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Ausinans' centre, which was shaken, while the
grcnodsrs Of the Consular Guard and Of Cara
SaInt-Cyr again bore down upon Castcl-Ccriolo.
from which they were not far distant. Along the
whole line from San-Giuano 10 Castel-CerioIo.
the French had now resumed the offensive: they
marched forward, drunk with ioy and cnthusi.
asm, at seeing the victory again returning to their
hands. Surprise and discouragemenl had passed
to the side Of the Ausrians.
Admirable power Of the human will. obstinate
TO the last, and resolute 10 win back fortune by
endurance! From San-Giuliano 70 Castel- CcriO-
10, that obliquc line Of the French advanced al
charging pace, pushing the Austrans back before
them, who were now all amazement at being for.
ccd TO fight a second battle. Carra-Saint-Cyr
soon reganed the village Of Caste-Cerioo, and
General Or, who had at first advanced beyond
this village, fearful Of being Ou-nanked bcthOught
him Of retrogading ere he should lose his COM
munlcatiOn. The panic communicated itself 10
his cavalry; they set off at full gallop, CRYING
so the bridges, 10 the bridges!" The struggle
became, then, who should reach the bridges Of
the Bormida. General or, re-passing Castel-
Ceriolo, with the troops Of Noglcsang. was oblig-
ed TO cut his way through the French. He sue
cccded and hastily regaincd the banks of the Bor-
mda, into which his soldiers plunged hcadong.
Generals Kahn and Haddick stroye in vain to
keep the centre together; Lannes gave them no
opportunity to do so he drove them back into
Marengo, thence into the Fontanone. and from
the Foranone into the Bonmida But the grena.
dcrs of Weidenfeld made head for a moment, TO
give Oreilly, who had advanced as far as Cassna-
Grossa, the time 10 relrace his steps. The Aus
TRAN cavalry, too, on It's side, attempted charge
or two, 10 arrest the march Of the French. But
1t was checked by the mounted grcnadicrs of the
Consular Guard, led on by Bcsscres and Young
Beauharnais. At last, Lannos and Victor, with
their united corps, threw themselves upon Maren-
90, and drove before them Oreily and the gren.
adiers of Weidenleld. The confusion on the
bridges of Bormida thckened at every moment.
Horse foot, artillery crowded to that point, and
all was confusion and disorder. The bridges
were insufficient 10 receive the press, and mum
bers precipitated themselves into the stream. A
driver of artillery tried 10 cross with the piece of
artillery which he had in charge and succeededin
the attempt. The whole artillery hastened TO fol-
low his example, but part of the wagons stuck
fast in the rivers bed. The French. ardent in
pursuit. captured men, horses, cannon and bag
gage. The unfortunate Baron dc Melas, who,
scarce two hours before, had left his army victo-
rous, fastened back at the noise of this disaster.
and scarcely could believe his eyes. He was in
despair.
Such was the bloody battle of Marengo, which,
as we shall shortly have opportunity to see, pro-
duceda vast :nhuenceon the destnes of France
and of the world at large. In fact for the mo-
ment, 1t gave peace to the republic, and, some-
what later, an empire to the First Consul. 1t
was contested savagely, and was not worth the
price II cost; for never was there a result more
grevous to both combatants. NJ. de Mclas fought
to avoid shameful capiuaton; and General
Bonaparte staked his whole fortune on the dav.
The loss, considering the number of combatants.
was immense, and out of all proportion. The
AuSrlanS lost about 5000 men. in killed and
wounded, and upwards of 1000 prisoners. Their
staff was almost decmaed, General IIaddick be-
ing killed, and Generals Vogelsang Lauermann,
Bellegarde, Lamarsaie, and GolIeshirm, woun-
ded; together with great many of their officers.
Altogether, with men horS de combat or taken,
they lost one-third of their whole army, estima-
ting it, as thas usually been, at Sc or 40 900 men.
As for the French, they lost about 5000 killed or
wounded, which, with 900 prisoners left in the
hands of the enemy, makes their loss one-fourh,
ioLh %o,OOO SululeIS, present on tnat DAY under
arms. Their staflS also was not less severely
treated than that of the Austrans. Generals
Mainony, Rivaud, Malher and Champeaux, were
wounded. the last morally. But the heaviest
loss was the death of Desaix; during ten wears of
war, France had endured none greater. So SEN
siby was it felt by the First Consul, as TO annul
in his breast all joy for the victory. His secreta-
ry, M. de Bourienne, Fastening to congratulate
him upon this triumph, little less than miraculous,
exclaimed, "What glorious day!" "Yes," re-
piled the First Consul, "very glorous-coud |,
this evening" have embraced Desaix on the field
of battle. was going" said he, ''to make him
minister Of war; would have made him aprince,
had been able" The conqueror of Marengo
little dreamed that the day would come, when
crowns would be his TO bestow upon those who
served him. The unfortunate Desaix was lying
near San-Guano, in the midst of this vast field
of carnage. His aid-de-camp, Savary, who had
long been attached to him, sought fer his body
through the piles of dead, and recognised him by
his long and flowing hair; he gathered his re-
mains with pious care, covered them with hus-
sar's mantle, and, placing them on his horse, bore
them TO the headquarters of Torre-di- Garofolo.