victories. The
ice in the Vistula was running free, the river overflowed its banks, and
for a month the main bodies of the armies were at rest. But General
Dwernicki, at the head of three thousand Polish cavalry, signalized the
remainder of February by a series of brilliant exploits, attacking and
dispersing with his small force twenty thousand of the enemy.

Radzivil, whose incompetency had grown evident, was now removed, and
Skrzynecki, a much abler leader, was chosen in his place. He was not
long in showing his skill and daring. On the night of March 30 the Praga
bridge was covered with straw and the army marched noiselessly across.
At daybreak, in the midst of a thick fog, it fell on a body of sleeping
Russians, who had not dreamed of such a movement. Hurled back in
disorder and dismay, they were met by a division which had been posted
to cut off their retreat. The rout was complete. Half the corps was
destroyed or taken, and the remainder fled in terror through the forest
depths.

Before the day ended the Poles came upon Rosen's division, fifteen
thousand in number, and strongly posted. Yet the impetuous onslaught of
the Poles swept the field. The Russians were driven back in utter rout,
with the loss of two thousand men, six thousand prisoners, and large
quantities of cannon and arms. The Poles lost but three hundred men in
this brilliant success. During the next day the pursuit continued, and
five thousand more prisoners were taken. So disheartened were the
Russian troops by these reverses that when attacked on April 10 at the
village of Iganie they scarcely attempted to defend themselves. The
flower of the Russian infantry, the _lions of Varna_, as they had been
called since the Turkish war, laid down their arms, tore the eagles from
their shakos, and gave themselves up as prisoners of war. Twenty-five
hundred were taken.

What immediately followed may be told in a few words. Skrzynecki failed
to follow up his remarkable success, and lost valuable time, in which
the Russians recovered from their dismay. The brave Dwernicki, after
routing a force of nine thousand with two thousand men, crossed the
frontier and was taken prisoner by the Austrians, who had made no
objection to its being crossed by the Russians. And, as if nature were
fighting against Poland, the cholera, which had crossed from India to
Russia and infected the Russian troops, was communicated to the Poles at
Iganie, and soon spread throughout th