Through Russian Snows (23 page)

"I am delighted, Captain Downes. When I was told, as I came along, of
the lugger being captured, I hoped that you might possibly have
something like this to tell me, for I had heard, since I came here, that
he was still on board her, and as it was not likely he would risk going
ashore, I thought perhaps you had got him prisoner. But this is better
altogether, for if he had been put on trial for Faulkner's murder, he
would, no doubt, have accused Julian, and though I think the evidence
was strong enough to fix the guilt on the man, there might have been
some who would have believed what he said. Now it will be altogether
cleared up. Though when Julian will be found and brought home is more
than anyone can say."

"Well, we need not trouble about that, lad, just at present. He is
cleared, which is the principal thing, and sooner or later he is sure to
find his way back again."

Frank landed with Captain Downes. Taking a trap they drove to the
magistrate's, where fortunately they found Mr. Henderson, who had gone
up to arrange for the examination of the prisoners. Both were greatly
pleased when, on the letter being opened, it was found to contain a full
confession of the murder, attested by a French magistrate, and
corroborating in every respect the facts contained in Julian's letter,
and as proved by the evidence given at the coroner's inquest. "I will
give this letter to the Weymouth paper to insert," Colonel Chambers
said, "and will send copies to the London papers, with a few lines
recalling the facts of the murder and the proofs that had accumulated of
Markham's share in it, and which show beyond all doubt the
bona-fides
of the confession."

"Thank you very much, Colonel," Frank said. "I only wish I knew where to
send a copy to Julian."

"I am sure I wish that you could do so," the colonel said. "Poor fellow!
he has paid dearly indeed for his well-meant though rash attempt to
seize Faulkner's murderer. I shall have finished my business in two or
three minutes, and shall be glad if you will stop to have a chat with
me."

As soon as the magistrate had concluded his talk with Mr. Henderson, and
the latter had gone off to carry out the arrangements, Colonel Chambers
turned to the captain and said, "Have you seen any of the London papers,
Downes?"

"No, Colonel. I have had enough to think of this morning since we moored
up. Is there anything of importance in them?"

"Nothing perhaps extraordinarily important, but something certainly
interesting at the present moment. Here is the
Morning Herald
. This is
the item: 'Our correspondent at Canterbury states that much excitement
has been lately caused in military circles there by an affair of
honour—'" "Oh, that is too bad!" Frank broke in hotly—"'between an
officer of the Lancers, Captain M—l, and a cornet of the 15th Light
Dragoons, Mr. W—t. It is said that Captain M—l has been engaged in
several similar encounters, and is famous for his skill with the pistol.
The affair began, we understand, at a mess-dinner of the cavalry depôt a
few days since, at which several well-known gentlemen of the town were
present. Captain M—l used insulting language to a recently-joined
young officer of the Dragoons. Mr. W—t took the matter up hotly, and
rising, denounced Captain M—l in such strong language that a duel
became inevitable. In view of the youth and supposed inexperience of Mr.
W—t, the affair was regarded with extreme disapprobation by the
officers of Captain M—l's regiment, as well as by those of the
Dragoons. It seems, however, that Mr. W—t had for some time been
practising with the pistol under the tuition of our respected townsman,
Mr. Woodall the gunsmith, and before the parties met he confided to the
officer who acted as his second that he intended to aim at his
opponent's trigger-finger and so to incapacitate him from further
adventures of the kind. Extraordinary as it may appear, this intention
was carried out. Captain M—l not only lost his finger, but the bullet
passed up his arm and broke it above the elbow. We understand that the
limb has been successfully amputated by the surgeons of the two corps.
This singular feat on the part of the young officer, when opposed to so
skilled a duellist as Captain M—l, has created a profound sensation
throughout the garrison.'

"Well, Master W—t, what have you to say to that?"

"I don't know that I have anything to say to it, Colonel," Frank
replied, "except that it is a great nuisance that such a thing should be
talked about. I suppose I have a good eye and a steady hand. I have
practised steadily every day since I joined, and have got to shoot
pretty straight. The man was a notorious bully, and if the young fellow
he had insulted had gone out with him, it would have been nothing short
of murder; and yet if he had not gone out with him I believe he would
have shot himself, rather than suffer the disgrace of putting up with an
insult. So as I felt pretty certain that I could disable Marshall
without having to do him any serious injury, I took it up and hit him in
the hand as I intended to."

"Well, Downes," Colonel Chambers said, "it seems to me that these two
brothers are born to get into adventures and to get well out of them.
However, Frank, although you have acted very creditably, and must
certainly be a wonderful shot with a pistol, don't do this sort of thing
too often."

"I am not going to, sir. I hope that I shall never fight a duel again,
and I didn't practise for that, but to be able to use my pistols on
service."

Three days later Frank said good-bye to his aunt and friends, and
returned to Canterbury, travelling this time by coach, as no craft
happened to be sailing for Dover.

SMOLENSK

Julian's regiment arrived at Konigsberg early in March, and found that
it was to form part of Ney's division. The whole country round had been
turned into an enormous camp, and every town was the centre round which
a great array of tents was clustered. The troops were of many
nationalities—French, Poles, Bavarians, Saxons, Prussians, Austrians,
and even Spanish. Never since the hordes of Attila swept over Europe had
so vast an army been gathered. The total force collected for the
invasion of Russia amounted to 651,358 men, of whom some 520,000 were
infantry, 100,000 cavalry, and the remainder artillery and engineers.
They had with them 1372 guns.

April passed without any movement. The troops became impatient, and even
the veterans, whose confidence in Napoleon was implicit, shook their
heads.

