and Elbe, and suffering them to debouch by Saalfeld. The advanced guard of the Prussian left, under Prince Louis of Prussia, here encountered the division of Marshal Lannes, and was entirely defeated and put to flight; the young prince, one of the prime movers of the war, being among its first victims. He fought with passionate gallantry at the head of his troops, but being summoned to surrender himself prisoner by a French hussar, he replied by a slash with his sabre in the face of the hussar, and was instantly run through the body.

Napoleon marched in person by the valley of the Maine, with the divisions of Bernadotte and Ney, and flanked, on his right, by the divisions of Soult and Davoust; the left was composed of the divisions of Lannes and Lefebvre. He passed the Saale at Saalburg, and arrived at Schleitz, where the extreme left of the Prussian army was encountered and put to flight. Meanwhile, Soult had taken Hoff, with its magazines; and, together with Davoust, continued to advance by the banks of the Elster, followed by Murat, with the whole of the cavalry. By these combined movements, the French army had cleared the whole course of the Saale. The importance of this advantage was soon apparent.

The King of Prussia had placed the Duke of Brunswick at the head of his army. The duke had gained renown as a general in his youth,

but he had been out-manoeuvred by Dumouriez in 1792, and being seventy-two years of age, now added obstinacy to some of the infirmities of declining life. It would have been more prudent to have delayed the commencement of the war till the advance of the Russians ; but the Duke of Brunswick, on the contrary, pushed forward, through Saxony, into Saxe-Weimar. Yet, having made this premature movement, he did not follow it up, but suffered Napoleon, as we have seen, to possess himself of the course of the Saale. His magazines, and reserves of artillery and ammunition, were not close in the rear of his army, but at Naumburg, on his extreme left; his head-quarters being still at Weimar; his left, at Schleitz, under Prince Hohenlohe, and his right, at Muhlhausen, leaving a space of ninety miles between the extreme flanks of his army. The King of Prussia was at head-quarters in person; and his courage and popularity, together with the frequent presence of the queen, inspired the troops with ardour. Many generals and soldiers in the ranks had served under the great Frederick; and the whole army continued to be distinguished for the most rigid discipline. It amounted, in numbers, to upwards of one hundred and fifty thousand men; but the French army was still stronger.

By the movements we have described, and the defeats of the Prussian left, at Saalfeld and Schleitz, Napoleon had opened the way to Naumburg. He lost no time in securing the advantages which would put him in possession of his enemy's magazines, place him between them and Saxony, and completely turn their left wing. When at Gera, within half a day's journey of Naumburg, he despatched a letter to Frederick William, offering peace. "If I were only beginning my military career," said he, "if I could fear the chance of battle, the language which I hold to your majesty would be altogether out of place: but your majesty will be conquered; and, without the shadow of a pretext, will have compromised the repose of your days, and the existence of your subjects." This letter remained unnoticed. It is mentioned by Scott as a specimen. of exulting irony, resembling the sensations of an angler, when the fish is hooked, and about to become his secure prey; but the French writers do not hint at such a view of the matter. They represent it to have been made in good faith. The divisions of Bernadotte and Davoust pushed on to Naumburg, took the place, and the flames of their stores and magazines were the first indications to the Prussians of their perilous position. They at last perceived that they had suffered Napoleon to get completely into their rear, and that they had no alternative but a battle, without the power of choosing their own time and place, and without any line of retreat, in case of disaster. "The army of the great Frederick," says Scott, "was, it must be owned, brought to combat with

as little reflection or military science as a herd of school-boys might have displayed in a mutiny."

The resolution of Napoleon was now formed. He had captured the Prussian mail, and ascertained that their main army was still at Weimar. He ordered the cavalry under Murat to join Davoust and Bernadotte at Naumburg, while he himself, with the rest of the army, marched upon the elevated plain of Jena, where he bivouacked, on the 13th of October, at sunset, not a fortnight after the declaration of the King of Prussia, which had determined the war. On taking his position, he received information that the Prussian army was at length in motion. It had marched out of Weimar in two great corps: the largest, under the immediate command of the king and the Duke of Brunswick, had advanced towards Naumburg to attempt to retake that important place; the other, under Prince Hohenlohe, was directing its march on Jena. Napoleon made every disposition for the battle, which, at both points, was to be expected the following day; and had all the generals to supper with him. Before lying down in his bivouac, he went to see that all was right, and descended the hill of Jena on foot, to ascertain that no ammunition

