he strife of
tongues, Schwarzenberg finally took refuge in that last resort of weak
minds, a tame compromise. He decided to wait until further corps
reached the front, and at four o'clock of the following afternoon _to
push forward five columns for a general reconnaissance in force_. As
Jomini has pointed out, this plan rested on sheer confusion of
thought. If the commander meant merely to find out the strength of the
defenders, that could be ascertained at once by sending forward light
troops, screened by skirmishers, at the important points. If he wished
to attack in force, his movement was timed too late in the day safely
to effect a lodgment in a large city held by a resolute foe. Moreover,
the postponement of the attack for thirty hours gave time for the
French Emperor to appear on the scene with his Guards.

As we have seen, Napoleon reached Stolpen, a town distant some sixteen
miles from Dresden, very early on the morning of the 25th. His plans
present a telling contrast to the slow and clumsy arrangements of the
allies. He proposed to hurl his Guards at their rear and cut them off
from Bohemia. Crossing the Elbe at Koenigstein, he would recover the
camp of Pirna, hold the plateau further west and intercept
Schwarzenberg's retreat.[358] For the success of this plan he needed a
day's rest for his wearied Guards and the knowledge that Dresden could
hold out for a short time. His veterans could perhaps dispense with
rest; where their Emperor went they would follow; but Dresden was the
unknown quantity. Shortly after midnight of the 25th and 26th, he
heard from St. Cyr that Dresden would soon be attacked in such force
that a successful defence was doubtful.

At once he changed his plan and at 1 a.m. sent off four despatches
ordering his Guards and all available troops to succour St. Cyr.
Vandamme's corps alone was now charged with the task of creeping round
the enemy's rear, while the Guards long before dawn resumed their
march through the rain and mud. The Emperor followed and passed them
at a gallop, reaching the capital at 9 a.m. with Latour-Maubourg's
cuirassiers; and, early in the afternoon, the bearskins of the Guards
were seen on the heights east of Dresden, while the dark masses of the
allies were gathering on the south and west for their reconnaissance
in force.

[Illustration: BATTLE OF DRESDEN]

Lowering clouds and pitiless rain robbed the scene of all brilliance,
but wreathed it with a certain sombre