Star.
London, England, 1812-12-24 00:00:00

TWENTY-NINTH BULLETIN.

" MOLODEIkiCHNO, DEC. S.
" To the 6th November the weather was fine, and
the movement of the army executed wilt the greatest
success. Thy cold weather began on the 7th ; flora
that moment wa every night lost several hundred
hopes, and numbers of men died in consequence of
bivouacking. Arrived at Saiolensko we had already
lost many cavalry and artillery horses.
" The Russian army from Volhynia was opposed
to our right. Our right left the Minsk line of opera-
tions, and took for the pivot of its operations the
Warsaw line.
Qn the 9th the Emperor was informed at 'Smo-
lensk° of this change in the line of dons, and
,conceived what the enemy would do. operations,
hard
it appeared to him to put himself in movement du-
ring so cruel a season, the new state of things de-
manded it. He expected to arrive at Minsk, or at
least upon the Beresina, before the enemy ; on the
13th he quitted Smolet;sko ; on the,l6th he slept at
Krasnoi.

" The cold which began the 7th, suddenly in-
creased, and on the 14th, 15th, and 16th, the ther-
mometer was 16 and IS degrees below the freezing

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a The roads were covered with ice ; the cavalry,
artillery, and baggage horses perished every night
not only by hundreds, but by thousands, particularly
the Gelman and• French horses.

" In a raw days more than.3o,ooo horses perished
—our cavalry were on foot—our artillery and our
baggage were without conveyance. It was neces-
sary to abandon and destroy a good part of our
cannon, ammunition. and provisions.
ig This army, so fine on the Gth, was very different
on the 14th : almost without cavalry, without artil-
lery, without transports. Without cavalry, we could
not reconnoitre a quarter of a league's distance ;
without artillery, we could not risk a battle, and
firmly await it : it was requisite to march, in order
not to be constrained to a battle, which the want of
ammunition prevented us from desiring ; it was re-
quisise to occupy a certain space not to be turned,
and that too without cavalry, which led and connected
the columns.

.This difficulty, joined to a cold which soddenly
came on, rendered our situation inisarable. Those
men, whom nature had not sufficiently steeled to be
above all the chances of fate and fortune, appeared.
shook, lost their gaiety, their good humour, and
dreamed but of misfortunes and catastrophes ; those
whom she has created superior to every thing, pre-
served their gaiety and their ordinary manners, and
saw fresh glory in the different diflizulties to be sur-
mounted.

46 The enemy, who saw upon the road 3 traces of
that frightful calamity which had overtaken the
French army, endeavoured to take advantage of it.
He surrounded all the columns with his Cossacks,
who carried off, like the Arabs in the deserts, the.'
trains and carriages which separated. This con-
temptible cavalry, which only make noise, and is not
capable of penetrating through a company of volti- j
geurs, rendered themselves formidable by favour of '
circumstances. Nevertheless the enemy bad to repent
of all the serious attempts which he wished to under-
take: they were overthrown by the Viceroy, before
whom they were placed, and lost many men.
66 The Duke of ELCHINGEN, with 3,000 men, had
blown up the ramparts of emolensko. He was sur-
rounded, and found himself in a critical position,
but he extricated himself from it with that intrepi.
dity with which he is distinguished. After having
kept the enemy at a distance from him during the
whole day of the 18th, and constantly repulsed him
at night, made a movement on the right, passed the
Borysthenes, and deceived all the calculations pf the
enemy.
44 On the 19th, the army passed the Borysthenes
at Orza, and the Russian army, being fatigued and
having lost a great number ofsnen, ceased from its
attempts.
66 The army of Volhynia had inclined on the 16th
upon Minsk, and marched upon Borisow. General
Dombrowski defended the bridge-head of Borisow
with 3,000 men. , On the 23d he was forced, and
obliged toevacuate this position.
46 The enemy then passed the Beresina, marching
upon Bobo i the division Lambert formed the ad-
vanced guard.
44 The second corps, commanded by the Duke of
Reggio, which was at Taeherein, had received or-
ders to march upon Borisov() to secure to the army
the passage of the Beresina.
‘f On the 24th, the Duke of Reggio met the divi-
sion, Lambert, four leagues from Borisow, attacked
and defeated it, took 2000 prisoners, six pieces of
cannon, 500 baggage waggons of the army of Vol-
hynia, and throw the enemy on the right bank of the
Deresina.