"We ought to be across the frontier before this," an old sergeant of
Julian's company said to him, as they smoked a pipe together over two
mugs of German beer.

"It isn't that I think there will be much fighting, for what can Russia
do against such an army as this? They say Alexander has been busy since
the peace of Tilsit, but at that time he could scarce place 50,000 men
in the field. No one fears the Russians; but it is a big country, and
they say that in winter the cold is horrible. We shall have long
distances to march, and you know how much time is always wasted over
making a treaty of peace. If we are to be back again before winter we
ought to be off now. Of course, the Emperor may mean to hold St.
Petersburg and Moscow until next spring, and I daresay we could make
ourselves comfortable enough in either place; but when you come to
winter six hundred and fifty thousand men, and a couple of hundred
thousand horses, it is a tremendous job; and I should think the Emperor
would send all this riff-raff of Spaniards, Germans, and Poles back, and
keep only the French as a garrison through the winter. Still, I would
much rather that we should all be back here before the first snow falls.
I don't like these long campaigns. Men are ready to fight, and to fight
again, twenty times if need be, but then they like to be done with it.
In a long campaign, with marches, and halts, and delays, discipline gets
slack, men begin to grumble; besides, clothes wear out, and however big
stores you take with you, they are sure to run short in time. I wish we
were off."

But it was not until the 16th of May that Napoleon arrived at Dresden,
where he was met by the Emperor and Empress of Austria, the Kings of
Prussia and Saxony, and a host of archdukes and princes, and a fortnight
was spent in brilliant fêtes. Napoleon himself was by no means blind to
the magnitude of the enterprise on which he had embarked, and
entertained no hopes that the army would recross the frontier before the
winter. He had, indeed, before leaving Paris, predicted that three
campaigns would be necessary before lasting terms of peace could be
secured. Thus an early commencement of the campaign was of
comparatively slight importance; but, indeed, the preparations for the
struggle were all on so great a scale that they could not, with all the
energy displayed in pushing them forward, be completed before the end of
June.

Thus, then, while Napoleon delayed in Paris and feasted at Dresden, the
roads of Germany were occupied by great hosts of men and enormous trains
of baggage waggons of all descriptions, moving steadily towards the
Russian frontier. On the 12th of June Napoleon arrived at Konigsberg.
Ney's division had marched forward a fortnight before, and the Emperor
on his route from Konigsberg to the frontier reviewed that division with
those of Davoust and Oudinot, and also two great cavalry divisions.

To oppose the threatening storm Alexander had gathered three armies. The
first, stationed in and round Wilna under General Barclay de Tolly,
comprised 129,050 men; the second, posted at Wolkowich, and commanded by
Prince Bagration, numbered 48,000; the third had its headquarters at
Lutsk, and was commanded by Count Tormanssow; while the reserve, which
was widely scattered, contained 34,000 men. Thus the total force
gathered to oppose the advance of Napoleon's army of 650,000 was but
211,050. It had, too, the disadvantage of being scattered, for it was
impossible to foresee by which of the several roads open to him,
Napoleon would advance, or whether he intended to make for St.
Petersburg or Moscow.

During the next few days the divisions intended to form the advance
moved down towards the Niemen, which marked the frontier, and on the
24th of June three bridges were thrown across the river near Kovno, and
the passage began. The French cavalry drove off the Cossacks who were
watching the passage, and the same evening the Emperor established his
headquarters at Kovno, and the corps of Davoust, Oudinot, and Ney
crossed the bridges, and with the cavalry under Murat, composing
altogether a force of 350,000 men, marched forward at a rapid pace on
the 26th for Wilna, seventy-five miles distant. It was not until a few
days before Napoleon crossed the frontier that the Russians obtained any
definite information as to the force with which he was advancing, and
their commander-in-chief at once saw that it would be hopeless to
attempt to oppose so large a body. A great mistake had been committed in
occupying a position so near the frontier, but when the necessity for
retreat became evident, no time was lost in carrying it into effect, and
orders were despatched to the commanders of the various armies to fall
back with all speed. Thus, although the French accomplished the
wonderful feat of marching seventy-eight miles in two days, which was
done in the hope of falling upon the Russians before they had time to
concentrate, they found the town already evacuated, and the whole of the
immense magazines collected there destroyed.

Almost simultaneously with the passage of the Niemen by the three corps
under the French marshals, those of Prince Eugene and the other generals
also crossed, but further south, and also advanced at full speed in
hopes of interposing between the three Russian armies, and of preventing
their concentration. For the next week the French pressed hard upon the
rear of the retreating Russians, but failed to bring on a battle, while
they themselves suffered from an incessant downpour of rain which made
the roads well-nigh impassable. The commissariat train broke down, and a
hundred pieces of cannon and 5000 ammunition waggons had to be
abandoned. The rain, and a bitterly cold wind that accompanied it,
brought on an epidemic among the horses, which were forced to depend
solely upon the green rye growing in the fields. Several thousands died;
the troops themselves suffered so much from thirst and hunger that no
less than 30,000 stragglers fell out from the ranks and spread
themselves over the country, burning, ravaging, plundering, and
committing terrible depredations. Such dismay was caused by their
treatment that the villages were all abandoned, and the whole population
retired before the advance of the French, driving their flocks and herds
before them, and thus adding greatly to the difficulties of the
invaders.

MAP SHOWING THE ROUTE OF NAPOLEON'S MARCH TO MOSCOW.

The greater portion of these straggling marauders belonged not to the
French corps, but to the allies, who possessed none of the discipline of
the French soldiery, and whose conduct throughout the campaign was
largely responsible for the intense animosity excited by the invaders,
and for the suffering that afterwards befell them.