The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1853-03-16
DIR. BAIRD'S THIRD LECTTTRE

DR.. BAIRD'S THIRD LECTURE.
In the sketch of this lecture published in
this paper, DIR. Baird is represented to have
said that the battle Of Wagram was terminated
by desperate charge made BY Mcdonald
Napoleon had the misfortune to differ with
Or. Baird with regard to this matter, and v,
cannot butthink that HE opinion is entitled I,
some weight, inasmuch as he was, at least. or
the ground. The same statement had beer
made in book published soon after his reno.
val to ST. Helena which purported to be writ
ten BY his oen hand, protested to be On auto
biography, and would, probably. but for the
gross errors with respect to dates, have passed
current for what il claimed to be. II was en-
titled, "Manascrit Veaa de Ste. Helene. >
&c. In reply to the statement alluded to
Napoleon made the following note. which may
be found in the eighth volume Of his memoirs
dictated to the Generals who shared his cap
tivity: Macdonald, the evening before the
battle, had established himself in the centre O.
the enemy's position I; but not being sustained
BY his right, thatimportant advantage had no,
the result which it ought to have had. On the
day of the battle, he maneuvred with great
ability, and deserved The high encomiums Of
Napoleon; but twas the change of front, the
right wing in rear. executed under the orders
Of Prince Eugene-,he fire of the battery OF
the Guard, 100 pieces strong, directed by Gen.
Lsuris,on, the Aid of Napoleon-and the move
ment of Marshal Dav outs corps, which turned
the enemy's whole left wing, that decided the
victory"
Again Moreau did not command the Al
lied Army at the battle OF Dresden. He was
Aid TO the Emperor Alexander, and had, it was
said, in concert with Bernadotte, prepared the
plan of campaign but We do not read that he
commanded in chief. Indeed, it can hardly be
possible that such an honor would have been
conferred on traitor, fighting against his own
country. The circumstances of his death
were somewhat remarkable, and were thus de-
tailed to DR.. O'Meara, by Napoleon, at St. He
lena:
''In the battle before Dresden" said Napo-
leon, 81 ordered an attack to be made W on the
allies both TANKS of my army. While the
naneuvres for this purpose were executing,
the centre remained motonless. AT the dis
tance Of about from this TO the outer gate-fve
hundred yerds-I observed q group of persons
collected together on horseback. Concluding
that they were endeavoring TO observe maneu
vres, resolved 10 disturb them, and called to
g captain Of artillery, who commanded d field
battery Of eighteen or twenty pieces "Jettez
me douzOine de boulets la tSiS dams ce
gr0spe la peut-etrye y0t IL qaefques PetttS
geaerGHr." Throw dozen OF bullets at
once into that G. CUP; perhaps there are some
little Generals in it, 1t was done instantly.
One of the balls struck Moreau, carried off
both his legs, and went through his horse
Many more believe, who were near him were
killed and wounded. A moment before Alex
snder had been speaking to him. Moreau's
legs were amputa,ed not far from the spot.-
One of his feet, with the boot upon it, which
the surgeon had thrown upon the ground,
was brought by peasant TO the King of Sax
ony, with information that some officer of
great distinction had been struck by cannon
shot. The King, conceiving that the name of
the person might perhaps be discovered bv
the boot, sent il TO me. Ii was examined at
my head quarters, but all that could be ascer-
tanned was, that the boot was neither of Eng
lish nor of French manufacture. The next
day we were informed that it was the leg of
Noreau. Ii is not q little extraordinary"
continued Napoleon, "that in an action q short
TIME afterwards, ordered the same artillery
officer, with the same guns, and under nearly
similar circumstances. to throw 10 or ~ bull
lets al once into concourse OF officers col
lected together, by which Gen ST. Prlest az
other Frenchman, q traitor, and man OF tai
ent, who had command in the Russian army,
was killed along with many others. Nothing"
continued the Emperor, "is more destructive
than discharge of dozen or more guns at
ohce amongst group ofpersons. From one
or two they may escape but from number
discharged at time, il is almost impossible.
We ere astonished to learn from DR.. Baird,
that any doubt ever existed as to the fact OF
Napoleon's having removed the sword end
scarf of the Great Frederick from his tomb at
Poisdam, and we cannot but think that the
King and the old Prussan officers alluded to,
must have been poking fun at him. All the
circumstances attending the visit of Napoleon
TO the tomb were detailed in the bulletin of the
day, published in the Moniteur, transcribed by
the English newspapers, and circulated over
Europe. Every historian, French, English,
and German, who has given an account of the
transactions of the campaign of 1906, has re.
peated the story. The enemies of Napoleon
have never alluded to the spelling of the tomb,
save in terms of the utmost acrimony. The
wonder consists in this. Why should he have
said TO the werld that he had perpetrated an
act which be must have felt assured would be
the subject of bitter reproach. and which, to
say the least Of it, was in very bad taste, when
he had not done so, at the same time that he
had it entirely in his power to have done it =
Why take the ignominy without the benefit
The bulletin says that Napoleon seized the
sword and scarf, saying millions should not
purchase them. | will send them to be pre-
served in the Hotel deS Iaralides," &C.
Perhaps if the DIR. had questioned the King
and his officers little more closely, he might
have found that they doubted the whole story
of the invasion and conquest Of Prussie-that
they believed the battle OF Jena to be pure
nvsntion-,hat they classed the occupation Of
Berlin by the French army among the fables
of the Fatherland. And why mott The coun.
trymen OF Kant all belong TO the family o
Didymus. Great numbers of them doubt ihei
own existence. Besides, Archbishop Whateiy