The Fields of Death r-4, page 50
part #4 of Revolution Series
The rain finally ended as dusk shrouded the battlefield and mercifully concealed the bodies and limbs stuck in the sprawl of mud churned up by the passage of many thousands of men, horses and heavy wooden wheels. The men of the Grand Army marched back to their billets, weary and wet but still in fine spirits, unlike the long column of prisoners that was escorted over the Elbe to spend yet another night in the open. Berthier collated the battle reports that came in from across the army and presented the final assessment to his Emperor as he sat wrapped in a blanket and close to a brazier set up in the nave. It had been several days since Napoleon had slept well, and exhaustion, together with the damp conditions, had combined to give him a slight fever. He trembled as he huddled over the fire.
‘Sire, do you wish me to send for your surgeon?’ Berthier asked anxiously.
‘No. It will pass. Besides, I can rest after tomorrow.’ Napoleon’s face contorted for a moment and then he sneezed.
‘Shall I order some soup for you, sire?’
Napoleon shook his head. His stomach was acutely uncomfortable and the idea of any food at all made him feel queasy. He glanced up at Berthier and nodded towards the papers in the latter’s hands. ‘Are those the reports?’
‘Yes, sire.’
‘Give me the summary.’
‘We have taken some twelve thousand prisoners, and after the body count, allowing for the usual proportion of wounded, the enemy suffered a total loss of over thirty-five thousand men. In addition, we have taken twenty-six guns, and thirty ammunition wagons.’
‘And our losses?’
‘No more than ten thousand, sire.’
‘Good . . . good.’ Napoleon concentrated for a moment. ‘If Vandamme can keep pressing them for the direction of Pirna, then they will break when we renew our attack tomorrow.’ He sneezed again, and then waved Berthier away. ‘I will try to rest. You may wake me if there is any important news, or any sign of movement from the enemy.’
‘Yes, sire.’
Once Berthier left him, Napoleon reached for some more wood to put on the brazier, and then wrapped the blanket tightly about him and shut his eyes. He felt truly wretched - his body strained beyond the point of endurance. His body had become weak, far weaker than it had been in the glorious early years when he had been lithe, and tough, and lack of sleep and long marches had been as nothing to him. The years had marked him, as had the burdens of being a ruler. As he leaned towards the fire he felt the pressure of his stomach on his thighs and was struck by a sudden sense of revulsion at the sorry state of his physique. The thin sallow face of the young general had become almost spherical, with an unseemly roll of flesh forming under his chin. He tired too easily, and the effort of climbing the cathedral tower had left him gasping for breath by the time he reached the top. The present campaign must end soon, he reflected, before his failing health incapacitated him. If not, then he in turn would fail the army, who depended on him to guide them to victory.
If ever there was an implacable tyrant in this world, he mused miserably, it was time. The remorseless army of time, in its serried ranks of hours, days and years, swept all before it. The greatest general was as powerless as the rawest recruit in the face of such an enemy, and all men were doomed to defeat.
Napoleon was bracing himself to climb the tower again when a message came in from one of the cavalry pickets. The allied army had withdrawn. Only a small rearguard remained, covering the line of retreat.
‘Damn them!’ Napoleon growled. ‘They outnumber me and still they run. Cowards.’ He turned away from the tower steps and went over to the map table. ‘Do we know which direction they are headed?’
‘Yes, sire. South, towards Bohemia.’
‘Then we must effect a pursuit immediately. They have several hours’ lead on us. The Grand Army must be ready to advance this morning. Murat can take the cavalry forward to harass them, and try to slow them down.’ Napoleon quickly examined the map. ‘We must send word to Vandamme. If he can reach Teplitz before the allies emerge from the mountains then they will be caught between Vandamme and us. The campaign is still ours to win.’
Berthier set the headquarters staff to work as they drafted the orders for the pursuit. Murat’s cavalry were the first to move off, trotting south towards the Heights. Behind them the infantry of Victor’s corps were forming up outside the city ready to march when a new message arrived at headquarters. The despatch was handed to Berthier by one of his aides and he read it quickly before he glanced up anxiously and hurried over to Napoleon.
