, 1863-08-15
Mutual Flight of Victorious Armies.

giles at Wilderness and Charlottesville
terminated in the mutual error Of the oppo-
sing commanders of Withdrawing simulta-
neously from a field which each thought
himself too weak to hold Were this true,
it would be but new proof that battles
are often decided BY accident and campaigns
determined by causes trivial in their
nature and wholly beyond military control.
The most notable modern example Of a
mutual flight from each others presence of
two great armies in the very flash of victo-
ry, was after the battle of Molo Jaroslayitz,
fought by Napoleon, on his ctreat from
Moscow, against Doctorof, at the head Of
the Russian advance, whose mission was to
bar the Emperor's way though the rich
provinces of lula and KalOuga, and to force
him back upon the wasted line Of the Smo
lensk road, where he would have to reap in
mid-winte the ripened harvests Of famine
and desOlation which he had sown broad
cast in the preceding summer The Rus
siandid his work with a splendid fury and
tenacity A rapid night march brought
him to the village its steep streets we're
already filled with Delzon's infantry
Doctorof instantly dashed at them, and
threw them out on their points of his bay
onets. In a moment the struggle for The
salvation Of the French army was com
menced byPrincc Eugene. The muscovite
set his jaws in urconqucrable resolution to
hold Napoleon in check till Houtosoh
could come up and overwhclm him. The
town placed between q forest on one side and
impracticablc ravines on the other could
not be turned. The canonading CT the
French soon fired the houses. The inian-
try in dense masses combatted hand to
hand in the burning streets and lanes
The town was taken and retakcn seven
times In the very house, cracking and
smoking, and cOilapsing with the conAa-
grafton, terrible warriors, ignorant Of each
others language, piled the universal speech
of the bayonet; and cried 40 Kalouga
and Francel" and ITO Smolensk and Des-
tructon
1t vas only at dark, after an entire day
of the awfullest hand to hard fighting ever
done between the French and Russians,
that the cannon of Eugene could be got
through the streets and placed in battery
on the opposite side Of the town. Gerad's
and Campan's divisions of Davoust's corps
established themselves with difficulty in
the woods and ravincs on either side
The sun went down. It's descending blaze
flashed from the bayonets of one hundred
thousand of Koutosofs infantry, now ar
rived on the wooded eminence in the rear
of Malo Jaroslavitz, with seven hundred
pieces of cannon. The fIrther advance Of
the French upon the Kalouga read, without
a general battle, was impossible.
The next day An inspection by Napo-
leon of the field of battlo-the site Of the
town and its plat distinguishable only by
parallelograiaic lines Of dead and dcsper-
ately wounded, and squares ofburned skel-
etons commingled with charred and smo-
king timber-everywhero overwhelming
proof of the most unconqurable purpose
of fresstance-the swoop Of the Hetman
Platof, at the head Of the thousand Cos
sacks, upon park Of 40 pieces of artillery,
and the hair breadth escape of Napoleon
his entire staff from capture--a council of
war-the bold Murats demand for cavalry
to cut the Kalouga road open right through
Koutosof S center-thc wiser Davoust's en-
treaty to take the hitherto untraveed and
unwasted route by Medyer-the strong op-
position to this by the King Of Naples
the fatal decision Of Napoleon to return TO
France by the blasted path upon which he
had come.
At daybrcalI on the 26th of October, the
French retreat commenced. At daybreak
on the 26th Of October the Russians aban-
doncd their position, which Napoleon had
deemed impregnable, and fell towards Ka-
louga Both armies, amitten with mu-
tual awe, fed from each other.
MILITARY CLorHING AND EQUIPMENT.
The question of uniform is one of great
Importance, not only in hygencal but al
so in strategical point Of view The uni
form ought to protect the soldier against
atmospherical changes, at the same time
that il should not interfere with freedom CT
movement, or interpose any obstacle to
marching, running, leaping and the free
handling Of his arms. The fate Of bat
tie, the character of retreat, the death
list of an army, may, to a certain extent,
depend upon the cut Of a coat or of head
gear The soldiers clothing ought, like
that Of other citizens, to be modified ac-
cording to season, climate, localities, etc.
His equipment deserves particular atten-
ton. A soldier in the infantry, when on
the march, in time Of war carries a weight
equal to or within a few ounces Of 60
pounds, to which must be added, under Ger
tain circumstances, nearly four and half
pounds Of provisions. All Of this is borne
IL 81, oc1o Z i IL,
follow impeded movements in expansion Of
the chest and in the function Of respiration
generally, pro(use sweating, muscular IA
t;gue and rapid exhaustion. The infantry
Icing that arm Of the service which has to
endure the greatest fatigue, ought to be
composed Of strong and robust men. In
selecting men for infantry service less at
tenton should be paid to tue height than
to the fullness Of the chest and Of the mus
cular system; experience has shown that
individuals of short stature, but endowed
with a certain degree of muscular strength,
are the least liable to suffer from fatigue
and disease.-Scientifc american.
A QUAKER uas solicited by "howler"
to Join the "Leaguers" when he replied as
follows:
Friend, thou changest thy name too Of
ten. l have known thee as a wing, as
free soiler, as a native American, as
know-nothing, as loyal Lacquer, and thou
recolectest how many more titles-and ]
cannot trust thee. When brother Obed
fell from grace and become a rogue, he
changed his name, and l have found that
wherever men design making their living
by dishonest means, they are always likely