The affairs of Sweden seemed now to be permanently settled; but in May, 1810, the Crown-Prince suddenly died, leaving the succession vacant. A series of intrigues followed this unexpected event, the object of which was to procure the election of a new Crown-Prince; and the sovereigns of Russia, France and Denmark severally exerted themselves to gain a preponderating influence in the matter. The choice eventually fell upon Bernadotte, whose appointment was confirmed by the Swedish Diet on the 17th of September. Napoleon was both surprised and disappointed at this result, as he would much have preferred to see the King of Denmark on the Swedish throne; nevertheless, he advised Bernadotte to accept the proffered dignity, and advanced him a million of francs for the expenses immediately consequent on his appointment.

While these events were taking place in the north of Europe, Napoleon pursued with undisguised avidity his career of civic aggrandizement. On the 12th of November, 1810, the Republic of Valais, commanding the passage of the Simplon into Italy, was incorporated with the French Empire, on the ground that Napoleon's great public works in that quarter entitled France to the possession of the territory. The same Senate which passed this decree, issued another on the 13th of December with the following preamble: "The British Orders in Council, and the Berlin and Milan decrees for 1806 and 1807, have torn to shreds the public law of Europe. A new order of things reigns throughout the world; and, as new guaranties have become necessary, I consider that the union with the French Empire of the mouths of the Scheldt, the Meuse, the Rhine, the Ems, the Weser and the Elbe, together with the establishment of an interior line of communication between France and the Baltic, is of the greatest importance; and I have caused a plan to be prepared, which in five years will unite the Baltic with the Seine. Indemnity shall be given to the princes who may be injured by this measure, which necessity requires, and which makes the right of my Empire rest on the Baltic sea." This immense spoliation extended the limits of France almost to the frontiers of Russia; it took from the kingdom of Westphalia a district containing five hundred thousand inhabitants, and one from the Grandduchy of Berg having a population of two hundred thousand; and, what was much more serious, it dispossessed of his dominions the Grand-Duke of Oldenburg, brother-in-law of the Emperor Alexander, besides cutting off Prussia from the coast of the German Ocean.

When Alexander received intelligence of the spoliation of the GrandDuke of Oldenburg, and of the other encroachments in the decree of December, 1810, he issued an imperial ukase on the last day of that month, which, under the pretence of regulating affairs of the Customs, materially relaxed the rigor of the decrees hitherto in force in the Russian Empire against English commerce, and at the same time virtually prohibited the importation of many articles of French manufacture. These measures were followed by the establishment of a coast-guard of eighty thousand men, which, as might easily be seen, was but a cloak for the augmentation of the regular army. In addition to this, the cabinent of St. Petersburg presented a diplomatic note to all the courts of Europe, formally complaining of the spoliation of the duchy of Oldenburg.

The threatening aspect of these proceedings, which caused great disquietude all over Europe, was for a time forgotten by France, in her exultation at the birth of an heir to the Empire. This event occurred on

the 20th of March. It had been previously intimated, that if the infant were a princess, twenty-one guns would be fired from the Invalides, but if it were a prince, a hundred guns would proclaim it. At the first report, therefore, all Paris was in commotion, and the discharges were counted with intense interest until the twenty-first gun had been fired. The gunners delayed an instant before discharging the next piece, and every one stood breathless with suspense; but when the twenty-second gun was heard, the wildest enthusiasm prevailed, and the universal joy of the people gave witness of Napoleon's strong hold on their affections. The scarcely-disguised secession of Russia from the Continental System, had the effect of rendering Napoleon more urgent in exacting the rigorous execution of his decrees from the other powers in the north of Europe. He met with the most ready compliance from Denmark; for the cabinet of Copenhagen shut the Danish ports against all neutral vessels whatever, bearing British or colonial produce: but against Prussia he fulminated menacing complaints for her alleged connivance at a contraband traffic, and the cabinet of Berlin was compelled to sign a treaty on the 28th of January, 1811, stipulating that the Prussian confiscations of British goods should be remitted to France, and placed to the credit of Prussia on account of her debt to the Empire incurred by the war-contributions. He assumed a still more alarming tone toward Sweden. Charging that, under pretence of a traffic in salt, a large contraband trade was still carried on in the Swedish ports, he declared that he would greatly prefer open war with himself, to such a state of covert communication with his enemies. "I begin to see," he said, "that I have committed a fault in restoring Pomerania to Sweden; and the Swedes may know, that if the treaty is not carried into execution to the very letter, my troops shall instantly reënter that province." "Choose," said he to Bernadotte, "between the confiscation of every English vessel that approaches your coast, and a war with France. You tell me Sweden is suffering. Bah! Is not France suffering? Are not Holland and Germany suffering? We must all suffer to conquer a maritime peace."

