The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1898-06-09
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M ~ HI - Rr J. T. fEADLEI.
IN Pus.y by q the Best fr"sh Pictures

lay heaped, packed and trampled together,
| while across them were stretched burning
| rafterS and timberS, which wrung still
, more heart-rending cries and ShriekS from
| the dying mass. Even Bonaparte, when
| he arrived Shuddered at the appalling
| sight and turned with horror from the
| scene. The streets were one mass OF
| mangled, bleeding, trampled men. over
| laid with burning ruins. Napoleon
| blamed MaSSena for this act, saying that
he should have waited for the flank an;
| movement OF LanneS; but | suspect this
| was done simply as a Salve to his own
! conscience as he looked at the spectacle
| before him. If Massena had not made
the attemp, he would, undoubtedly, have
been blamed still more.
BATTLE OF ASPERN.
This opened Vienna to the French army
and, Is days after, the battle Of Aspern
was fought. MaSSena and Lanncs were
the two heroes of that disastrous
battle. They occupied the two viii
lages OF Aspern and Essling which
formed the two extremitieS of the French
lines. At the commencement of the fight
MaSSena'S position was in the cemetery
OF ASpern. Here he stood under the trees
that overshadowed the church. and di-
Tected the defense Calm and collected
as he ever was in the heat of the conflict,
he surveyed without alarm the dangers
that environed him. The onset of the
Austrian battalionS was tremendous, as
they came on with shouts that rang over
the roar of cannon. But MasSena calmly
stood, and watching every aSSailed point
supported 1t IN the moment Of need, while
the huge branches above his head were
constantly rending with the storm of can
non-ballS that swept through them and
the steep!e and roof of the church ratified
with the hall-storm of bullets that the
close batteries hurled upon them.
The conflict beca p,,Irderorc h,,t
never did he exhibit greater courage or
heroic frmresS. He was everywhere
present, steadying his men by his
calm, stern voice, and reckless expos
ure ci his person, and again and again
wrnglng victory out of the very grasp
of the enemy
Thus, hour after hour, he fought, unit
night closed over the Scene-and then, by
the light of blazing bombs and burning
houses, and fash of Austrian batteries,
he continued the contest with the de-
termination of one who would not De beat.
Nhen an advancing column rccoiled be
lore the close and fatal fire to which it
was exposed, he would rush to its head,
and crying Forward to his men, carry
them into the very Jaws of death. In the
midst OF one OF these desperate charges.
every one Of his guard fell by his side,
dead or wounded, and he stood all alone
amid the storm that wasted so fearfully
around HIM; yet, strange to say, he was
not even wounded.
But at length, after the most super
human efforts, he was forced from the
village amid the victorious shouts of the
AuStrlanS- But he would not be driven
off, and returned to the attack with un-
broken courage, and succeeded in wiring
ing some OF the houses from the victorS,
which he retained through the night
The next morning-being always ready to
tight lost battle over again-he made a
desperate assault on Aspern, and carried
1T. Again he stood in the churchyard
where he so calmly commenced the bat
tie; but 1t was now literally loaded with
the dead, which outnumbered those above
whose tombS they lay But after the
most heroic defense he was again driven
out, and the repulse of Lannes's column
on the center, soon after, completed the
disaster.
NAPOLEON'S RIGHT ARM.
In the disastrous retreat of the French
army across the Danube i'm the midst of
the battle, Massena exhibited his uncon-
querable tenacity OF will, and disputed
every inch of ground as If his life were
there. When the victorious Austrians
pressed upon the ranks, crowded on the
banks OF the river, he and Lannes. as be-
fore remarked, alone prevented an utter
rout. They fought side by side with a
heroiSm that aStoniShed even Napoleon.
LanneS fell, but this only increased Mas
sena's almost superhuman exertions to
save the army. Now on horseback, while
the artillery swept down everything
around him, and now on foot to steady
the shaking ranks or head "A desperate
charge, he multiplied with the dangers
that cncompasSed him. He acted as if
he bore charmed life, and rode and
charged through the tempest of balls with
daring that filled the soldiers with
astonishment, and animated them with
tenfoid courage. His eye burned like fire.
and his countenance, lit up by the terrible
excitement that mastered him. gave him
the most heroic appearance as he stormed
through the battle. No wonder that Bona
parte, as he leaned on his shoulder after
wards, exclaimed, Behold my right arm,"
For the assistance he rendered in this
engagement he received the title of
Prince of Essling."
Massena was with Bonaparte while he
lay cooped up in the island of Lobau,
waiting for reinfOrcements, so that he
could retrieve his heavy losses. Here
again he was the victim of an accident
that well nigh derived him of life
Though he had moved unframed amid
so many conflicts, and bore a charmed
life when death was abroad on the battle
held moving down men by thousands.