e end of a few days, was weary of such a life; my legs
could scarcely support me, and I grew leaner and leaner.

Every night we were disturbed by a beggar named Thielmann, who raised
the peasantry against us; he followed us like a shadow; watched us from
village to village, on the heights, on the roads, in the valleys; his
army were all who bore us a grudge, and he had always men enough.

It was about this time, too, that the Bavarians, the Badeners, and the
Wurtembergers declared against us, so that all Europe was upon us.

At length we had the consolation of seeing that the army was collecting
as for a great battle; instead of meeting Platow's Cossacks and
Thielmann's partisans in the neighborhood of villages, we found
hussars, chasseurs, dragoons from Spain, artillery, pontoon trains on
the march. The rain still fell in floods; those who could no longer
drag themselves along sat down in the mud at the foot of a tree and
abandoned themselves to their unhappy fate.

The eleventh of October we bivouacked near the village of Lousig; the
twelfth near Graffenheinichen; the thirteenth we crossed the Mulda, and
saw the Old Guard defile across the bridge, and La-Tour-Maubourg. It
was announced that the Emperor crossed too, but we departed with
Dombrowski's division and Souham's corps.

At moments the rain would cease falling and a ray of autumn sun shine
out from between the clouds, and then we could see the whole army
marching; cavalry and infantry advancing from all sides, on Leipzig.
On the other side of the Mulda glittered the bayonets of the Prussians;
but we yet saw no Austrians and Russians: they doubtless came from
other directions.

On the fourteenth of October, our battalion was detached to reconnoitre
the village of Aaken. The enemy were in force there, and received us
with a scattering artillery fire, and we remained all night without
being able to light a fire, on account of the pouring rain. The next
day we set out to rejoin our division by forced marches. Every one
said, I know not why:

"The battle is approaching! the fight is coming on!"

Sergeant Pinto declared that he felt the Emperor in the air. I felt
nothing, but I knew that we were marching on Leipzig, and I thought to
myself, "If we have a battle, God grant that you do not get an ugly
hurt as at Lutzen, and that you may see Catharine again!" The night
following the weather cleared up a little, thousands of stars shone
out, and we still