Part 29 (1/2)
Under the conventions of war, the enes to the captors General Castex therefore authorised the troopers of iment and those of the 24th to help theons and carts abandoned by the Russians in their flight to the other side of the bridge The quantity of goods was iade could carry, I called together all the i retreat, during which I would probably be unable toall the can, I would advise them to provide themselves mainly with foodstuff, and think also about protection from the cold, I re, and that they should not weigh theirs doith articles of no use in war ”What iswhich is not food, clothing, or footill be rejected without exception” General Castex, to avoid all argument, had planted markers which divided the iment had its own area
Oudinot's forces surrounded the town on three sides, the fourth was bounded by the Beresina, and there were a number of observation posts, so that our soldiers could examine the contents of the Russian carts in safety It appeared that the officers of Tchitchakoff's army treated themselves well, for there was a profusion of haes, dried fish, smoked meat and wines of all sorts, plus an immense quantity of shi+ps biscuits, rice, cheese, etc Ourfootwear, which saved the lives oftheir horses, alood quality We took the best to replace those of which the troopers complained, and officers used some as pack-horses to carry the foodstuff which they had acquired
The brigade spent another day in Borisoff, and as in spite of the precautions which had been taken, the news of the destruction of the bridge had spread throughout 2nd Corps, Marshal Oudinot, in order to allow all his troops to take advantage of the goods contained in the eneed that successive detachht enter the town to take their share of the plunder
Notwithstanding the quantity of goods of all kinds taken by Oudinot's lers returning fro day
The supreme command and indeed all officers ere able to appreciate the situation were extremely worried We had before us the Beresina, on the opposite bank of which were gathered Tchitchakoff's forces, our flanks were threatened by Wittgenstein, Koutousoff was on our tail, and except for the debris of the Guard and Oudinot's and Victor's corps, reduced now to a few thousand combatants, the rest of the Grande Armee, recently so splendid, was composed of sick men and soldiers without weapons, who conspired against us; for although, owing to a drop in the temperature, Ney had been able, a few days previously, to escape across the frozen Nieman, we found the Beresina unfrozen, despite the bitter cold, and we had no pontoons hich to e
On the 25th of November, the Emperor entered Borisoff, where Marshal Oudinot awaited him with the 6000 men he had left Napoleon, and the officers of his staff were astonished at the good order and discipline which obtained in 2nd Corps, whose bearing contrasted so roups ofback from Moscow Our troops were certainly not so smart as they would have been in barracks, but every man had his weapons and was quite prepared to use them The Emperor was so impressed by their turn-out that he suiments of his satisfaction with the way they had conducted theht in the province of Polotsk
Chap 18
You will recall that when the Bavarian General Comte de Wrede made his unauthorised departure froade, after assuring General Corbineau that he had orders to do so, which was not true Well, this piece of trickery resulted in the saving of the Emperor and the reed unwillingly away from 2nd Corps, of which he was a part, had followed General Wrede as far as Gloubokoye, but there he had declared that he would go no further unless the Bavarian general showed hi him to keep Corbineau with him General Wrede was unable to do this, so Corbineau left him and headed for Dokshi+tsy and the headwater of the Beresina, then, going down the right bank of the river, he intended to reach Borisoff, cross the bridge and take the road to Orscha to look for Oudinot's Corps, which he thought was in the region of Bobr
The Emperor, who had available the services of several thousand Poles belonging to the Duchy of Warsaw, has been blan, soeneral or even every colonel to act as interpreters, for this would have avoided erous journey of several days which the Corbineau brigade had to undertake through unknown country, the language of whose inhabitants none of the French the three regiments which the General commanded was the 8th Polish Lancers, whose officers extracted from the local people all the necessary information This was a tremendous help to Corbineau
When he was about half a day's journey from Borisoff, some peasants told the Polish Lancers that Tchitchakoff's troops were occupying the town, infor the Beresina; however these sa persuaded hie of Studianka, not far froues above Borisoff, where there is a ford The three regi across country and avoiding so towards Borisoff, eventually rejoined Oudinot on the 23rd of Nove march undertaken by Corbineau was much to his credit, but ood fortune for the ar the ie at Borisoff in the near future, resolved, after discussing the matter with Corbineau, to cross the Beresina at Studianka
Tchitchakoff, who had been told of the crossing at this point effected by Corbineau's brigade, had placed a strong division and uns opposite Studianka, so Napoleon, to deceive hih very old, is almost always successful He pretended that he was not interested in Studianka and that he intended to use one of two other fords which were below Borisoff, the e of Oukolada To this end he sent ostentatiously to the spot one of the still arlers, which the eneth division of infantry At the tail of this coluuns and the division of Cuirassiers When they arrived at Oukolada these troops placed the guns in position, and did all they could to look as if they were about to build a bridge