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; • 66 General Berkeim, with the 4,th cuirassiers, dis-
Itinguished himself by a fine charge. The enemy
could only secure his safety by burning the bridge,
which is more than 300 toises in length. Neverthe-
less, the enemy occupied all the passages of the Bere-
-sina ; this river is forty wises wide, and had much
floating ice on it, but its banks are covered with
marshes 300 toises long, which present great obsta-
cles in clearing it. The enemy's General had placed
his four divisions at the different debonches, where
he presumed the French army would attempt to pass.
" On the 26th, at break of day, the Emperor,
after having deceived the enemy by different move-
ments made( during the day of the 25th, marched
upon the village of Studzeanea, and caused, in spite'
of an enemy's division, and in its presence, two
bridges to be thrown over the river. The Duke of
Reggio passed, attacked the enemy, and led him,
fighting, twn' hours. The enemy retired upon the
tete-du-pont :of Borisow. General Legrand, an otfi- '
Or of the first rate merit, was badly, but not 44n-
gerously, wounded. During the whole of the 26th
and 27th, the rmy passed.
' ea The Duke of Belluno, commanding the 9th ,
corps, had received orders to fullow the movement of
the .Duke of Reggio, to form the rear-guard, and keep
in check-the Ruftsian army from the Duna, which
followed him. *Poitausarres division fpnriod ' the
reart4ar4of this corps.

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le On the 27th, at noon, the Duke of Bellow ar-
rived with two divisions at the bridge of Studzeanea.
Fortaunaux's division set out at night from -Bo-
risow. A brigade of this division, which formed the
rear-guard, and which was charged with burning the
bridge, marched at seven in the evening, and arrived
between 10 and 11 o'clock ; it sought its first bri-'
gade and its General, who had departed two hours
before, and which it had not met with in its route.

44 It's researches were in vain ; some tilleaSillElS was

then conceived. All we have been able to learn is,
that the
.first brigade set out at 4ve o'clock, missed
its way at six, went to the right in place of proceed-
ing to the left, and marched two i;); three leagues in
this direction ; that during the night, and benumbed
with cold, it rallied' at seeing the enemy's fires which
it mistook for those of the French army. Thus sur-
rounded, it was taken. This cruel mistake most
have caused us a loss of '2,000 infantry, 300 ca-
valry, and three pieces of artillery. Reports state,
that the General of Division was not with his column,
and had marched alone.

All the army having passed on the morning of
the 28th, the Duke of Belluno guarded the te.'e
du front upon the left hank ; the Duke of Reggio,
and behind him all the army, was upon the right
bank of the Borisow, having been evacuated, the
armies of the Duna and Volhynia communicated
they planned an attack on the 28th, at break of day.
The Duke of Reggio caused the Emperor to be
informed that he was attacked. Half an hour af-
terwards the Duke of Belluno was on the left bank.
The Duke of Elchingen immediately followed the
Duke of Reggio, and the Duke of Treviso, the Duke
Of Elchingen. The battle became warn:. The
enemy wishing to turn our right, General Doumere
commanding the sth division of cuirassiers, which,
made part of the 2d corps that remained on the
Duna, ordered a charge of cavalry, by the 4th and
sth regiments of cuirassiers, at the moment when
the legion of the Vistula was engaged in the woods,
to pierce the centre of the enemy, who was defeated
and put to the route, with the enemy's cavalry which
came to the assistance of its infantry. Six thousand
prisoners, two standards, and six pieces of cannon,
fell into our hands.

" On his side the Duke of Belluno vigorously
charged the enemy, defeated him, took from 5 to
600 prisoners, and did not suffer him to advance
within the reach of the cannon of the bridge. Gen.
Fournier made a fine charge of cavalry.
•' In the battle of Bere,ina, the army of Volhynia
suffered much. The Duke of Reggiu was wounded,
hut his wound is not dangerous. He received a hall
ir, his side.

