began to thunder against the serried arrays ranged along the opposing
slopes, and Napoleon's columns moved against the redoubts and woods
that sheltered the Muscovite lines. The defence was most obstinate.
Time after time the smaller redoubts were taken and retaken; and
while, on the French right centre, the tide of battle surged up and
down the slope, the Great Redoubt dealt havoc among Eugene's Italians,
who bravely but, as it seemed, hopelessly struggled up that fatal
rise.

Then was seen a soul-stirring sight. Of a sudden, a mass of
Cuirassiers rushed forth from the invaders' ranks, flung itself
uphill, and girdled the grim earthwork with a stream of flashing steel
There, for a brief space, it was stayed by the tough Muscovite lines,
until another billow of horsemen, marshalled by Grouchy and Chastel,
swept all before it, took the redoubt on its weak reverse, and
overwhelmed its devoted defenders.[266] In vain did the Russian
cavalry seek to save the day: Murat's horsemen were not to be denied,
and Kutusoff was at last fain to draw back his mangled lines, but
slowly and defiantly, under cover of a crushing artillery fire.

Thus ended the bloodiest fight of the century. For several hours 800
cannon had dealt death among the opposing masses; the Russians lost
about 40,000 men, and, whatever Napoleon said in his bulletins, the
rents in his array were probably nearly as great. He has been censured
for not launching his Guard at the wavering foe at the climax of the
fight; and the soldiery loudly blamed its commander, Bessieres, for
dissuading his master from this step. But to have sacrificed those
veterans to Russian cannon would have been a perilous act.[267] His
Guard was the solid kernel of his army: on it he could always rely,
even when French regulars dissolved, as often happened after long
marches, into bands of unruly marauders; and its value was to be found
out during the retreat. More fitly may Napoleon be blamed for not
seeking earlier in the day to turn the Russian left, and roll that
long line up on the river. Here, as at Smolensk, he resorted to a
frontal attack, which could only yield success at a frightful cost.
The day brought little glory to the generals, except to Ney, Murat,
and Grouchy. For his valour in the _melee_, Ney received the title of
Prince de la Moskwa.

A week before this Pyrrhic triumph, Napoleon had heard of a terrible
reverse to French arms in Spain. His old friend, Marmont, who ha