sary a prompt movement upon one of our two largest depots. The emperor decided for that of Erfurt, for the same reason which induced him to come to Leipsic, to enable him to appreciate the defection of Bavaria.

The emperor immediately gave orders that the baggage, the parks, and the artillery, should pass the defiles of Lindenau; he gave similar orders with respect to the cavalry, and the different corps of the army, and then repaired to the Prussian Hotel, in the suburbs of Leipsic, where he arrived at nine o'clock in the evening. This circumstance obliged the French army to renounce the fruits of the two victories which they had, with so much glory, beaten troops greatly superior in numbers, and the armies of the whole continent. But this movement was not without difficulty. From Leipsic to Lindenau there is a defile of two leagues, with from five to six bridges on the road. It was proposed to place 6000 men and 90 pieces of cannon in Leipsic, which is a walled town; to occupy that town as a tete de defile; to burn its vast suburbs, in order to prevent the enemy from effecting a lodgment therein, and to give full scope for our artillery on the ramparts to play. However odious the treason of the Saxon army was, the emperor could not resolve to destroy one of the finest cities of Germany; to deliver it up to the disorders of every kind inseparable from such a defence; and that too under the eyes of the king, who had been pleased to accompany the emperor from Dresden, and who was so sensibly afflicted by the conduct of his army. The emperor chose rather to expose himself to the loss of a few hundred waggons than to adopt this barbarous measure. At break of day, all the parks, the baggage, the whole of the artillery, the cavalry, guards, and two-thirds of the army, had already passed the defile. The Duke of Tarentum and Prince Poniatowski were charged to hold the suburbs, and to defend them long enough to allow the whole to debouche, and then to execute, themselves, the passage of the defile towards eleven o'clock. At six o'clock in the morning, the magistrates of Leipsic sent a deputation

to the Prince of Schwartzenberg, to beg that he would not make the city the scene of an action that would occasion its ruin. At nine o'clock the emperor mounted his horse, entered Leipsic, and paid a visit to the king. He left this prince at full liberty to do as he pleased, and not to quit his dominions, leaving them to be exposed to that seditious spirit which had been fomented amongst the soldiers. A Saxon battalion had been formed at Dresden, and joined the young guards. The emperor caused it to be drawn up at Leipsic, in front of the king's palace, to serve him as a guard, and protect him from the first movement of the enemy. Half an hour after, the emperor repaired to Lindenau, there to await the evacuation of Leipsic, and to see the last troops pass the bridges before putting himself in march. Meanwhile the enemy was speedily apprised that the greater part of the army had evacuated Leipsic, and that there remained there only a strong rear-guard. They briskly attacked the Duke of Tarentum and Prince Poniatowski; they were repeatedly repulsed; and in the act of defending the suburbs, our rear-guard effected its retreat. But the Saxons that remained in the city fired upon the troops from the ramparts, which obliged them to accelerate their retreat, and occasioned some disorder.

The emperor had ordered the engineers to form fougades under the grand bridge which is between Leipsic and Lindenau, in order to blow it up at the latest moment, and thus to retard the march of the enemy, and give time for our baggage to file off. General Dulanloy had intrusted this operation to Colonel Montfort. This colonel, instead of remaining on the spot to direct it and to give the signal, ordered a corporal and four sappers to blow up the bridge the instant the enemy should appear. The corporal, an ignorant fellow, and but ill comprehending the nature of the duty with which he was charged, upon hearing the first shot discharged from the ramparts of the city, set fire to the foudages and blew up the bridge. A part of the army was still on the other side, with a park of 80 pieces of artillery, and some hundreds of wag

gons. The advance of this part of the army, who were approaching the bridge, seeing it blow up, conceived it was in the power of the enemy. A cry of dismay spread from rank to rank-"The enemy are close upon our rear, and the bridges are destroyed!"-The unfortunate soldiers dispersed, and endeavoured to effect their escape as well as they could. The Duke of Tarentum swam across the river; Count Lauriston, less fortunate, was drowned; Prince Poniatowski, mounted on a spirited horse, dashed into the water, and appeared no more. The emperor was not informed of this disaster until it was too late to remedy it. In fact, no remedy would have been possible. Colonel Montfort, and the corporal of sappers, have been handed over to a court martial.

