of 8): From the Peninsular War to the Death of Sir Robert Peel
Anonymous
Great Britain -- History
On the morning of the 19th the battle recommenced with fury. The French
were now fighting close under the walls of the town, and Napoleon,
posted on an eminence called Thonsberg, watched the conflict. Till
two o'clock the fight raged all along the line, round the city; and
neither party seemed to make any advance. At length the Allies forced
their way into the village of Probstheide, and threw the French on that
side into great confusion. Ney, on the north side, was also fearfully
pressed by Blucher and the Crown Prince of Sweden, and was compelled
to retreat under the walls. On a sudden, as the Russians advanced also
against Ney, the Saxons--ten thousand in number--went over to them
with a shout. They were sent to the rear, but their cannon was at once
turned against the enemy. By evening it was clear that the French could
not hold their position another day. Schwarzenberg announced to the
Allied sovereigns that victory was certain, and they knelt on the field
and returned thanks to God. The French knew this better than their
opponents, for in the two days they had fired two hundred and fifty
thousand cannon-balls, and had only about sixteen thousand cartridges
left, which would not serve for more than two hours, much of their
artillery having been sent to Torgau. The retreat, therefore, commenced
in the night. There was only one bridge prepared, of timber, in
addition to the regular stone bridge, over which one hundred thousand
men must pass, with the enemy at their heels. To add to the misery, the
temporary bridge soon broke down. Napoleon took a hasty leave of the
King and Queen of Saxony, ordered Poniatowski to defend the rear, and
himself made for the bridge. It was not without much difficulty, and
considerable alarm lest he should be surrounded and taken, that he and
his suite got across. Then there was a terrible scene of crushing and
scrambling; and the enemy, now aware of the flight, were galloping and
running from all sides towards the bridge, to cut off the fugitives.
Soon after Buonaparte had got over, the bridge was blown up by the
French officer in charge of the mine already made, and twenty-five
thousand men were left to surrender as prisoners in the town. Amongst
these were Marshals Macdonald and Poniatowski; but, disdaining to
surrender, they sprang, with their horses, into the Pleisse--to swim.
Macdonald escaped, but Poniatowski, though he crossed the Pleisse, was
again nearly cut off, and plunging into the deep and muddy Elster,
was drowned. No braver man perished in these tragic campaigns; both
Allies and French in Leipsic followed his remains to the tomb, in
sincere honour of his gallantry. The triumph of the Allied monarchs was
complete. They met in the great square of the city, and felicitated
each other. The King of Saxony was sent, without any interview, under
a guard of Cossacks to Berlin, and at the General Congress he was made
to pay dearly in territory for his besotted adhesion to the invader of
Germany.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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