he
roar of the artillery; the second arch of the bridge was blown into the
air, carrying with it all those who were standing on the fatal spot. The
armies recoiled, and into the empty space between them fell like rain a
debris of stones and human beings. But at this moment, when Moreau had
succeeded in putting a momentary obstacle between himself and Melas,
General Grenier's division arrived in disorder, after having been forced
to evacuate Vaprio, pursued by the Austro-Russians under Zopf, Ott, and
Chasteler. Moreau ordered a change of front, and faced this new enemy,
who fell upon him when he least expected them; he succeeded in rallying
Grenier's troops and in re-establishing the battle. But whilst his back
was turned Melas repaired the bridge and crossed the river; thus Moreau
found himself attacked frontally, in the rear, and on his two flanks,
by forces three times larger than his own. It was then that all
the officers who surrounded him begged him to retreat, for on the
preservation of his person depended the preservation of Italy for
France. Moreau refused for some time, for he knew the awful consequences
of the battle he had just lost, and he did not wish to survive it,
although it had been impossible for him to win it. At last a chosen band
surrounded him, and, forming a square, drew back, whilst the rest of the
army sacrificed themselves to cover his retreat; for Moreau's genius was
looked upon as the sole hope that remained to them.

The battle lasted nearly three hours longer, during which the rearguard
of the army performed prodigies of valour. At length Melas, seeing that
the enemy had escaped him, and believing that his troops, tired by the
stubborn fight, needed rest, gave orders that the fighting should
cease. He halted on the left bank of the Adda, encamping his army in the
villages of Imago, Gorgonzola, and Cassano, and remained master of the
battlefield, upon which we had left two thousand five hundred dead, one
hundred pieces of cannon, and twenty howitzers.

That night Souvarow invited General Becker to supper with him, and asked
him by whom he had been taken prisoner. Becker replied that it was a
young officer belonging to the regiment which had first entered Pozzo.
Souvarow immediately inquired what regiment this was, and discovered
that it was the Semenofskoi; he then ordered that inquiries should
be made to ascertain the young officer's name. Shortly afterwards
Sub-Lieutenant Foedor Romayloff