ilitary preparation. Napoleon had sent
Beauharnois into Italy, to be ready in case of any Austrian
demonstration in that quarter; and General Wrede, with the Bavarian
army, guarded his rear. An Austrian army, 60,000 strong, was now ready
to pass the Alps; and, to watch Wrede, another corps of 40,000, under
the Prince of Reuss, had taken their station. These were minor
arrangements. The forces now assembled around Napoleon himself were
full 250,000 in number, and disposed as follows: Macdonald lay with
100,000 at Buntzlaw, on the border of Silesia; another corps of 50,000
had their headquarters at Zittau, in Lusatia; St. Cyr, with 20,000, was
at Pirna, on the great pass from Bohemia; Oudinot at Leipsig, with
60,000; while with the Emperor himself at Dresden remained 25,000 of the
imperial guard, the flower of France. The reader, on referring to the
map, will perceive that these corps were so distributed as to present a
formidable front on every point where it was likely the allies should
hazard an attack, and, moreover, so that Napoleon could speedily
reinforce any threatened position with his reserve from Dresden. For the
armies to be opposed were thus situated:--Behind the Erzgebirge, or
Metallic Mountains, and having their headquarters at Prague, lay _The
Grand Army of the Allies_ (consisting of 120,000 Austrians and 80,000
Russians and Prussians), commanded in chief by the Austrian general
Schwartzenberg. The French corps at Zittau and Pirna were prepared to
encounter these, should they attempt to force their way into Saxony,
either on the right or the left of the Elbe. The Second Army of the
Allies (consisting of 80,000 Russians and Prussians), called the _Army
of Silesia_, and commanded by Blucher, lay in advance at Breslau. The
French corps at Zittau and Buntzlau were in communication, and could
confront Blucher wherever he might attempt to approach the Elbe. Lastly
the Crown Prince of Sweden was at Berlin, with 30,000 of his own troops,
and 60,000 Russians and Prussians, Oudinot and Macdonald were so
stationed that he could not approach the upper valley of the Elbe
without encountering one or other of them, and they also had the means
of mutual communication and support. The French had garrisons at
Wittemberg, Magdeburg, and elsewhere on the Elbe; and between the main
armies of the Allies were various flying corps of Russian and Prussian
light troops.

On the whole, Dresden formed the centre of a comparatively sm