Chichagov now, according to various critics on both sides, committed a great blunder. He remained halted for 18 days at Brest-Litovsk. But, as Bogdanovich has justly pointed out, he was about to advance through a country which, never rich, had been devastated by the passage across it of several armies. He had to divide his army for its new operations, leaving a competent force to observe Schwarzenberg, and to collect supplies sufficient to feed his own corps. Besides, the Army of the Danube had been marching and fighting for more than two months, and may well have needed time wherein to repose and refit. During the halt at Brest-Litovsk General Sacken joined the army from the south, bringing with him about 4000 depôt troops, who appear to have been drafted into the weaker units. While the Admiral himself remained at Brest, preparing for the march to the Berezina, he sent out detachments to overrun Warsaw and sweep the country towards Minsk. The detachments sent towards Warsaw were supported by Essen III’s division, which, on October 18th, came in contact at Biala with Reynier and was driven back, with a loss of several hundred men and a gun, upon Brest-Litovsk. On the other hand, General Chaplitz on the 20th destroyed the new Lithuanian regiment of Napoleon’s Guard at Slonim, only about 120 men escaping out of 600. Chaplitz’s detachment was supported by Cherbatov’s (formerly Markov’s) division. Eastward of Slonim there were very few invading troops to cover the long line of communications, threatened on the south by Russian forces at Bobruisk and Mozyr. The garrison of Bobruisk was not strong enough to make effective sorties, but the force at Mozyr had been gradually increased to about 12,000 men and over 30 guns. To guard against the menace of this force and to observe Bobruisk, Dombrowski’s infantry division and three regiments of cavalry had been left by Poniatowski in August. Dombrowski’s whole force, even after the junction of some Lithuanian levies, can never have exceeded 9000 men, and was barely sufficient, after garrisoning Mohilev, to observe Bobruisk, much less to oppose any effectual resistance to Ertel. On September 11th a column from Mozyr forced an Austrian detachment to abandon Pinsk, while a second, under Ertel himself, defeated Dombrowski’s Lithuanians on the 15th and threw some reinforcements into Bobruisk. Then, however, he retired to Mozyr.