The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1876-08-24

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.tsl!,:', is,,-' nj i.4fi II:
Napoleon's Retreat After the Battle Of
=, Leipzig, ,.,,.,
Blackwoods Magazine. = IS <J
= Before Ire fought the battle of Leip-d
re. re. <Nap9leon. must have, known that
the greatest, T., advantage he, could
reasonably hope for from fighting. was
an undisturbed retreat to France. In
case OF llis not being able TO 1abllfVieh a
severe check TO the allies, ,ho would of
course still have TO-; retreat, bnt amid |
circumstances much more favorable
than those which attended his retreat
from Russia the Year before. ,Any
facility, therefore, which by the skill
Of his engineers and the exertions of
his troops could have been provided
for rapid exodus FROM Leipzig should
have been sought after Dx him with
the utmost earnestness. But it is a
truth never explained, that to the
very last he persisted in refusing at
tention to his line of retreat. When
pressed by his generals and staff, lie
sent Bertrand to keep open the one
road to Weissenfels but beyend this
he did nothing. In the marshes to the
westward Of Leipzig the rivers Pleisse
and Elster, often separating and re-
uniting, run in several channels. The
great road crosses several of these
channels over bridges but for long
way north aud south of this great
road there was in those days no bridge.
To make temporary bridges at other
points was therefore an obvious neces-
sity if an immense force were to be
moved rapidly from the city toward
the .Rhine. But no representation
could induce the Emperor to give at.
tention to this important matter.
!: He might have made. bridges be
fore the battle began he might have
made them on the 18th Of October,
which interviewed between thb two ter
rible days Of fighting he might even
have. made them OH the night between
the 18th and l9th-but he did not.
His mind seemed to turn with some ,n-
conquerable aversion from this disa-
greeable duty-among many proofs
most glaring one that his capacity was
no longer of that uniform excellence
which it once had been. Thus, when
the inevitable retreat was order.
ed, the whole of his immense force,
with artillery and baggage, had to de-
part by one narrow street, the Frank
furter Strasse, which led over the
bridges, and so on by the great high:
way to Liddenau. If you stood in the
Frankfrrter Strasse. my dear editor,
you would soon preceive that, such a
host pressing into it, jam could hard.
ly be avoided by any regulation or ar
rangement and, if you considered
that; while the French was pushing
through it, a victorious enemy was
forcing his way into the town behind
them, you would quite realize the dire
confusion which entangled everything
in that outpouring. Guns, carriages,
cavalry horses, foot-soldiers, and camp.
followers, all struggling along togeth.
er ; narrow bridges in front over
| which no more than one carriage could
pass at time; an almost endless
crowd in rear pressing on with frantic
energy. Very soon the parallel and
cross streets must have been choked
with them too. Then fancy the allied
forces charging into this helpless mass,
or moving them down with case-shot
wherever view of them could be got
! Scarcely could soldiers be in a more
miserable plight.
| If the streams had been bridged on
ten lines the French army could not
have escaped without heavy loss but
when all had to pass by one series of
narrow bridges, what problem was
presented! No leader was ever guilty
of more objectionable neglect than
| Napoleon in this matter. As long as
the rear.guard could keep the assail.
ants at bay, the foremost corps con-
tinued to hurry across the streams
but it was soon apparent that If any
more could get away with their lives
for a prey, as the Scripture expresses
it, that was as much as could be effect.
ed no more vehicles could pass. So
the wretched beings set fire to their
wagons and essayed to fee unincum-
bered. Then, when all attempt at re
sistance was relinquished, and the only
remaining hope of evading the enemy
was in the speed of their flight, occur
red the dreadful catastrophe with
which Cruikshank's pencil made my
infant eyes familiar. One of the
bridges. whose demolition had been
designed to arrest the enemy's pursuit
was, by blunder, prematurely blown
up. This was the incident which
crowned the disaster. The small sem
blance of discipline or order which
had remained up to this period was
now dissolved. The men rushed into
the dark waters, and being unable to
combat the stream, or sinking in the
deep mud Of its bed, were drowned in
numbers. The enemy, in great force,
was on their flanks and rear, and the
only alternatives were death or sur.
render. Another great French army
was ruined, and but few shattered
remains of it were OH their way back
to tell the tale of woe.
A Captain that was Mistaken in His Man.
The late Thomas Powell, Of New
burgh, the large steamboat owner,
banker and millionaire, was very in
different about his dress, and ap
peared to the eye of a stranger more
like a workingman than d banker
When repairs were needed on hif
boats or wharf, he was always ready
to lend a helping hand in handling Z
log or otherwise assisting the work
The captain of a .fishing.smacl