‘Sire, Marshal Oudinot has retreated to Wittenberg.’
‘What?’ Napoleon turned swiftly. ‘What is he doing there? He promised me that he would be in Berlin four days ago. Why has he retreated?’
‘He reports that he was defeated by a superior force outside Berlin on the twenty-third.’
‘And he has run back to Wittenberg, rather than hold our northern flank.’ Napoleon gritted his teeth. ‘The fool has left the way open for the Prussians to march on Dresden. Damn him! Damn him!’
Everyone in the nave fell quiet as Napoleon shouted. They watched him nervously as he fought to control his temper, glaring at the map and balling his hands into fists. Berthier was silent for a while, then swallowed and cleared his throat.
‘Sire, what are your orders?’
‘Just a moment. I must think.’ Napoleon closed his eyes and forced himself to concentrate. This news changed everything. The great advantage that had been won over the largest allied army would be worthless if the Grand Army was forced to abandon the pursuit in order to turn and face the new threat. Conversely, Napoleon could leave Dresden garrisoned and continue the pursuit, but if the city fell then he would lose his supply base and be cut off from France. He seethed with fury at Oudinot’s incompetence.
‘The army will continue the pursuit. There is still a chance of trapping the Army of Bohemia in the mountains. I will stay here with the Imperial Guard and wait for further news from Oudinot.’
Berthier nodded. As Napoleon looked round the nave he became aware of the silence and the stillness of his staff officers and aides. ‘Well, what are you waiting for? Prepare the orders!’
At once the men bent their heads over their notebooks and despatches and carried on with their tasks, not daring to look up in case they caught the Emperor’s eye. He stood, arms crossed, glaring at them for a while before turning back to the map. Coloured wooden blocks denoted the three main enemy armies, north, east and south of Dresden. Napoleon knew that he could defeat any one of them. But he could not be in more than one place at a time, and that meant he was compelled to delegate his command of scattered formations to his subordinates. They had failed him in this campaign. Perhaps they too were losing their touch, he thought. Fellow victims of the strains of age and weariness.
The pursuit continued for two more days, and then, on the evening of the thirtieth, a muddied dragoon officer arrived at headquarters with the news that Vandamme had been defeated at Kulm. Napoleon nodded calmly and bid the officer make his report in full. Vandamme, it seemed, had obeyed his orders with alacrity, driving his troops on as they marched round the hills to cut off the enemy’s escape. On the twenty-ninth they had encountered the rearguard in the narrow valley at Kulm and fought an inconclusive battle. That night, another enemy column, in an attempt to escape St-Cyr’s corps, had blundered into the rear of Vandamme’s men, trapping them in the valley. Nearly ten thousand had managed to cut their way free, but the rest were either dead or had been taken prisoner, like Vandamme himself.
Napoleon heard the news without interruption, and then politely dismissed the officer before turning to Berthier and the other staff officers.
‘It seems that the pursuit has failed. Recall the army to Dresden.’
‘Yes, sire.’ Berthier nodded. ‘What are your plans now, sire?’
Napoleon frowned and shook his head. ‘Plans?’
For a terrifying moment, he could think of nothing. His mind was numbed by lack of sleep and in any case every scheme he had devised to defeat the enemy had failed. It was becoming clear to Napoleon what the enemy’s campaign strategy was. While they were content to fight his marshals when and where they could, they had resolved not to face Napoleon in person if possible.
‘Clever, very clever,’ he mused wearily. There was little doubt that the allies had finally hit upon an effective means of fighting him. Worse still, the fatal weakness that they had divined in the Grand Army was one of his own creation. For years now, Napoleon had exercised personal authority over every aspect of his army. His officers and men had come to rely on him utterly and had lost the ability to use their own initiative and trust their own judgement. So now, he was obliged to be everywhere, or concentrate all his men in one unwieldy host so large that it could not possibly survive for long off the land as it attempted to corner an enemy who was ever willing to trade time for space.
