ceeded in crossing the river higher up at Bery-le-Bac. He immediately attacked the left of the position of the allies, near Craon, but from the judicious dispositions of his able antagonist, he was repulsed. The following morning he renewed the attack with all his force, calculated at more than 60,000 men, against the point where the infantry of the corps of Winzingerode was posted. This position was defended with the most determined obstinacy by Counts Strogonoff and Woronzoff, who, however, being at length obliged to retire, fell back in admirable order to Laon. Blucher, in consequence, took up a fresh position in front of Laon; the elevated plateau, on which the town itself is situated, being occupied by the corps of General Bülow. Here he was again assailed under cover of a thick fog, before day-light on the 10th. Favoured by this circumstance, the French obtained possession of the villages of Semilly and Ardon, close under the town. The Prussian commander, as soon as he could observe their position, ordered his cavalry which had been placed in reserve to turn the left flank; and at the same time directed part of Bülow's corps to advance against the village of Ardon, from which they were compelled to retreat. While the cavalry was taking a circuit to execute his directions, a column was observed approaching along the road from Rheims. Generals Von York and Sacken were ordered to oppose it. In this quarter the battle now became most obstinate. The French opened a formidable battery of 40 or 50 pieces of artillery, and advanced with a confidence indicative of the certainty of success. He was moving forward at a pas de charge to the village of Althies, but was met and overthrown by Prince William of Prussia. The French then commenced their retreat, which soon became a flight; and were pursued by their opponents to Corbeny, losing artillery, baggage, and prisoners. by the way. On the right, no particular advantages were gained beyond the expulsion of the enemy from the villages, of which he had gained possession in the morning. Notwithstanding the discomfiture of Bonaparte's right on the

9th, he renewed and continued his attacks with the rest of his force during the whole of the succeeding day. The plain below the town of Laon is interspersed with villages and small woods, which soon became the scene of very obstinate contests. A wood near the village of Clacy, on the right of Blucher's position, was taken and recovered five different times, and finally remained in possession of the allies. In the centre and left the French maintained themselves, but towards evening a body of troops which they had pushed forward to attack the village of Semilly, was met by a battalion of Bülow's corps, and compelled to retire in disorder, with considerable loss. Thus terminated the attacks of two succeeding days; in which Bonaparte experienced nothing but defeat and discomfiture. The absence of the corps of Von York, Kleist, and Sacken, which were still in pursuit of the fugitives, prevented any active offensive operations on the second of these days; but success crowned the efforts of those corps in other respects, by the capture of between 3 and 4,000 prisoners, 45 pieces of cannon, and a great quantity of ammunition and baggage. During the night of the 10th, Bonaparte retired towards Soissons, pursued by the cavalry of Blucher's advanced guard.

Prince Schwartzenberg availed himself of the absence of Bonaparte to advance again upon Troyes. The possession of Bar-sur-Aube seems to have been obstinately contested. That town was twice retaken by the French, but on the 27th of February remained in the hands of the allies, after an action which cost their opponents between 2 and 3,000 men. During the following days, the French continued to retreat; and on the 2d it was ascertained that they were in position along the Brace, on the right bank of the Seine, and at La Maison Blanche, on the left of that river. On the 3d a general attack was made upon them; and after an action in which they sustained a loss of 10 pieces of cannon, and 3,000 prisoners, Marshal Oudinot, who commanded, withdrew his force along the road towards Troyes. That city was summoned on the

following day, and they agreed to evacuate it without opposition.

On the south-eastern frontier of France, Augereau, who was dispatched to check the advance of Count Bubna upon Lyons, having in February received considerable reinforcements, especially from Suchet's army in Catalonia, was enabled about the 18th of that month to commence offensive operations with 25,000 men. This force he seems to have formed into three divisions: one column proceeding against Savoy, repossessed itself of Chamberri; another marching along the Saone recovered Macon, Bourg, and Lons le Saunier, where Augereau had his head-quarters on the 2d of March; while a third made its appearance in sight of Geneva. To check the progress of this force upon his flank and rear, Prince Schwartzenberg detached the corps of General Bianchi to the support of Count Bubna.

