Arthur O'Leary Part 36

'"It is Swartzenberg's attack, sire, on the rampart of Halle."

'"Ha! so near?" said he, springing up and approaching the window, from which the bright flashes of the artillery were each moment discernible in the dark sky. At the same moment an aide-de-camp galloped up, and dismounted at the door; in another minute he was in the room.

'The Saxon troops, left by the Emperor as a guard of honour and protection to the unhappy monarch, had opened a fire on the retreating columns, and a fearful confusion was the result. The Emperor spoke not a word. Macdonald's corps and Poniatowskf s division were still in Leipsic; but already they had commenced their retiring movement on Lindenau. Lauriston's brigade was also rapidly approaching the bridge over the Elster, to which now the men were hurrying madly, intent alone on flight. The bridge--the only one by which the troops could pa.s.s --had been mined, and committed to the charge of Colonel Montfort of the Engineers, with directions to blow it up when the enemy appeared, and thus gain time for the baggage to retreat.

'As the aide-de-camp stood awaiting Napoleon's orders in reply to a few lines written in pencil by the Duke of Tarento, another staff-officer arrived, breathless, to say that the allies had carried the rampart, and were already in Leipsic. Napoleon became deadly pale; then, with a motion of his hand, he signed to the officer to withdraw.

'"Duroc," said he, when they were alone, "where is Nansouty?"

'"With the eighth corps, sire. They have pa.s.sed an hour since."

'"Who commands the picket without?"

'"Aubuisson, sire."

'"Send him to me, and leave us alone."

'In a few moments Colonel Aubuisson entered. His arm was in a sling from a sabre-wound he had received the morning before, but which did not prevent his remaining on duty. The stout soldier seemed as unconcerned and fearless in that dreadful moment as though it were a day of gala manoeuvres, and not one of disaster and defeat.

'"Aubuisson," said the Emperor, "you were with us at Alexandria?"

'"I was, sire," said he, as a deeper tinge coloured his bronzed features.

'"The first in the rampart--I remember it well," said Napoleon; "the _ordre du jour_ commemorates the deed. It was at Moscow you gained the cross, I believe?" continued he, after a slight pause.

'"I never obtained it, sire," replied Aubuisson, with a struggle to repress some disappointment in his tone.

'"How, never obtained it!--you, Aubuisson, an ancient _brave_ of the Pyramids! Come, come, there has been a mistake somewhere; we must look to this. Meanwhile, _General_ Aubuisson, take mine."

'With that he detached his cordon from the breast of his uniform, and fastened it on the coat of the astonished officer, who could only mutter the words, "Sire, sire!" in reply.

'"Now, then, for a service you must render me, and speedily, too," said Napoleon, as he laid his hand on the general's shoulder.

'The Emperor whispered for some seconds in his ear, then looked at him fixedly in the face. "What!" cried he, "do you hesitate?"

'"Hesitate, sire!" said Aubuisson, starting back. "Never! If your Majesty had ordered me to the mouth of a mortar--but I wish to know----"

'Napoleon did not permit him to conclude, but drawing him closer, whispered again a few words in his ear. "And, mark me," said he, aloud, as he finished, "mark me, Aubuisson! silence--pas un mot? silence a la mort!"

'"A la mort, sire!" repeated the general, while at the same moment Duroc hurried into the room, and cried out--

'"They are advancing towards the Elster; Macdonald's rear-guard is engaged----"

'A motion of Napoleon's hand towards the door and a look at Aubuisson was the only notice he took of the intelligence, and the officer was gone.

'While Duroc continued to detail the disastrous events the last arrived news had announced, the Emperor approached the window, which was still open, and looked out. All was in darkness towards that part of the city near the defile. The attack was on the distant rampart, near which the sky was red and lurid. Still, it was towards that dark and gloomy part that Napoleon's eyes were turned, and not in the direction where the fight was still raging. Peering into the dense blackness, he stood without speaking, when suddenly a bright gleam of light shot up from the gloom, and then came three tremendous reports, so rapidly, one after the other, as almost to seem like one. The same instant a blaze of fire flashed upwards towards the sky, and glittering fragments of burning timber were hurled into the air. Napoleon covered his eyes with his hand, and leaned against the side of the window.

'"It is the bridge over the Elster!" cried Duroc, in a voice half wild with pa.s.sion. "They've blown up the bridge before Macdonald's division have crossed."

'"Impossible!" said the Emperor. "Go see quickly, Duroc, what has happened."

'But before the general could leave the room, a wounded officer rushed in, his clothes covered with the marks of recent fire.

'"The Sappers, sire! the Sappers-----"

'"What of them?" said the Emperor.

'"They've blown up the bridge, and the fourth corps are still in Leipsic."

'The next moment Napoleon was on his horse, surrounded by his staff, and galloping furiously towards the river.

'Never was a scene more awful than that which now presented itself there. Hundreds of men had thrown themselves headlong into the rapid river, where ma.s.ses of burning timber were falling on every side; horse and foot all mixed up in fearful confusion struggled madly in the stream, mingling their cries with the shouts of those who came on from behind, and who discovered for the first time that the retreat was cut off. The Duke of Tarento crossed, holding by his horse's mane.