Napoleon followed up his demands on Sweden so peremptorily, that she was forced to declare war against England; but even this step did not relieve her from his exactions: for although the British government, in view of the circumstances under which the cabinet of Stockholm was placed, generously forbore to commit hostilities on Swedish merchantmen, the French captured the Swedish vessels without hesitation, confiscated their cargoes, and threw their crews into prison, on the pretext that they were trading with England and were not furnished with French licenses. Napoleon next demanded from Sweden two thousand sailors to join the French navy; and as they were not immediately furnished, he raised his demand to twelve thousand. Things proceeded in this manner until January, 1812, when the French troops entered Pomerania, overran the country, seized the fortress of Stralsund, confiscated all Swedish ships in the harbor, and began to levy contributions for the Imperial treasury. These outrages soon led to negotiations between the cabinets of Stockholm, London and St. Petersburg, which ended in the conclusion of offensive and defensive treaties between Sweden, Great Britain and Russia, against France. A renewal of the war being thus resolved on, Napoleon and Alexander, the sovereigns by whom it was chiefly to be waged, made immediate preparations for the contest.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

ADVANCE OF NAPOLEON TO MOSCOW.

NAPOLEON undertook the Russian campaign with forces far exceeding any armament that he had hitherto assembled. The Grand Army alone, which in the month of June was concentrated in Poland, numbered more than five hundred thousand effective troops; and the entire resources of the French Empire and its dependencies could be relied on to furnish reën forcements to the enormous amount of seven hundred thousand more: making a total of twelve hundred thousand men, although this whole force was never actually brought into the field. The Grand Army had no less than eighty thousand cavalry and thirteen hundred pieces of cannon: twenty thousand wagons with baggage and magazines followed the march, and the horses employed in the army for the artillery, the cavalry and the wagons, amounted to one hundred and eighty-seven thousand. Of the soldiers, two hundred thousand were native French; the remainder were Germans, Italians, Poles, Swiss, Prussians, Austrians and Bavarians, whom the terror of Napoleon's arms had compelled, however unwillingly, to join this terrible array.

These troops, at the commencement of the campaign, were divided into five great masses. The first, two hundred and twenty thousand strong, was under the immediate orders of the Emperor; the second, seventy-five thousand strong, was commanded by Jerome; the third, under the viceroy Eugene, numbered, also, seventy-five thousand; the right wing, under Schwartzenberg, consisted of thirty-thousand men, and the left, under Macdonald, also of thirty thousand. The remainder, forming the present efficient reserve, and amounting to seventy thousand men, followed the course of the advanced corps, and were ready to support any division in need of their assistance.

The Russian forces actually in the field at the commencement of hostilities, did not exceed two hundred and fifteen thousand men; of whom one hundred and twenty-seven thousand were commanded by Barclay de Tolly, forty-eight thousand by Prince Bagrathion, and forty thousand by Tormasoff. In addition to these, thirty-five thousand men were assembled in the interior provinces, and fifty thousand were in Moldavia, all of whom eventually aided in the war, and raised the total strength brought into action during the campaign, though never all collected together at one time, to three hundred thousand men.

On the 23rd of June, Napoleon approached the Niemen, and the numerous columns of the Grand Army converged toward Kowno, which, being the extreme point of a salient angle where the Prussian projected into the Russian territory, seemed a favorable spot for commencing operations. As Napoleon rode along the banks of the river, his horse stumbled and threw him upon the sand; some one exclaimed, "It is a bad omen: a Roman would retire." Having reconnoitered the ground, he ordered the construction of three bridges, and retired to his quarters. The French infantry were as yet in good order, and had left very few stragglers behind; but the cavalry and artillery had already begun to suffer severely.

The grass and hay on the line of march were soon entirely consumed by the enormous multitude of horses thus accumulated in a comparatively small space, and it became evident, that want of supplies would prove a serious obstacle to the success of the expedition.

The

The

The passage of the troops was commenced on the 24th of June, and continued through the 25th, when the whole central army, under the Emperor, gained the opposite bank; the viceroy and Jerome crossed, some days later, at Pilony and Grodno; and on the 2nd of July, Schwartzenberg and Macdonald respectively passed over the Bug and the Niemen. great disparity of force between the French and Russian armies rendered it necessary for the latter to maintain a defensive policy; and, as Napoleon's columns advanced, the Russians steadily and slowly retired: nor was it long before the wisdom of this course plainly appeared. sultry heat of the weather at the crossing of the Niemen, was succeeded by a tempest that fell on the French ranks with terrible severity. Their horses perished by thousands, from the combined effect of incessant rain and unwholesome provender; thirty thousand disbanded soldiers spread confusion around the whole army; and when the French troops had been only six days in the Russian dominions, and when as yet not a single shot had been fired, twenty-five thousand sick and dying men filled the hospitals of Wilna and the villages of Lithuania.