66 The next diy (the 29th) we remained on the
field of battle. We had to make our choice between
two routes—that to. Minsk, and that to Wilna. The
road to Minsk led through the middle of a forest and
uncultivated marshes, where it was impossible for the
army to subsist itself.
" On the contrary, the road to Wilna led through
a very fine country. The army- being without ca-
valry, deficient of ammun;tion, and horribly fatigued
by 50 days march, carrying in its train all the sick
and wounded of so many battles, stood greatly in
need of getting to its magazines.
" On"the 36th, the head-quarters were at Plechr.
nitsi ; on the Ist December at Slaike ; and, on the
3d, at Molodetschno, where the army received the
first convoys from Walla.
66 All the wounded Officers and soldiers, and
whatever.else could be of embarrassment, with the
baggage, &c. -were sent off to Wilna.
" o say_ that the army stands in need of re-esta-
blishing its discipline, ef, refreshing itself, of remount.
ing its cavalry, completing its artillery, and its ma-
terials, this is the result of the Epose which has just
been made. Its repose is of the first necessity. The
materials and the horses are coming in ; General Bou-
reier has already more than 20,000 remount horses
in the different depots.
" The artillery has already repaired' its losses.—
The Generals, Officalt4, and soldiers have suffered
' greatly from wait. NUmbers have lost their bag-.
gage by the loss of their liqrses, and several by the
effect of the Cossacks' ambushes. The Cossacks
have taken numbers of isolated persons, of geogra-
phical engineers, who were taking positions, and of
wounded Officers, who were marching without pre-
eauti,n, preferring running the risk to marching
slowly, and going with the convoy.
"The reports of the General Officvlys commanding
the different corps will make known what officers and
soldiers have chiefly distinguished themselves, and I
the details of these memorable events.
" In all these movements the Emperor has been
continually marching in the middle of his guards.—
The cavalry commanded by Marshal Duke of [Stria,
and the infantry commanded by the Duke of Dantzic.
" His Majesty has been well satisfied with the fine
spirit shewn by his guards. They have always been
ready to shew themselves every where that their pre-
sence was needful : hub circumstances have always,
been such, that their appearance alone was sufficient,
and that they zever were in a case which required
them to charge.
e' The Prince of Neufchatel, the Grand Marshal,
the Grand Equerry, and all the Aides-de-Camp and
Military Officers of the household, have always ac-
companied his Majesty.
" Obr cavalry was dismounted to such a degree,
that ii was necessary to collect the Officers, who had
still a horse remaining, in order to form four com-
panies of 150 men each.
The Generals there performed the functions of
Captains, and the Colonels those of subalterns. This
sacred squadron, commanded by General Grouchy,‘
and under the orders of the King of Naples, did not
lose sight of the Emperor in all these movements.—
The health of his Majesty was never better."—(Mo-
niteur, Dec. 17.

PARIS, DECEMBER is.
On the sth December, the Emperor having call-
ed ,together at his 14g -quarters at Stporgony the
Viceroy, the Prince of Neufchatel, and Matshals
Dukes of ElchingeniDantzic, Treviso, the Prince of
Eckruuhl, the Duke of Istria, acquainted them, that
lie had nominated the King of Naples his Lieutenant.
General to cosi-mend the army during the rigorous
season.

His Majesty, in passing through Wilna, was
employed several hpurs with the Puke of liassano.
His Majesty traveled incognito, in a single sledge,
With and under the name of the 'Duke of Vicence.
He eianliaeci the .foitifications pf PFaga, surveyed

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Warsaw, and remained there several hours unknown.
Two hours before his departure he sent for Count
Potocki, and the Minister of Finance of the Craw
Duchy, with whom he had long conference.
His Majesty arrived on the 14th, at one o'clock
in the morning, at Dresden, and alighted at the hafts
of his Minister, Count Serra.
He had a long conference with the King d
Saxony, and immediately afterwards pursued
journey taking the road of Lcipzic and Mentz.
M. De Montesquiou, Aid-de-camp of the Prince
of Neufchatel, dispatched by the Emperor from hi,
head-quarters at Selitche, on the 2d of December,
with dispatches for the Empress, arrived at Nig
list night.

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PARIS, DECEMBER 19.
His Majesty the Emperor arrived at Paris yesteb
day, at half-past eleven at night;—he received de
Princes, Grand Dignitaries, the Ministers, and G/t4
Officers.

