The excellent General Eble, whose heart broke at this spectacle, tried in
vain to establish a little order. Placing himself at the head of the bridge
he addressed the multitude; but it was only by means of the bayonet that at
last some improvement was brought about, and some women, children, and
wounded were saved. Some historians have stated that the French themselves
fired cannon shots into the crowd, but this is not mentioned by Thiers.
This panic was the cause that more than half the number of those perished
who otherwise could have crossed. Many threw themselves, or were pushed,
into the water and drowned. And this terrible conflict among the masses
having lasted all day, far from diminishing, it became more horrible with
the progress of the battle between Victor and Wittgenstein. The description
of this battle I omit, referring again to Thiers, confining myself to give
some figures. Of 700 to 800 men of General Fournier's cavalry hardly 300
survived; of Marshal Victor's infantry, hardy 5 thousand. Of all these
brave men, mostly Dutchmen, Germans, and Polanders, who had been sacrificed
there was quite a number of wounded who might have been saved, but who had
perished for want of all means of transportation. The Russians lost 10
thousand to 11 thousand.
This double battle on the two shores of the Beresina is one of the most
glorious in the history of France; 28 thousand against 72 thousand
Russians. These 28 thousand could have been taken or annihilated to the
last man, and it was almost a miracle that even a part of the army escaped
this disaster.
Pages:
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140