‘Oh, yes . . .’ Napoleon muttered under his breath. ‘Very clever indeed.’
Chapter 44
Early in September Napoleon ordered Marshal Ney to make one last attempt to capture Berlin. Ney only managed to advance as far as Dennewitz before he was defeated and sent reeling back to the south. Meanwhile, Napoleon had taken the Imperial Guard with him to join MacDonald’s army and crush Blьcher, who he hoped would prove too impetuous to refuse battle. But, true to the allied strategy, Blьcher fell back, and at the same time the Army of Bohemia advanced on Dresden once again, forcing Napoleon to race back.
For the rest of the month the enemy continued to probe towards Ney and MacDonald and each time Napoleon was obliged to force-march reinforcements to meet the threat, only for the enemy to withdraw again the instant they detected his presence. Napoleon was aware that Saxony could no longer feed his army. The supplies that had been built up in Dresden were steadily dwindling as the soldiers’ daily ration issue was cut and cut again until the soldiers were being issued less than quarter of their usual allowance of bread. Forage for the horses was also running short and Berthier’s daily report of the strength returns revealed a steady decline in the army’s numbers.
‘What do we do, gentlemen?’ Napoleon asked his marshals at a meeting in Dresden towards the middle of the month.‘We have too few men to cover all the ground we are obliged to occupy. Those men that we do have are weak and weary and have lost the zeal that they showed when they fought here last month. And now there is news from our spies that the Russians have sent a fresh army from Poland to join the campaign against us.’
‘We need to shorten our front, sire,’ said Murat. ‘Pull back to a more central position, behind the Elbe, concentrate our forces and wait for the opportunity to strike on our terms.’
‘That is all very well, but what do we do about Dresden? We cannot afford to leave the city exposed to the Army of Bohemia. It will have to be defended, by at least one corps.’
‘Why, sire?’ Murat raised his eyebrows. ‘Dresden has ceased to be of any real military value. It has all but run out of food, and the magazines are nearly empty. It would be better to have the garrison with the main army than cut off in Dresden and unable to affect the outcome of the campaign.’
Napoleon regarded Murat patiently. ‘You are a fine soldier, Joachim, but you show poor political sense. Dresden is the capital of our sole remaining German ally, now that Bavaria is expected to declare for the coalition any day. If we abandon Dresden then we abandon any legitimacy for having French soldiers stationed on German soil. We cease to be allies protecting the interests of our friends, and become occupiers - invaders - instead. I can think of nothing more dangerous to our interests at the moment. The thought of every German peasant with a gun turning on our supply convoys is an alarming prospect.’
‘Not if there are reprisals, sire. If we shoot enough peasants then I’m sure we will have no trouble.’
Marmont laughed drily.‘Have you forgotten your time in Spain? For every man we shot, five more took his place, filled with desire for revenge.’
‘I remember Spain,’ Murat replied. ‘My only regret is that I did not shoot more of them.’
‘Gentlemen, that’s enough,’ Napoleon interrupted. ‘I have made my decision. We will leave a garrison in Dresden. St-Cyr, you are the obvious choice. I will leave you Lobau’s division as well. You will hold out at all costs.’
St-Cyr nodded.
‘That leaves us the question of where to make our new centre of operations.’
‘The Elbe, then,’ said Murat.
Napoleon thought briefly and shook his head. ‘That is too much of a risk. Too long a front. We have to assume that the enemy will be able to get over the Elbe. If they manage to cross in more than one place then the front will collapse. What we need is a base from which we can concentrate our forces and then strike in any direction.’ He leaned forward over the map, and pointed. ‘Leipzig. It’s a large city, connected to good roads, and will give us the advantage of interior lines if the enemy does advance from more than one direction. Thoughts, gentlemen?’
None of the marshals demurred and Napoleon nodded, the decision made. ‘Very well, then the army will be ordered to concentrate at Leipzig.’
