sive,
defeated Oudinot and Macdonald at Bar, and driven them before him as far
as Troyes; and Augereau, who commanded in the neighbourhood of Lyons,
announced the arrival of a new and great army of the Allies in that
quarter. Napoleon resumed, however, his march, and having been detained
some time at Ferte, in consequence of the destruction of the bridge,
took the direction of Chateau-Thierry and Soissons, while Mortier and
Marmont received his orders to resume the offensive in front of Meaux.
He hoped, in this manner, to throw himself on the flank of Blucher's
march, as he had done before at Champaubert. But the Prussian received
intelligence this time of his approach; and, drawing his troops
together, retired to Soissons in perfect order.

Napoleon proceeded with alacrity in the direction of Soissons, not
doubting that the French garrison entrusted with the care of that town,
and its bridge over the Marne, were still in possession of it, and
eager, therefore, to force Blucher into action with this formidable
obstacle in his rear. But Soissons had been taken by a Russian corps,
retaken by a French one, and fallen once more into the hands of the
enemy, ere the Emperor came in sight of it. The Muscovite Black Eagle,
floating on the towers, gave him the first intimation of this
misfortune. He assaulted the place impetuously: the Russians repelled
the attack; and Napoleon, learning that Blucher had filed his main body
through the town, and posted himself behind the Marne, marched up the
left bank of that river, and crossed it also at Bery.

A few leagues in front of this place, on the heights of Craonne, two
Russian corps, those of Sacken and Witzingerode, were already in
position; and the Emperor lost no time in charging them there, in the
hope of destroying them ere they could unite with Blucher. The battle of
Craonne began at eleven a.m. on the 7th of March, and lasted till four
in the afternoon. The Russians had down to this hour withstood the
utmost exertions of Ney on their right, of Victor on their left, and of
Napoleon himself on their centre. The loss in slain and wounded had been
about equal on both sides; no cannon, and hardly a prisoner, had been
taken. The Emperor, enraged with this obstinate resistance, was
preparing for a final effort, when suddenly the Russians began to
retreat. He followed them; but they withdrew with the deliberation and
impunity of a parade. They had been ordered to fall back on the pla