Excerpts from Chapter 4: 'Get Into Vilna!'

A tremendous thunderstorm - 'A desert' - a lethal diet for horses - an abandoned countryside - pillage - quagmires - Captain Fivaz writes his will - Lyautey listens to the band - a military promenade - Napoleon leaves Kovno - desperate looters - a carriageful of commanders - Murat - Davout - Berthier - strategic considerations - 'I sow dissension among my generals’ - a serious mistake - where's Barclay? - Dumonceau flanks the army - Montbrun loses his temper - a skirmish - into Vilna - Ségur’s brother taken prisoner

Three bridges are to be thrown, at 100-metre intervals. And at 10 p.m. Eblé’s engineers begin launching the pontoons from their 12-horse drays. To cover the operation, three companies of the l3th Light cross silently in skiffs, land on the opposite bank and lie down in the sand, 'hiding behind the little escarpment formed by the river bank'. By now the night sky is full of glimmering stars.'

Soltyk, whose fluent French has meanwhile attached him to Imperial Headquarters' topographical department, is perhaps the very first staff officer to cross, with orders to bring Napoleon some villagers:

'It was so dark we didn't know whether we had any enemy in front of us or not. As far as we could see, no patrol, no scout appeared at any point. Only after about 100 men had established themselves on the right bank did we hear a distant sound of galloping horses, and a strong troop of Muscovite hussars halted at about a hundred paces from our weak advance guard. Dark though it was, we recognized them by their white plumes. Coming toward us, the officer in command shouts out in French: "Qui vive?" "France!" our men reply quietly. "What are you doing here? F... off!" "You'll soon see!" our skirmishers reply resolutely. Whereon the officer goes back to his men and orders them to fire their carbines. None of ours reply. And the enemy hussars disappear at a gallop.'

Ségur, with his literary turn of mind, thinks he hears three shots. - like les trois coups in a French theatre - 'and this irritated Napoleon'. Even though the Russian army is 75 miles away.

At 3 a.m. Dumonceau is roused by his regiment's silver trumpets ‘joyously sounding the reveille and, immediately afterwards, the saddle-up'. The Red Lancers not being scheduled to move down to the river until well into the forenoon, General Count Colbert, its commanding officer, 'formed us up in square. After a flourish of trumpets had prepared is for it, Adjutant Fallot, in a resounding voice, read out the Emperor's proclamation.' So also in all the other regiments. To Captain Pierre Auvray of the 23rd Dragoons it seems that the army reacts with 'unparalleled enthusiasm. Its sentiments were shared by everyone around Napoleon, whether Frenchmen or foreigners.' So also Ségur:

'The word Niemen inflamed our imagination. Everybody was on fire to get across it - a desire the more natural as the miserable conditions in Poland had been daily augmenting our privations. To put an end to our complaints we were made to see the enemy's country as a promised land.'

At 4 a.m. the sun rises over the plains of Lithuania beyond the bridges; and Planat de la Faye, watching from the top of the imperial hillock, sees how

'the army, in parade uniforms, begins defiling in good order on to the three bridges. At its head each regiment had its band playing fanfares, mingled with the shouts of "Vive l'Empereur!". It all seemed like one vast military parade.'

Major Boulart of the Guard Artillery, too, is impressed:

'Unit after unit came and took up its position on the heights, ready when its turn came to cross the bridges. Arriving from all sides, they seemed to be springing tip out of the ground. These 200,000 men, assembled in a small space, pressing incessantly on to the bridges then rallying on the vast plain on the right bank and going off in various directions, were a magnificent spectacle, perhaps unique in history.'

His colleague Colonel Lubin Griois - that great lover of the good things of life, and more particularly of Italian music and women - will always remember how the sun 'flashed on the arms and cuirasses of the innumerable troops of all nations as they poured uninterruptedly over the three bridges. All these troops rivalled each other in ardour and covered both banks to a great distance.' And to Lieutenant Chevalier of the Guard Chasseurs - who sincerely believes Napoleon has 'done everything in his power to avoid this war' - it all seems positively supernatural, 'as if the earth were producing armed men instead of harvests'.

By now, after exhausting forced marches of 35 miles a day, Ney's III Corps too has turned up; and as it emerges from the Pilkowiski forest one of its Württemberg artillery officers, Major Faber du Faur, sketches the scene, showing some Württemberg grenadiers in the foreground and, in the distance, a glimpse of columns crossing the three pontoon bridges, 'As soon as the first division was established on the far bank,' Ségur goes on,

'the Emperor, seized with sudden impatience, galloped cross-country as fast as his horse could go to the forest bordering the river. In his haste he seemed to be wanting to reach the enemy all on his own.'

...

1812: March On Moscow: Table of Content

Published by Greenhill Books. © Greenhill Books. All rights reserved. Reproduced on MagWeb with permission of the publisher.

Magazine articles and contents are copyrighted property of the respective publication. All copyrights, trademarks, and other rights are held by the respective magazines, companies, and/or licensors, with all rights reserved. MagWeb, its contents, and HTML coding are © Copyright 1999 by Coalition Web, Inc.

This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com