As the year moved into October the Grand Army’s position grew steadily worse. Blьcher and Bernadotte were operating in concert to the north, while General Bennigsen’s Army of Poland was advancing from the east. The Army of Bohemia had bypassed Dresden and was forcing Murat back on Leipzig. As Napoleon read the reports he could not help but marvel at the scale of the coming struggle. A quarter of a million Frenchmen and a handful of allied contingents were facing nearly four hundred thousand Russian, Austrian and Prussian troops.
It was early in the afternoon as Napoleon entered Leipzig. The sound of cannon fire from the south told him that Murat was fending off the vanguard of the Army of Bohemia. The people of the city had learned that a great battle was imminent and were hurrying from their homes clutching whatever valuables they could carry. Some went east, but most went west, Napoleon noted. Clearly they judged that he would win the day and did not want to get caught on the wrong side of a pursuit once the battle was over.
His escort cleared a path for his carriage through the refugees, some of whom stopped to marvel at this glimpse of the great Emperor of France. The carriage and squadron of hussars trotted through the city, passing soldiers forcing their way into shops and houses to find food and secure a comfortable billet, and soon reached the Grand Army’s headquarters in Leipzig’s chamber of deputies. Berthier and his staff had arrived at dawn and occupied the clerks’ hall, immediately settling down to work to ensure that the army’s communications would flow efficiently once the battle was under way.
Napoleon greeted Berthier and then sat heavily in a chair beside his chief of staff’s desk. ‘Have the cavalry patrols located Blьcher and Bernadotte yet?’
‘Not yet, sire.’
‘Even if they have joined forces, they are at least three days’ march from here. That will give us a chance to tackle the Army of Bohemia before they can intervene. I intend to give battle in two days’ time. The line of hills to the south of the city is ideal for artillery. That will be where we take up our position. The plan will be the same one we used at Dresden. Pin the enemy centre in place while we envelop their flanks. The army will use tomorrow to move into position so that the attack can begin the following morning.’
‘Very well, sire. And what about our northern flank?’
‘What of it?’
‘If Blьcher should appear, then we will need to block him, else he will cut the road to the west and fall on our rear.’
‘We are safe from Blьcher. He will not reach us until after the battle,’ Napoleon replied dismissively. ‘But you are right to be cautious. Marmont’s corps can guard the northern approaches until the battle is under way. If there is no sign of Blьcher he can march south and add his weight to our right flank.’
‘Yes, sire.’ Berthier nodded, relieved. ‘I will give the orders at once.’
Two days later the dawn was cold and misty and the soldiers of the Grand Army quietly took their places along the line of hills either side of the village of Wachau. Opposite them, across the rolling countryside south of Leipzig, the Army of Bohemia spread out across a wide front. Even before Napoleon and his escort reached his forward command post there was a deep roar of guns as the enemy opened fire.
‘It seems that they have attacked first,’ Napoleon said to Berthier. ‘Very well, that serves our purpose. Let them expend their effort and then we shall take them with a counter-attack.’
The highest point along the line of hills was called the Galgenburg and it was here that the headquarters staff had prepared the Emperor’s command point. The ground underneath his boots trembled from the exchange of artillery fire for the first half-hour and then the enemy batteries began to fall silent as the first waves of infantry advanced towards the French line. Vast columns of men marched forward beneath the national colours of Austria, Prussia and Russia, straight into the hail of case shot from the massed guns of the Grand Army. Gaps appeared in the enemy’s leading battalions as men were smashed away, but the ranks closed up and the battalions came on without missing a step. Shortly before the waiting French infantry they halted to deploy into line, still under fire from cannon, and then began the deadly business of musket volleys as the two armies set about each other in earnest.
From his high position Napoleon followed the battle with satisfaction as the enemy attack made little progress. Here and there, the allies broke individual French battalions, but elsewhere their units crumbled away under the weight of French fire, and withdrew in disorder. The enemy took the village at Wachau at ten o’clock, and then it was retaken by French infantry after a bloody mкlйe in the narrow streets which were left strewn with bodies, the neatly painted walls spattered and smeared with blood.