During these operations of the allies in the north, the movements of the Marquis of Wellington inspired Bonaparte with dread and alarm, inasmuch as the marquis had gained in a great measure the good opinion of the French inhabitants in those districts of the south, which had always evinced a predilection for the ancient order of things. The Marquis of Wellington, whose winter-quarters had been fixed at St. Jean de Luz, was prevented by the state of the weather and the roads, from re-commencing active operations against the French army under Marshal Soult, till the middle of February. On the 14th, he put in motion bis right wing, commanded. by Lieutenant-general Sir Rowland Hill, who drove in Soult's picquets on the Joyeuse river, and forced a division under General Harispe to retire from Hellette to St. Martin; while part of General Mina's troops formed the blockade of St. Jean Pied de Port. On the 15th, Sir Rowland Hill continued the pursuit of the French, who had retired to a strong position in front of Garris, where Harispe was joined by the division of General Paris, which had been recalled from its march for the interior of France.

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At the same time, the second English division under General Sir William Stewart, and the Spanish division under General Murillo, attacked and drove the French from the very strong position of St. Palais, where they retired on the night of the 15th across the Bidouze. They were followed on the 16th by Sir Rowland Hill, who the next day drove them across the Gave de Mouleon. This post also was carried with considerable loss to them; and on the 18th, our troops were established on the Gave d'Olerón, another of the tributary streams of the Adour. During this movement, Fieldmarshal Sir William Beresford, who had remained with the 4th and 7th divisions in observation on the Lower Bidouze, attacked them on the 23d in their fortified posts at Hastingues and Oyergave, on the left of the Gave de Pau. On the 24th, Sir Rowland Hill and Sir Henry Clinton with their divisions passed the Gave d'Oleron, the former at Ville Nave, and the latter between Monfort and Laas, and moved towards Orthes, where the hostile force having destroyed all the bridges, assembled on the 25th. The various divisions of the British army having passed the Gave de Pau on the 26th and following day, found the French in a strong position near Othes, with their right on the heights along the high road to Dax, and occupying the village of St. Boes, which he carried after an obstinate resistance; but the ground was so narrow, that the troops under Lieutenant-general Sir Thomas Pieton could not deploy to attack the heights on which Soult's centre and left were posted. The Marquis of Wellington then ordered a simultaneous assault on the right and left, by three divisions under Generals Picton and Clinton, and Lieutenantcolonel Colborne, which dislodged him, and secured the victory. Meanwhile, Sir Rowland Hill having forced the passage of the Gave above Orthes, moved forward upon the left of the French, who at first retired in good order; but finding themselves thus threatened, soon fled in the utmost confusion. In the action and pursuit, which was continued till dusk, they suffered severely; the whole country was covered by their

dead, and the victors took six pieces of cannon and a great number of prisoners. Many soldiers threw away their arms in their flight, and the desertion,' says our illustrious commander, has since been immense. The loss on our part in this achievement, was 273 killed, 1891 wounded, and 70 missing.

During these operations on the right of the army, Lieutenant-general Sir John Hope availed himself of an opportunity which offered on the 23d, to cross the Adour below Bayonne, by means of rafts made of pontoons, and to take possession of the river at its mouth. The vessels destined to form the bridge could not get in till the 24th, when the difficult, and, at this season of the year, dangerous operation of bringing them in was effected with a gallantry and skill rarely equalled. The citadel of Bayonne was invested on the 25th; on the 27th, the bridge being completed, Sir John Hope attacked and carried the village of St. Etienne, and established his posts within 900 yards of the outworks of the place.

The day after the conflict at Orthes, the Marquis of Wellington pursued the fugitive army; and the 1st of March he passed the Adour. Sir William Beresford advanced upon Mont de Marsan, and Sir Rowland Hill upon Aire, of which towns, together with the large magazines established there, they made themselves masters.

On the 12th of March, Marshal Sir William Beresford, with the division under his command, entered Bourdeaux, and was warmly welcomed by the mayor and population.— When the approach of the marshal, at the head of the allied troops, was known at Bou: ux, Mr. Lynch, the mayor, advanced on the way to meet him, attended by the constituted authorities, the principal inhabitants, and an immense multitude, in carriages, on horseback, and on foot. In his capacity of mayor, he was decorated with the insignia of Bonaparte's government; but, on his drawing near to Marshal Beresford, he tore them, and trampled them under foot. The white cockade was instantly substituted for them. This con