About 4 p.m., apparently on the hypothesis that St. Cyr had weakened his left to withstand the attack on his right, Wittgenstein ordered Iachvil to assault in earnest the western works. The attempt was hopeless, and could not for a moment have succeeded. Such advantage as the Russians gained was due to a rash counter-attack made by a Swiss regiment and a battalion of Croats. They suffered very heavily and were driven back upon the works, the Croats being mostly captured. But this was all that Iachvil could achieve, though his militia fought with fanatic fury. At nightfall St. Cyr’s position was practically intact; and the Russians had certainly lost far more heavily than the French. While the battle was proceeding, Steingell was approaching by the left bank of the Düna, but was only able to reach the Uchach, 7 or 8 miles west of Polotsk, by the evening of the 18th with his advance-guard. De Chambray criticises him for his slowness; but as he only crossed the Düna on the 16th, and then had nearly 50 miles of bad road to traverse in order to reach Polotsk, the stricture appears unjust. On the 19th Steingell informed Wittgenstein that he was at hand. The bridge at Desna was hardly commenced, and had St. Cyr been a little stronger the position of the Russians would have been even more serious than it was. Wittgenstein’s army had obviously been badly shaken by the fierce fighting of the day before; for he made no attempt to renew the attack until Steingell could join in from the south. This threw an awkward responsibility upon the commander of the weak Finland corps, and exposed him to the risk of destruction should St. Cyr decide to hold Polotsk only as a _tête de pont_ and concentrate a superior force on the left bank of the Düna. To the writer it seems that St. Cyr might have abandoned his outlying works, and left the inner and continuous line to be held by about 14,000 men, while with the remaining 14,000 (allowing for losses) he attacked and defeated Steingell, who had scarcely 10,000 actually in hand. This, however, he did not do; and as the precise strength of the entrenchments is a matter of doubt he was perhaps right. He detached one regiment from each of his divisions, and sent them under General Amey to reinforce Corbineau. A Cuirassier regiment was also directed to the Uchach. Steingell’s advance-guard, only four battalions under Colonel Turshaninov, naturally halted before this accumulation of force and waited for the main body, while Steingell apparently was listening for the sound of Wittgenstein’s guns before advancing on Polotsk. The French containing force took up a fairly strong position among woods and broken ground, and effectually checked the advance of the Finland corps. St. Cyr, however, made up his mind that he was not strong enough to contend at the same time with both Russian forces, and in the evening began to evacuate Polotsk. Iachvil noted the withdrawal of troops and opened fire on his front,