"It is impossible as yet to ascertain the losses occasioned by this unfortunate event, but they are estimated at 12,000 men, and several hundred waggons. The disorder which it has occasioned in the army has changed the state of affairs. The French army, though victorious, is arriving at Erfurt, as a defeated army would have arrived there. It is impossible to describe the regret which the army feels for Prince Poniatowski, Count Lauriston, and all the brave men who perished in consequence of this fatal event. We have no accounts of General Regnier; it is not known whether he is taken or killed. The profound grief of the emperor may be easily conceived, who sees from inattention to his wise dispositions the results of so many fatigues and labours completely vanquishing.'

RIVES AT PARIS-HIS HUMBLE SPEECH TO THE SENATE -DECLARATION OF THE ALLIED SOVEREIGNS.

BONAPARTE, pursuing his retreat from Dresden, passed the Saale at Weissenfels, on the 20th October, and pushed rapidly forward to Erfurt, where he arrived on the 23d, and where he found a seasonable supply of provisions, ammunition, and cloathing, which, in some degree, revived the drooping spirits of his soldiers.

The haughty despot, it will be seen in the preceding chapter, was compelled to revert to falsehoods to gloss over his defeat. He found, in the spirit which actuated the combined forces, the direful presage of his subsequent misfortunes.In the action of the 16th, he owed his safety to the fleetness of his horse, or he would have been made prisoner by the Austrian cuirassiers, and from that time the overwhelming force and fury of his enemies pressed upon him; and the pursuit of the victors was impeded, not by the gallantry and discipline of his armies, but, by the roads being choaked up with dead bodies, carriages, baggage waggons, and equipages of every description.

General Wrede, with the Austro-Bavarian army, advanced with great celerity, in order to cut off Bonaparte's retreat to Frankfort and in a series of engagements harassed the retreating army.

In an engagement that took place on the 19th, between Rottenbach and Geluhausen, General Delamotte took from

the French 2 cannon and 2000 prisoners, among which were 2 generals and 150 officers. On the 30th October, General Wrede made a reconnoissance, and having ascertained that Bonaparte, who was approaching, had still from 60 to 80,000 men, while his own force, in consequence of having sent out large detachments, was only 30,000 men in front of Hanau, he determined to impede the retreat, which he could not wholly prevent. Having made the necessary dispositions, he was attacked by Bonaparte in person, who brought up 180 pieces of cannon, to compel him to give way. In this object Napoleon failed, as the combined army retained possession of the field of battle until night, when the left wing was withdrawn behind Hanau. He then commenced his retreat, and, to cover it, attempted to carry Hanau by assault. To spare the town from bombardment, General Wrede withdrew the garrison on the morning of the 31st October; but the French having, on their entrance, begun a general pillage, the allied army recovered it by assault, but with the loss of its Commander-in-chief, Wrede, who was mortally wounded in the attack. This irreparable loss so incensed the Austro-Bavarian troops, that they put every Frenchman in the town to the sword. The Austro-Bavarian troops was computed at 7000 killed and wounded, and some missing. That of the French was 15,000 killed and wounded. The greater part of the latter perished in the wood of Lampner, the rapidity with which they effected their retreat not having permitted them to carry them off. The road from Hanau to Frankfort was covered with dead bodies, dead horses, and dismounted ammunition waggons.

Besides the loss which Bonaparte suffered at Hanau, 15,000 stragglers were brought in, who were unable to keep up with the army; while his route was marked by the carcases of dead and dying horses without number, and the bodies of men who had been either killed or perished through hunger, sickness, or fatigue. The incredible number of blown up or destroyed ammunition waggons, also attested the sufferings of his army,