routed the Russians in short order. The Russian Colonel Davidov
reported that the Guard scythed through the Cossacks 'like a hundred
gun warship through fishing boats'.
Napoleon now thought his rearguard was safe and was dumbfounded
when the rescued Davout came to report that he had lost contact with
Ney. Instead of leaving Smolensk together, Ney and Davout's corps had
unaccountably left on separate days. Though the explanation was yet
another mix-up in the imperial orders, Napoleon chose to fasten the
blame on him fo r what seemed to be Ney's certain annihilation. It says
much for Davout's moral fibre that he did not lose confidence in the
Emperor from that moment; as for Davout himself, having alienated both
Jerome and Murat on this campaign he was lucky to have the influential
figures of Duroc and Bessieres still speaking up for him.
Ney meanwhile experienced adventures that no historical novelist
could cap. He left Smolensk with 6,ooo men on the 17th and made rapid
progress towards Krasnyi on the 18th only to find the defeated but still
substantial fo rces of Miloradovich across the road that led to the rest of
the Grand Army and safety. Undaunted by the thought that Kutusov had
a total force of 8o,ooo somewhere ahead of him, Ney attacked and with
just 3,ooo effectives broke the Russians' first line. Driven back from the
second line by artillery and the sheer weight of Russian numbers, he dug
in at a ravine, expecting at any minute to be overwhelmed by Kutusov's
hordes. Kutusov, however, had been badly shaken by the mauling
encounter with the Old Guard, and hesitated to press home the attack.
Dusk fell.
Under cover of darkness Ney found his way to the Dnieper where,
incredibly, his men were able to 'island hop' from one ice floe to another
and so gain the far bank. But the cost was high since only z,ooo men
reached the far side of the Dnieper; another 3,ooo troops and a further
4,000 stragglers and camp followers were abandoned. All next day, under
heavy Cossack attack, Ney's men hugged the river and surrounding
woodland while they covered the 45 miles to Orsha. By nightfall they
were down to 1,5oo men and had constantly to form square to fend off
marauding Cossacks. At 9 p.m. Ney resumed the march and, gambling
that Orsha was still in French hands, sent a courier ahead asking for help.
The message was received by Eugene, who throughout the horrors had
consistently enhanced his military reputation. He set out at the head of a
rescuing force, and early next morning he and Ney embraced each other
as heroes. At 5 a.m. on 21 November, to universal amazement and joy,
Ney arrived to join the main army with just^900 survivors. Napoleon was
overjoyed and dubbed Ney 'the bravest of the brave'. He added further
marcin
(Marcin)
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