Barclay withdrew from Wilna on the 28th of June, and Napoleon entered it a few hours afterward, and remained there seventeen days: a delay which military historians have declared to be the greatest error in his whole career. Certain it is, his inactivity on this occasion gave the Russian commander time to retire in admirable order, and exhibited a striking contrast to the vigor with which he pursued his retreating enemy in the campaigns of Ulm, Jena, Ratisbon and Echmul.

While Napoleon was thus halting at Wilna, Jerome and Davoust had marched against Bagrathion, with the intention of separating his army from that of Barclay. Two sharp skirmishes occurred between the French and Russian light parties on the 9th and 10th of July, both of which terminated favorably to the Russians, and inspired the army with a desire for a general action; but Bagrathion, wisely pursuing the course laid down in the general orders for the campaign, continued his retreat and reached the ramparts of Bobrinsk, on the Berezina, on the 18th of July. Napoleon was so much displeased at this result, that he removed Jerome from the command and placed the whole force under Davoust's orders; this change, however, did not render the French movements successful in cutting off or defeating Bagrathion: for the latter, on the 24th, formed a junction with Count Platoff, and retired by Mohilow to NovoBichow, whence he crossed the Borysthenes, and, advancing leisurely to Smolensko, joined the main army under Barclay on the 3rd of August.

In the meantime, Barclay, after leaving Wilna, had retired to an intrenched camp at Drissa, on the 14th of July; on the 16th, he moved to Polotsk; and on the 23rd he reached Witepsk, where he disposed the main body of his troops, and posted his vanguard, under Ostermann, twelve thousand strong, along the wooded heights of Ostrowno. On the 26th, Murat with twelve thousand men, principally cavalry, attacked Count Ostermann's division, and several severe, though partial actions ensued without any decisive results; and meanwhile, both parties brought up the main body of their forces, so that on the morning of the 27th,

Barclay's army, to the number of eighty-two thousand men, was drawn up on an elevated plain covering the approach to Witepsk; and Napoleon lay near at hand with one hundred and eighty thousand men, resolved to attack the Russian position on the following day. At nightfall, his last words to Murat were, 66 'To-morrow, at five, the sun of Austerlitz!" But, although Barclay at first resolved to hazard a battle with an army more than double his own numbers, he afterward changed his resolution, and ordered a retreat toward Smolensko. Brilliant watch-fires were kept up during the night to disguise the intended movement, while his whole army broke up from its encampment, and retired with such expedition and skill that not a weapon, a baggage-wagon, nor a straggler was left behind. The next morning, when the French advanced guard arrived at the separation of the roads leading to St. Petersburg and Moscow, they could not discover which of the two routes the Russians had taken. The condition of the French army was now such that a halt at Witepsk became indispensable, to repair the disorder and disorganization consequent on the scarcity of supplies, exposure to the weather, fatigues of the march, and the great prevalence of sickness among the men. Barclay, therefore, continued his march to Smolensko without molestation. The Emperor Alexander had left the army at Polotsk under the sole command of Barclay, on the 16th of July, and returned to Moscow to hasten the military preparations in that quarter. On the 27th, the nobles and merchants of Moscow were invited to a solemn assembly in the Imperial palace, where Count Rostopchin, the governor, read to them an address from the Emperor, soliciting them to contribute to the defence of the country. The nobles immediately proposed and unanimously voted a levy of ten in every hundred of the male population, whom they promised to clothe and arm at their own expense: and the merchants with equal promptitude subscribed a million of dollars for the public service. At this moment, the Emperor entered the hall and declared, amid the burst of enthusiasm which greeted him, that he would exhaust his last resources before giving up the contest. By these means, a powerful auxiliary force was created in the interior districts of the Empire; and, as the example of Moscow was speedily followed, an immense number of men soon assembled in various parts of the Russian dominions who, in the event, greatly contributed to the success of the war. Alexander then

set out for St. Petersburg, where he arrived on the 15th of August.

Toward the end of July, Barclay detached Wittgenstein with twentyfive thousand men, to maintain a position on the Dwina and cover the road to St. Petersburg. Oudinot was sent by Napoleon to attack this corps, and he made an assault on the Russian general, on the 31st of July. The Russian vanguard, under Kutusoff, at first fell into some disorder, but this was soon remedied by the support of fresh troops, and Oudinot was at length defeated and forced to retreat across the Drissa, with a loss of four thousand men. About the same time, Tormasoff, on the other flank of the Russian armies, finding the Austrians under Schwartzenberg indisposed to take the offensive, fell suddenly on a corps of Saxons, commanded by Reynier, at Kobrin, and made prisoners an entire brigade of their best troops. This disaster so weakened Reynier's force, that Napoleon was compelled to order the Austrians to his support, and he thus deprived himself of the aid of Schwartzenberg, on which he had confidently relied for repairing the losses of the army under his own immediate direction.