The Duke of Cadore took the oaths before biota,
jesty in quality cf Minister, Secretary of State,.ad
interim, in place of Count Darn, who remains tz
further orders with the army, performing the fungi.
tlrais of Intendant General. His MajestyAas charged
the Bish• pof Nantes with the administration aids
Chapel, in the absence of the Grand Almoner.
The details contaioed in the last Bulletin ad*
grand army cannot but add to the glory with which
It has covered itself in this last campaign, and to the
admiration which the heroic firmness, and the puis-
sant genius of his Majesty the Emperor inspires.,..
After having vanouished the Russians in 20 battles,
and driven them from' their ancient capital,redneedso
ashes, our brave troops have had to bear up against
the rigour of an excessive cold, and the severity of
an inhospitable climate ; and notwithstanding Attie
losses they have sustained during upwards of fifty
days march, in provisions, horses, and artillery, they
still have surmounted every obstacle, and find sulk
cient for their support in their numerous magazines
—There are few pages, either in ancient or modest
history, that, 4-ith respect to nobleness, elevation,
and interest, can be compared to this memorable
Bulletin. It is an historical piece of the first rank.
It is thus that Xenophon recounts the retreat of the
10,000 ; and that Crsar, who was at the same tilt.;
a great captain and a great write;, digested the
Commentaries, of which Montaigne said—" I ce.
tainly have read this production with something
more of reverence and respect than one generally
reads human work, from considering the author hin:
self according to his actions and to his miraculous
greatness." ;
. •
Montaigne, who with equal sagacity judged ofmen
and things,, would not have used any other language
if he had spoken of thew. histor,cal monuments with
which our annals are enriched by every campaigns/
his Majesty ; and he would, above all, have rendered
justice to this great character, always superior to the
chance of fate and fortune, which. to eminently dis:
tinguishes the hero who will give his name to the
19th century.
There never, perhaps,has offered a sight more rs
markable than that of the Erench army, Ls the midst
of an enemy's country, deprived, in the course of
eight days, of its artillery, its transports, and of
nearly the whole of its cavalry, by the intenseness of
the cold.
In this disastrous situation, the gevins Of the Sore,
reign animates alt, foresees evi ry thing, and prepare'
unexpected resources. . The enemies, who had the
elements for their auxiliaries, were beaten whereve;
they appeared.

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The March, of the French army, which was nevi'
delayed by any difficulty; is a series of triumphs;—
and the operations concluded with a brilliant victory
which- dissipates every fear. We see this " wed
squadron," composed of brave men sel,ecteol from
among the valiant, preserving, in the midst of ila4
gers, that constancy and that gaiety in which men,
although by nature sufficiently formed for hardihood
" are deficient," and we may rest as;ured, that wits
such an army and such a General, the eventual anti
cess of the war cannot be uncertain.
What more favourable circumstances can the Rm.
"sians expect for opposing the French army ? if they
have been vanquished by troops, fatigued and de.
'prived of cavalry and artillery, what will they be
when those same troops have in a great measure re.
paired their losses, and shall agaii: act on the offensivcl
The results of this campaign ought to have con.
vinced the enemy that it is impossible to resist the.
forces brought against them, and shew them their
future prospects in the darkest colours.
Historians have noticed as one of the finest titles
of glory to Hannibal, that he understood the method
of keeping perfect harmony among the troops of the ,
different nations which composed his army.
This political and military phenomenon is renewed
in our days : soldiers from almost all parts of Europe,
collected under the same colours, are rivals only .0
zeal and devotion. It is thus that genius shows, in all
times, the same resources, and astonishes its contem-
poraries with similar prodigies. klistory will, above
all, remark those eminent qualities of his Majesty the
Emperor ; his skilful foresight, that dives into funs,
rity ; and his promptitude in repairing 'his losses,
which never was possessed by any other General ist
an equal degree. Already 20,000 horses are collec•
ted in the different depots ; already the artillery is io
a formidable state, and provisions of all kinds arrive
in abundance,
A few weeks will be sufficient to put the army in
a far more brilliant situation than it has ever yet
been ; and what should, 'above all, dissipate every •
kind of inquietude, is, that the health of his Majesty
the Emperor has not suffered the least alteration its
the midst of the fatigues attending the campaign.
By letters fiom Wilna, dated the 18th, we are in-
formed, that every thing necessary for the relief of
the sick and wounded, and useful for the necessities
of the whole -army, has been • foun d in that city...
Within three months the magazines have been filled,
and an easy communication exists between the
lines of the magazines of the army. People recently
latived from Poland confirM this intelligence; and
add, that there are larder quantities of supplies of
ammunition and provisions of all kinds in the diffe.
rent magazines than are necessary to support the
army through the whole of the winter.
The last Bulletin from the Grand Army was rtied
about the streets of Paris the day before yesterday.
There have been sold 80,000 copies of it. If we con.
cider, besides the great number of person Who read
the daily piper, or the fixed tpulletuts, we. ary easily
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