wagon had been left behind. He found the whole of the artillery belonging to the division of Marshal Lannes, which was to commence the action, sticking fast in a ravine, which had been mistaken in the darkness for a road. The wheels of the foremost were fast jammed against the rocks, and about a hundred wagons, which had entered the defile one behind another, were thus completely prevented from moving forwards; and to turn was impossible. The Emperor was excessively irritated, but scarcely uttered a word. He collected the men without the loss of a moment, made them get their park tools, light their lanterns, and cut away the rocks on each side. As he directed the operations, he held one of the lanterns himself. "I shall never forget," says Savary, "the expression in the countenances of the men, on seeing the Emperor lighting them with a lantern, nor the heavy blows with which they struck the rocks. They were exhausted with fatigue, but no one uttered a complaint. The Emperor did not leave the spot till the first wagon had passed through, which was not till late in the night."

Early on the morning of the 14th, Davoust marched from Naumburg, and advanced to the attack of that division of the Prussian army which, commanded by the king and the Duke of Brunswick, had rested for the night on the heights of Auerstadt. His division consisted of thirtyfive thousand men; the Prussian army of upwards of seventy thousand. Bernadotte, who should have supported him, insisted on passing to the front; and, on being refused that position, and shewn, besides, that such a movement would expose their forces to imminent danger, held aloof,

under one pretext or another, and did not support Davoust, who, notwithstanding, obtained a complete victory. The Duke of Brunswick was mortally wounded early in the action, and carried from the field. General Schmettau, and Marshal Moellendorf, the next in command, were also wounded; and the king himself, with the scattered remains of the army, was left to execute a retreat in the direction of Weimar, which he was enabled to effect, in consequence of Davoust's want of cavalry, Bernadotte having contrived to hold them back with his own division.

On the same morning which decided the fate of one half of the Prussian army at Auerstadt, Napoleon got his troops under arms at day-break, on the plain of Jena, and prepared to give battle to Prince Hohenlohe. As at Austerlitz, a thick fog lay on the ground, and though the bivouacs of the two armies were only at half cannon-shot distance, and the sentinels so near that every movement was mutually heard,

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they were quite invisible to each other. The Emperor, in his address, explained to his soldiers the situation of their enemies. "Soldiers," said he," the Prussian army is surrounded like that of Mack, at Ulm, exactly one year ago. They fight not so much for victory as to get free and regain their communications. The corps which suffers itself to be penetrated will lose its reputation. Do not fear their celebrated cavalry; oppose to it firm squares and the bayonet." He was answered by loud cries of "Forward."

Soon after six o'clock a partial skirmishing began. The fog rose and dispersed at nine, and the two armies found themselves face to face under a clear autumn sky and a bright sun. The cannonade became general, and the battle was fiercely contested. The Prussians maintained their high reputation for military discipline, executing every manœuvre with the precision and regularity of machines. Napoleon exposed himself in the thickest of the fight, forming the squares of infantry to resist the desperate charges of the Prussian cavalry. As he ordered the manoeuvres, he was repeatedly interrupted by the resounding cry of "Vive l'Empereur." The imperial guard, which was kept in reserve, could scarcely be restrained. As the Emperor passed along its front, he heard the cry of "Forward!" "Who was that?" exclaimed he sternly. "It can only be some raw youth without a beard that dares to judge for me what I ought to do. Let him wait till he has commanded in thirty battles before he pretends to give me advice." In the various evolutions of the day, the two armies had completely changed their direction. A bold and close attack, made by Lannes upon the centre of the Prussian line, caused them to change front on their right wing, the left wing in the rear. The French army was therefore obliged to make the opposite movement, and change front on the left wing, the right wing in advance,-and the action recommenced along the whole line. At this moment, an unexpected incident decided the battle. Augereau had been left at Mentz to form a corps with the regiments which had been sent to France after Austerlitz. He had marched with extraordinary celerity, and arrived with his troops, advancing through a fir-wood in the rear of the Prussians, just as the new position had been effected. His sudden attack made them waver. Napoleon seized the critical moment. He brought the imperial guard into action, and ordered his cavalry, concentrated in the centre of the army, to charge with desperation. The charge succeeded. The Prussians gave way, fell into disorder, and their rout began. The head of Murat's cavalry now appeared on the field, arriving from their state of inaction at Auerstadt; and rushing upon the fugitives, who were in irretrievable disorder, pursued them with deadly speed along the road towards Weimar. The confusion and carnage became horrible, when the stream of panic-stricken men encountered, at the point of junction with the road