Alexandria gazette, commercial and political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1812-1817, 1813-06-12

thu. crush them BY piece meal. ms
sy,te,n Of tactics ne had often foana sue
cessful, but now it completely iausu
Notwithstanding the extraordinary ana
boasted ceieri,y of his movements, the
Russians retiring before him condacteq
their operstions with such skni, as al
ways to keep up their commualcancn'
frequently TO ,chastise the temefity .. h.o
colimn. and finally to effect junction
of their army untouched, a'aVitepsk on
the Dwina There strong DIVISION
was detached to the north east, under
,vittrenstein, to guard the road|to Riga
and St. PETERSBURG, and threaten the iine
Of French, commun cations while inc
main body continued its retreat on on,o-
lepsko. 1t was still pursued ny the
French, who were however Obliged to
leave part of their fsyces On tho Dwlna'
to keep open the CONTAMINATION IN their
rear. threatened by Wittgenstein., AZ
Smolensko further c6ncentrauonof inc
Russian armies took place; but being
not yet prepared fer the sfand "hic"
they mednated, they continued their re-
treat in the direction Of Moscow. They
were warmly pressed BY 'he trench'
who, however, were never able 10 pfnH
them to action, or nbtsin any advantage
ovec them. At length pear The village
of Borodino, about sixty miles tom.
Moscow, theY werc ipibsd by their corr
! mander in chief, the veteran kruteusofi,
with additional reinforcemen,s, lie
thought the moment arrived to' turning
on The foe. Having collected his torce
| he waited tor the attack, which was not
long DELAYED; and on the 7th -Septein-
Der was fought the memorable battle OF
| Borodino, the most obstinate ard san
culinary recorded in history In tbs
! shock Of two mighty enpires, where
| one struggled for universal dominion, K,
the other for national independence, SCI
ence, discipline and courage displayed
all their powers; every resource OF the
military art was tried sud exhausted, the
< hitherto triumphant progress OF the
invader was at length arrested, He wa.
repulsed and beaten. though not discon-
flied. But he there received his death
wound. Fifty Thousand corpbatapts
which according to the most authentic
accounts wcre killed Or wounded on
| each side, attested the desperate nature
Of The conflict, and afforded the French
nawful lessonof what they were to ex-
pect in their further progress. They
claimed the victory, according to their
constant custom; but their own bulletin,
dated three days after the battle, and IF.
teen miles in the rear of the ground
where it was fought, gave the lie TO their
arrogant pretensions, and disclosed the
true situation OF their affairs. Never
did it happen that Bonapsrte defeated an
enemy, * suffered three days 10 eiapse
without following up the blow. Never
| did he retire fifteen miles in the rear Of
victorious field.
1t was then that the superior genius
Of kou,oasoff conceived that piu' uic
plan OF future operations, winch IN us
development and execution has pho.
|. duced such wonderful re SUITS. lie
| might then have driven cut the invader.
who must have yielded in his crippled
state to victorious attack, WHICH the
Russian general, VINO had powefiultre
Inducements at laGd, might speedily
have been in situation 70 make Bat
he saw that # the FreUch were tbenr
driven back, they would retreat with
their army almost lnii,s would >soon
unite with their Heterogeneous in the
rear, would winter in P,Aard with plen-
tiful magazines, would draw new and
numerous forces from the countries be-
hind them, and would BE in condition
70 renew the war, early in the spring,
with increased sigor and more powerful
means, Honthe ether hard, by relirlug
beiore>them he could draw them further
Into the empire, and deain them there,
,ime woulf be afforded for bringing into
their rear, the forces which were col.
iScting In The north and the south, and
increasing his own array, while theirs
would be wasted and weakened by con.
tinual marches and partial engagements.
They would also be thrown into the
wlnter Tor their retreat, when compelled
to commence it; and thus their com.
plete destruction might be Effected
The known rashness, arrogance and pre-
sumption of their leader, afforded the
hope, that they might be drawn into This
fatal snare.
Koutousoff instantly resolved Oh his
plan. He fell back towards Moscow
with his main army, and held up the
possession of that city as a lure to the
foe. He redoubied his efforts fer rein
forcing Witgenstein in the moth and
for Fastening the march OF Tchnchag, e.
from the south. He ordered them to
form junction as soon as possible, on
the road to Wilma to Smolcnske, BIS
which the French had advanced, and
must retreat. He formed a strong corps
under WiHZine erode to the north of