where the Russian army had retreated to, so that the French crossings of
the Narew river were hotly contested. A running battle developed from
22 December onwards, culminating in an indecisive battle at Pultusk on
26 December, which Napoleon was able to write up in his bulletins as a
victory, since the Russians withdrew and allowed the French to occupy
the town. The battle petered out mainly because the Russian commander
Bennigsen decided to avoid a slugging match and because Davout,
unwontedly off form, failed to support Lannes at the vital moment.
Following another indecisive battle on 26 December between Davout and
Augereau and Galitzin and Doctorov, the Russians withdrew to Rozan.
Violently adverse weather forced Napoleon to break off pursuit and take
the Grand Army into winter quarters. He wrote to Cambaceres on 29
December: 'I believe the campaign is over. The enemy has put the
steppes... between us.'
On 19 December Napoleon arrived in Warsaw. There was much to
ponder. In his heart he knew the Narew campaign had not gone well. He
had failed to keep his corps within supporting distance of each other and
thus could not bring the enemy to a decisive action. True, rapidity of
manoeuvre was scarcely possible on fields that had become quagmires of
mud, but the more worrying sign was gross indiscipline and desertion in
the Grande Armee itself, with an astonishing 40% rate of absenteeism by
the end of the year. But at least one of the Emperor's gambles had paid
off. Against the odds Selim III declared war on Russia in December and
followed it with a similar declaration against England in January.
Encouraged by this, Napoleon, always lured by the East, began trying to
encourage Persia to join in hostilities against Russia.
Meanwhile he faced the task of building up virtually a new army.
Morale in the old Grande Armee was rock-bottom, for serving with the
Emperor seemed like dealing with the Hydra's heads: each victory simply
entailed yet another campaign. The actual physical conditions of
marching and fighting in Poland were the worst yet encountered, with
dreadful roads that disintegrated into mud paths when rain and snow fe ll.
Indiscipline, desertion and looting were the inevitable result. One of the
Emperor's first tasks in Warsaw was to work out how he could get his
Army into shape for a possible spring 'campaign against the Russians.
He began by calling up the 1807 intake of conscripts a year early and
followed up by a recruiting drive in Switzerland and Holland aimed at
raising 35,000 men. Always allowing political considerations to be
overridden by military necessities, he started bleeding Germany dry of
money. He mulcted the conquered territories of 720 million francs,
including 160 millions from Prussia; Hamburg bore a heavy toll.
marcin
(Marcin)
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