Told of these preparations, Tchitchakoff had no doubt that it was Napoleon's intention to cross the river at this point so as to reach the road to Minsk, which ran nearby He therefore hurriedly sent down the right bank, to face Oukoloda, the entire garrison of Borisoff
Not only that, for some extraordinary reason, the Russian General, who had sufficient troops to protect both the upper and lower parts of the river, removed all of those which he had placed previously in a position to oppose a crossing at Studianka and sent them too down to Oukoloda He had now abandoned the place where the Ee, and had concentrated his force, uselessly, six leagues downstrea all his areant would not have ave him The town of Zembin, which is opposite to the ford at Studianka, is built on a vast oes over twenty-tooden bridges which the Russian general could have easily reduced to cinders before leaving the district, as they were surrounded by many stacks of dry reeds If Tchitchakoff had done this, the French army would have been left without hope It would have served it nothing to have crossed the river, for it would have been halted by the deep eneral left the bridges intact, and foolishly went down the Beresina with all hisonly about fifty Cossacks to keep an eye on the ford
While the Russians, taken in by Napoleon's subterfuge, were deserting the real point of attack, Napoleon gave his orders
Oudinot and his are for the building of two bridges, before crossing to the right bank and occupying the area between the town of Ze Natscha, was to foruard
He was to drive before hilers, and was to try to hold Borisoff for a few hours before going to Studianka and crossing the bridges Those were the Emperor's orders, the execution of which in detail was frustrated by events
On the evening of the 25th, Corbineau's brigade, whose commander knew the area well, proceeded up the left bank of the Beresina towards Studianka, followed by Castex's brigade and several battalions of light infantry; after which came the bulk of 2nd Corps
We were sorry to leave Borisoff where we had spent two happy days
We had perhaps a presentiment of the bad times which were to come
At daybreak on the 26th of Novens of any preparation for defence on the opposite bank, so that, had the E equipment a few days previously at Orscha, the army could have crossed ie, is more or less as wide as the Rue Royale in Paris where it passes the Ministry of Marine As for its depth, it is enough to say that the three regiade had forded it seventy-two hours previously without accident, and did so again on the day of which I write Their horses never lost their footing and had to swi presented only a few minor inconveniences to the cavalry the artillery and the carts, one of which was that the riders and carters et up to their knees, which was not insupportable because, regrettably the cold was not sufficiently severe to freeze the river, which would have been better for us The second inconvenience which arose froround which bordered the opposite bank of the river was soit and the carts could sink in to their axles
Esprit de corps is certainly very praiseworthy, but it should be otten in difficult circumstances This did not happen at the Beresina, where the coineers both dees, and as neither would give way, nothing was being done When the E that two bridges should be built, one by the artillery and one by the engineers Immediately beae and the sappers and the gunners got to work Those gallant men showed a devotion to duty which has not been sufficiently recognised They went naked into the freezing water and worked for six or seven hours at a stretch, although there was not a drop of ”eau de vie” to offer the in a field covered by snow Almost all of them died later, when the severe frosts cai on the left bank for the order to cross the river, the Ei to the men and officers He was acco officer who had so distinguished hi on Moscow, the proud Murat had been, so to speak, eclipsed since we had left that city, and during the retreat he had taken part in none of the fighting One saw hi to do as going on in the army He seeht of the only troops ere still in good order, and who constituted the last hope of safety
As Murat was very fond of the cavalry, and as of the many squadrons which had crossed the Nieman there reed the Emperor's footsteps in their direction
Napoleon was delighted with the state of these units and of er than several of the brigades I had more than 500 men on horseback, whereas the other colonels in the corps had scarcely 200, so I received soreat share of which was due to my officers and ood fortune to be joined by Jean Dupont my brother's servant, a e Left on his own after the capture of n, he had followed the 16th Chasseurs to Moscow and taken part in the retreat, while caring for my brother Adolphe's three horses, of which he had refused to sell a single one in spite of er and hardshi+p, still carrying all h he toldworn out his shoes and been reduced to walking barefoot in the snow, he had dared to take a pair of boots belonging to his master I kept this adreat help to me when, some time later, I ounded once reat retreat