The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1886-11-13
THE GREAT NAPOLEON.
A Russian Generals Recollection of the
Corsican Caesar a Battlefield.


A Russian Generals Recollection of the
Corsican Caesar on a Battlefield.
Major General YakOvitch, of the
Russian army, is one of the few men
now living who saw the great Napoleon
on battlefield The old General saw
the French Emperor at Borodino. AT
that battle Yakoyitch, then a mere
boy, served with a battery in the grand
redoubt which was the center of the
Russian line, He gives avivid descrip-
ton of the battle. When morning
broke a sea of gray mist shut out the
field from view. The voices of the
enemy were heard, the neighing OF
their horses and the rumbling of
artillery wheels. Then came the
thunder of cannon, making the very
earth tremble. Three times all the
Russian gunners were killed, and three
times new men took their places. Bull
lets flew thick as hail and men drop
ped dead or mangled every moment.
At last a strange sound was heard in
the distance, ike rain pattering on
withered leaves. 1t grew louder and
louder until it filled the air like the
roar of stormy sea. All at once
great wave of bright swords and he'll
NETS and horses heads came surging
up over the breastworks. 1t was the
Imperial Guard. Before the shock of
that mighty wave the Russian center
crumbled away. shattered wreck.
When Yakovitch came to his senses and
opened his eyes he saw around him the
corpses of his father and comrades.
Suddenly the tramping of hoofs called
his attention to Il group of gaily-
dressed officers, and Napoleons staff
came riding over the field. The young
Russian peered anxiouSly into their
faces. In his graphic language he
thus describes them:
There were the hard faces of Rapp
and Darn, and broad -chcsted Sebas.
tian, and Nansouty, with the sabre.
scar across his cheek, and the low.
broad forehead and bulldog jaw oil
grim old Ney. the bravest of them all.
There, too, was Murat, with his white
plumes and his braided jacket, his long,
dark curls hanging down his neck and
his riding-whip in his hand, just like .
crcus-rider. And then the group
parted Suddenly and there was the man
himself in the midst of them, with his
face hard and immovablc as marble
amid all that blood and agony, and a
PARKWAY look in those cold gray eyes
of his, as if he saw Moscow somewhere
up in the sky, but could see nothing
between.
"a glorious victory" cried Murat,
waving his hand. What a stir there'l
be among the good folks of Paris when
the bulletin arrivesn
"'We've lost half our army in doing
it, though, growled Nev. Hadn't we
better fall back little and wait for the
reinforcements?
"Then Napoleon turned his head
slowly, just as statue might do, and
looking him full in the face said:
Thou advising a retreat Michel?
That is something new, indeed! No!
no falling back now. | must date
my bulletin from Moscow. As for the
army, you can't make an omclet with
out breaking a few eggs
"Yakovitch says that when he heard
this he knew that Napoleon's day was
past, for no man save one doomed to
destruction could have spoken 50 light
ly of the slaughter of thousands of
brave men. In three months from
that day the French Emperor was fly
ing for his life across the border, with
the Cossacks at his heels like hungry
wolves. "-Foreign ETch0RGe.