The Washington herald., 1914-09-20
ZHE WAP0ZEQM5LEIWAT LEIR5Ic
, appear in the inscription.

appear in the inscription. 1t would be
superfiuous
/ As the visitor walks around the bal
Cony Of the great monument he sees
spread beneath his gaZe the panorama
of the entire battlefield Of the nations.
As at Dresden. so at Leipzig. Napoleon
occupied the town. and when the allies
came to drive him out of il they as
sailed the city on three sides at once. He
! himself, however. emerged from the
southern gate and faced his foes on the
| field about the monument.
Battle of the Nations.
| The numbers were fairly even in that
| opening battle. But for the first time
| in his life Napoleon failed to win a fight
between equal forces, and as night fell
on the field. and while a pitiless rain
beat in the upturned faces OF the slain.
| the Emperor sat in his tent in the brick
yard close to the monument, facing the
fact that Germany was lost to him At
| his order the bells Of Leipzig had rung
for his victory. but that was a sounding
brass. His German allies, caught in the
tide Of nationality, had been falling away
from him day by day. The Westphalians
and the Saxons had been going over to
the other side for weeks. Now the Ba-
varians had heard the call OF the father
land and Joined the army of liberation
Well might the baffied warrior in the
brickyard cry out in bitter despair: "Ah'
give me back the old soldiers of Italy
But he might better still have cried out
for the lost soul of that victorious army
and its conquering watchwords Lib
erty. Equality, Fraternity
The next day was Sunday and as dis
NAL as his fortunes. While the allied SOW
ereigns were bringing up hugh re-en-
forcements and combining to overwhelm
him, he had no reserves to call on. He
could only draw in his wet hungry and
dispirited troops closer to the walls of
Leipzig in preparation for one more
throw Of the dice.
Monday dawned in a somber mood. but
soon a brilliant sun burst upon the field
where the races and nations of Europe
were gathered to wrest from his hands
the sceptre Of empire. and even Asia had
been drawn into the strife, for the Bash
kris of Siberia were there with their
bows and arrows. From the Hill Of the
MonarChs. the Gar, the Austrian En-
peror, and the Prussian King sent for
ward an army of 100000. formed like an
enormous pair Of open shears. to close
in upon the 10000 troops who upheld the
eagles of France in lines that fell way
from the hill of the monument where
Napoleon alternately sat and stood be-
side a ruined windmill.
All day a storm Of steel and lead beat
against his lines in the struggle to hurl
his army back into the narrow. tangled
streets of Leipzig. But he breasted the
furious onslaught of the 10000 until night
came and until nearly all his cannon
balls were gone. for his artillery had
nred no less than --u'VVO Tounus IN TWO
days.
AS darkness stole over the field. he feIl
asleep on his camp stool in the awful
silence that succeeded the fury Of bat
tie. While his generals stood by awaiting
his orders for the inevitable retreat.
stray round shot fell in his bivouac FIRE
and awakened him. For moment he
looked about in drowsy bewilderment
and then gave the word which once had
no place in hi. lexicon
4 Night of Horror.
The only escape for the beaten army
was through the unlighted streets Of the
town, over two rivers, and thence by
a single causeway across wide marshy
fiats That one avenue to safety was
Quickly crowded with soldiers, wagons
and guns. The cavalry rode down the
infantry. while the wounded. lying about
the streets and squares. were heedlessly
tramplcd upon in the confusion and the
darkness. At daybreak the allies opened
their eyes on the rear of the retreating
army, and they rose to pursue the fleeing