Lauriston had nearly reached the bank, when he sank to rise no more; and Poniatowski, the chivalrous Pole, the last hope of his nation, was seen for an instant struggling with the waves, and then disappeared for ever.

'Twenty thousand men, sixty great guns, and above two hundred waggons were thus left in the power of the enemy. Few who sought refuge in flight ever reached the opposite bank, and for miles down, the sh.o.r.es of the Elster were marked by the bodies of French soldiers, who thus met their death on that fearful night.

'Among the disasters of this terrible retreat was the fate of Reynier, of whom no tidings could be had; nor was it known whether he died in battle, or fell a prisoner into the hands of the enemy. He was the personal friend of the Emperor, who in his loss deplored not only the brave and valorous soldier, but the steady adherent to his fortunes through good and evil. No more striking evidence of the amount of this misfortune can be had than the bulletin of Napoleon himself.

That doc.u.ment, usually devoted to the expression of vainglorious and exaggerated descriptions of the triumphs of the army--full of those high-flown narratives by which the glowing imagination of the Emperor conveyed the deeds of his soldiers to the wondering ears of France--was now a record of mournful depression and sad reverse of fortune.

'"The French army," said he, "continues its march on Erfurt--a beaten army. After so many brilliant successes, it is now in retreat."

'Every one is already acquainted with the disastrous career of that army, the greatest that ever marched from France. Each step of their return, obstinately contested against overwhelming superiority of force, however it might evidence the chivalrous spirit of a nation who would not confess defeat, brought them only nearer to their own frontiers, pursued by those whose countries they had violated, whose kings they had dethroned, whose liberties they had trampled on. The fearful Nemesis of war had come. The hour was arrived when all the wrongs they had wreaked on others were to be tenfold inflicted on themselves; when the plains of that "belle France," of which they were so proud, were to be trampled beneath the feet of insulting conquerors; when the Cossack and the Uhlan were to bivouac in that capital which they so arrogantly styled "the centre of European civilisation."

'I need not dwell on these things; I will but ask you to accompany me to Erfurt, where the army arrived five days after. A court-martial was there summoned for the trial of Colonel Montfort of the Engineers, and the party under his command, who in violation of their orders had prematurely blown up the bridge over the Elster, and were thus the cause of that fearful disaster by which so many gallant lives were sacrificed, and the honour of a French army so grievously tarnished. Contrary to the ordinary custom, the proceedings of that court-martial were never made known; * the tribunal sat with closed doors, accessible only to the Emperor himself and the officers of his personal staff.

* The vicomte's a.s.sertion is historically correct.

'On the fourth day of the investigation, a messenger was despatched to Braunach, a distant outpost of the army, to bring up General Aubuisson, who, it was rumoured, was somehow implicated in the transaction. The general took his place beside the other prisoners, in the full uniform of his grade. He wore on his breast the cross the Emperor himself had given him, and he carried at his side the sabre of honour he had received on the battlefield of Eylau. Still, they who knew him well remarked that his countenance no longer wore its frank and easy expression, while in his eye there was a restless, anxious look, as he glanced from side to side, and seemed troubled and suspicious.

'An order, brought by one of the aides-de-camp of the Emperor, commanded that the proceedings should not be opened that morning before his Majesty's arrival, and already the court had remained an hour inactive, when Napoleon entered suddenly, and saluting the members of the tribunal with a courteous bow, took his place at the head of the table. As he pa.s.sed up the hall he threw one glance upon the bench where the prisoners sat; it was short and fleeting, but there was one there who felt it in his inmost soul, and who in that rapid look read his own fate for ever.

'"General Aubuisson," said the President of the court-martial, "you were on duty with the peloton of your battalion on the evening of the 18th?"

'A short nod of the head was the only reply. "It is alleged," continued the President, "that a little after nine o'clock you appeared on the bridge over the Elster, and held a conversation with Colonel Montfort, the officer commanding the post; the court now desires that you will recapitulate the circ.u.mstances of that conversation, as well as inform it generally on the reasons of your presenting yourself at a post so remote from your duty."

'The general made no reply, but fixed his eyes steadfastly on the face of the Emperor, whose cold glance met his own, impa.s.sive and unmoved.

'"Have you heard the question of the court?" said the President, in a louder tone, "or shall I repeat it?"

'The prisoner turned upon him a look of vacancy. Like one suddenly awakened from a frightful dream, he appeared struggling to remember something which no effort of his mind could accomplish. He pa.s.sed his hand across his brow, on which now the big drops of sweat were standing, and then there broke from him a sigh, so low and plaintive it was scarcely audible.

'"Collect yourself, general," said the President, in a milder tone; "we wish to hear from your own lips your account of this transaction."

'Aubuisson cast his eyes downwards, and with his hands firmly clasped, seemed to reflect. As he stood thus, his look fell upon the cross of the Legion which he wore on his bosom; with a sudden start he pressed his hand upon it, and drawing himself up to his full height, exclaimed, in a wild and broken voice--

'"Silence--silence a la mort!"

'The members of the court-martial looked from one to the other in amazement, while after a pause of a few minutes the President repeated his question, dwelling patiently on each word, as if desirous to suit the troubled intellect of the prisoner.