The National Register.
London, England, 1812-11-15 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL Rre;isTElL

706

spoils of the •infortunate capital, bef ;re he entirely evacuated
it, or& rto prevent them from falling back into the bards
of their lawful ooss, sots. On these ground:, rendered more
plausible hy the encrelsnig rigour ef the be3S4lO, the re-
. pored nontber of sick io the Fend) army, and the inde-
fatigab!e act„ivitv of the ('ossaas and Russian pa; titans
bung cu t'anks at ti•rmtened the whole litre of its com
munic:rioies, the st.tteetent of its retoott towards Courland
was foniwed. (in foe other hind, the Russian accounts
themstPees, whilst they e!'. • eribel a serious• of ghnieus en-
gsgeteoeis :tit ::lit, and oepoi tent advantages gained on a va-
rico) of polies. atverded.a ditierent txplanation of the sud-
den abalidernneut of Niescow by the invaders. By these it
appears, that whilbt BCON A P ART E continued to occupy that
city witlefifty then end mete he sent two detached corps of
seven thoits-ord each to the cast and northward, to explore
the coooti v and liCeitrA his means by foraging, and another
of greater {-wee towards .the south to oh,crye the army of
Genteat flutu ow posted at Kalouga, and collect provisions
from the intervening tracts of land. In the north awl in
the east the object of his reconnoisance, it appears, com-
plaely failed; and, in consequenee; the corps that had been
employed on that service marched to the south, and, uniting
with MuaeT on the road to Kalouga, swelied Ins force to
45,000 111C13, %%110 beCTIMC the advanced -g- •ed ef the French
in that quarter. :••••u•-la an nulation of strength seemed
to indicate either a great apprehension of Ku rusow's army,
or some pre!aratiens for attacking it. TVs General judged
that the.latter was the case on learning that VicToit's
,sion, estfmated by the French at about forty thousand,
was on its way from Smolensk() to join NCR AT. Ile
pereeived that if he. did not promptly act, NA P °LT:ON
would be ahle, to. remain at .Nlo3cow with a three suffi-
cient to repel all the tacks of the Hit'-;an divisions
Fcilt.e;ed on the north an east, and at the Fa: 11P time to
employ an army against ban, equal, it' not sneer icr in nem-
hers to that tooter his command. anticipated the
de,ietas of h:s enemy, he re‘olved to prevent their exec:wino.
BAite VicTott. could possibly at rive from Smolensk°, or
NA POLIION from M.o -be bore firth his whole army
ripen NI up. A T, SO sulddenly i.*:h to leave him no means cifretrcat-
itt wi keit fii4litily under great, disadvantage, • The resultsA
of this WISC end brilliant matireovre, were tie hes of ; ytto
isoners and ,Se pieces of cannon, with eoeo killed and
wound, don the part of the French. Tins Neted blow
frost i•ated all the pima of the enemy. lie saw, that although
his advoiced paid had not been annihilated by the first
stroke, it might be by a second, if it were to receive no
o her teinforceinents than those which, though on. their
nrarch f,oin t:ololcuskoe were fti:l too distant to arrive in
time. therefore reluctantly bowed to necessity, and
quit;ed that capital, which he had braved so many dangers,
encountered so manly fatigues, and shed so much blood, to
occupy, and marched, with nearly the whole of his force, to
meet his defeated le other-i 0 -law before •he should expe-
rience fresh disasters, and to endeavour to avenge his losses,
a el his own disappointments, by bringing his antagonist to
a ..;enre al action. To conceal his retreat, and, if possible, to
prevent the re-occupation of Moscow by the Russian de-
tachtd c rps, .keeping up the sbr.w of a Deitch force in
that-city, he. le:t a small garrison behind him, whose weak-
ness however was sow' revealed, probably by the inhabitants
themselves, to General WlNzltioEltODE, at whose approach
. it also followed the movement of the main army on the
road tolialouga, and 'unfertunately succeeded in capturing
that act ve Commander; w,,ibt employed its reconnoitring.
Such is the-second e-xplanation of the late glorious events
in the heart of Russia, derived from the Russian accounts

NOV. 13.

their.-elves, and not only the most prob.tb!e, but alio the
most favourable. The de!iverance of Mcscow dons a,pears
to have been effected by the skill and ja&ment of the ve.
teran EuTusow and the valotx of his troops ; wiTn we
consider the ether losses occa4ot,ed enemy le.
tivit.; and enterprise of Vt ITTG EIN, the advana! of the
milted armies of 74oiltria and V tt
and above all, the (Lirk curt,'iin of winter (:loAeg. round the
French. now once more in search of wititer•quatt;9s, a d
flu eateniug to Ica: e them a prey to cold and fa-
mine, we can only anticipate their speedy retreat into L::1:1-
auia, or the certainty of 'heir destruction.