p, at Studzianska, and forthwith threw himself into the
huge forests which border that river, adopting every stratagem by which
his enemies could be puzzled as to the immediate object of his march.

His 12,000 men, brave and determined, but no longer preserving in their
dress, nor, unless when the trumpet blew, in their demeanour, a
soldier-like appearance, were winding their way amidst these dark woods,
when suddenly the air around them was filled with sounds which could
only proceed from the march of some far greater host. They were
preparing for the worst, when they found themselves in presence of the
advanced guard of the united army of Victor and Oudinot, who had,
indeed, been defeated by Witgenstein, but still mustered 50,000 men,
completely equipped and hardly shaken in discipline. With what feelings
must these troops have surveyed the miserable half-starved and half-clad
remains of that "grand army," their own detachment from whose banners
had, some few short months before, filled every bosom among them with
regret!

Having melted the poor relics of his Moscow army into these battalions,
Napoleon now continued his march on Studzianska; employing, however, all
his wit to confirm Tchichagoff in the notion that he meant to pass the
Beresina at a different place,--and this with so much success, that
Tchaplitz, with the Russian rear-guard, abandoned a strong position,
commanding the river, during the very night which preceded his
appearance there. Two bridges were erected, and Oudinot had passed over
before Tchaplitz perceived his mistake, and returned again toward
Studzianska.

Discovering that the passage had already begun, and that in consequence
of the narrowness of the only two bridges, it must needs proceed slowly,
Tchichagoff and Witgenstein now arranged a joint plan of attack. The
latter once more passed to the eastern bank of the river, and, having
wholly cut off one division of 7000, under Partonneux, not far from
Borizoff, proceeded towards Studzianska. Platoff and his indefatigable
Cossacks joined Witgenstein on this march, and they arrived long before
the rear-guard of Napoleon could pass the river. But the operations on
the other side of the Beresina were far less zealously or skilfully
conducted. Tchichagoff was in vain urged to support effectually
Tchaplitz; who attacked the French that had passed, and being repelled
by Oudinot, left them in unmolested possession, not only of the bridges
on the Ber