The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1929-07-18

ly transported from the other side of
the river on two miserable RATS which
they could with difficulty steer against
| the current. From the shore, we saw
them greatly shaken by the great
pieces of ice which clogged the river.
| These masses would come to the very
edge of the raft. Meeting an obstacle,
they would stop for while and then
be drawn underneath those feeble
planks and produce horrible shocks.
Our soldiers would stop the largest
ones with their bayOnets and make
them deviate beyond the RATS.
"The inpatience of the army was at
its highest pitch. The first to arrive
on the other bank were the brave NJ.
JacqueminOt, aide-de-camp of Marshal
| OudinOt, and Count PredZiecski. This
| last named was a brave Lithuanian
whom the emperor greatly liked, espe-
cially when he shared our sufferings
through fidelity and devotion. Both
of them crossed the river on horse
back. The army uttered shouts of adj
miration on seeing that its leaders
were the first to give the example of
intrepidity. There was, in fact,
enough to disturb the strongest minds.
The current forced the poor horses
to swim obliquely across, which dou-
bled the length of the passage. Then
came the masses of ice, which, strik-
ing against their chests and sides, in
flicted piteOus gashes.
Over Road of Bodies.
"At one o'clock General Legrand
and his division blocked up the bridge
| constructed for the infantry The en-
perOr was on the opposite side. Sew
eral cannons got entangled in each
other and stopped the march for an
! instant. The emperor sprang on to
the bridge, put his own hands to the
teams, and aided in freeing the pieces.
The enthusiasm of the soldiers was
, extreme. 1t was to shouts of Long
Live the Emperor! that the infantry
landed on the other shore.
"When the artillery and the baggage
were crossing, the bridge was so
thronged that it broke. Then ensued
! that retrOgrade movement which crowd
ed back in horrible confusion the whole
| multitude of stragglers who were adj
yancing like driven cattle behind the
artillery. Another bridge had been
hastily constructed as if in sad pre-
vision of the breaking of the first one
but the second one was narrow and
unprotected at the sides. However, it
was makeshift which at first glance
seemed very precious in such an ap-
palling calamity; but what miseries
ensued! The laggards flocked thither
in droves. AS the artillery, the bag
gage-in a word, the entire material
of the army-had been in advance on
the first bridge when it broke, and by
the sudden recoil which took place,
the catastrophe became known, then
those who had been behind were the
first to gain the other bridge.
"But it was necessary that the artil-
lery should cross first. 1t pressed for
ward then with impetuousity toward
the only way of salvation which was
left. Here the pen refuses to describe
the scene of horrors that took place. 1t
was literally over road of crushed
bodies that the wagons of every sort
reached the bridge. On this occasion
one saw what hardness, what syste-
matte ferocity, even, can be impaired
to the soul by the instinct of self-pres-
ervatiOn. There were some of the
stragglers, the craziest of any, who
wounded and killed with bayonet
thrusts the unfortunate horses that
did not obey the whip of their drivers.
Saved From Icy Depths.
II have said that the bridge had no
lodges at the sides. Crowds of poor
wretches who were trying to cross it
were seen to fall into the stream and
be sucked under the masses of ice.
Others tried to cling to the miserable
planks of the bridge, and would re-
main hanging over the abyss until
their hands, crushed by the wheels of
the wagons, would force them to let
go their hold. They dropped and were
engulfed by the waters. Whole artil-
lery wagons, horses and drivers alike,
were plunged into the stream.
poor women were seen holding
their children out of the water, as if
to retard their death by a few mo-
ments. The emperor wished to re-
trace his steps, hoping his presence
might restore order; he was dis
suaded from this, and in manner
so significant that he struggled against