hich
Schwartzenberg (having now with him the Emperor of Austria, as well as
Alexander and Frederick William) had fixed his headquarters. They were
answered by four rockets of a deep red colour, ascending on the instant
from the northern horizon; and Napoleon doubted not that he was to
sustain on the morrow the assault of Blucher and Bernadotte, as well as
of the grand army of the Allies. Blucher was indeed ready to co-operate
with Schwartzenberg; and though the Crown Prince had not yet reached his
ground, the numerical superiority of the enemy was very great.
Buonaparte had with him, to defend the line of villages to the south and
north of Leipsig, 136,000 men; while, even in the absence of Bernadotte,
who might be hourly looked for, the Allies mustered not less than
230,000.

The battle commenced on the southern side, at daybreak of the 16th. The
Allies charged the French line there six times in succession, and were
as often repelled. Napoleon then charged in his turn, and with such
effect, that Murat's cavalry were at one time in possession of a great
gap between the two wings of the enemy. The Cossacks of the Russian
imperial guard, however, encountered the French horse, and pushed them
back again. The combat raged without intermission until nightfall: three
cannon shots, discharged at the extremity of either line, then marked as
if preconcertedly, the pause of battle; and both armies bivouacked
exactly where the morning light had found them. Such was the issue on
the south, where Napoleon himself commanded. Marmont, his lieutenant on
the northern side, had been less fortunate. Blucher attacked him with a
vast superiority of numbers: nothing could be more obstinate than his
defence; but he lost many prisoners and guns, was driven from his
original ground, and occupied, when the day closed, a new line of
positions, much nearer the walls of the city.

Gallant as the behaviour of his troops had been, the result satisfied
Napoleon that he must finally retreat from Leipsig; and he now made a
sincere effort to obtain peace. General Mehrfeldt, the same Austrian
officer who had come to his headquarters after the battle of Austerlitz,
to pray for an armistice on the part of the Emperor Francis, had been
made prisoner in the course of the day, and Napoleon resolved to employ
him as his messenger. Mehrfeldt informed him that the King of Bavaria
had at length acceded to the alliance. This intelligence added to his
perplexities