The French entered in pursuit, and dislodged them. The Russians made their bivouac outside the city whilst the battle was preparing for the morrow. The weather was cold; one half of the country upon which the armies were camped was only a sheet of ice covering some small lakes. The snow lay thick upon the ground, and continued to fall in great flakes. The two armies were composed of nearly equal forces; several French corps, detached or delayed, were about to fail in the great effort which this rough winter campaign required. The troops were fatigued and hungry. "I have wherewith to nourish the army for a year," wrote Napoleon to Fouché, annoyed at the reports current in France as to the sufferings of the soldiers, "it is absurd to think one can want corn and wine, bread and meat, in Poland." The provisions remained, nevertheless, insufficient. "I can assure you," said the Duc de Fezensac in his military souvenirs, "that with all these orders so freely given in January, our _corps d'armée_ was dying of hunger in March." Long before the dawn of a slowly breaking and cloudy day Napoleon was already in the streets, establishing his guard in the cemetery of Eylau, and ordering his line of battle. The formidable artillery of the Russians covered their two lines; presently the shells fired the town of Eylau and the village of Rothenen, which protected a division of Marshal Soult's. The two armies remained immovable in a rain of cannon-balls. The Russians were the first to move forward, in order to attack the mill of Eylau; "they were impatient at suffering so much," says the 58th bulletin of the grand army. Nearly at the same moment the corps of Marshal Davout arrived; the emperor had him supported by Marshal Augereau. The snow fell in thick masses, obscuring the view of the soldiers; the troops of Augereau turned swiftly to the left, decimated by the Russian artillery. The marshal himself, already ill before the battle, was struck by a ball. The officers were nearly all wounded. The emperor called Murat: "Wilt thou let us be annihilated by these people?" The cavalry shot immediately in advance; only the imperial guard remained massed round Napoleon.