avetz and the woods which command
it unoccupied: this was a strong position within reach of Kutusoff, and
the only point where he could cut us off from the new road to Kaluga.

The emperor wished at first to secure that advantage by his presence:
the order to march was even given, but shortly after withdrawn, we know
not why. He passed the whole of that evening on horseback, not far from
Borowsk, on the left of the road, the side on which he supposed Kutusoff
to be. He reconnoitered the ground in the midst of a heavy rain, as if
he anticipated that it might become a field of battle. Next day, the
24th, he learned that the Russians had disputed the possession of the
town with Delzons. Either from confidence or uncertainty in his plans,
this intelligence appeared to give him very little concern.

He quitted Borowsk, therefore, late and leisurely, when the noise of a
very smart engagement reached where he was; he then became uneasy,
hastened to an eminence and listened. "Had the Russians anticipated him?
Was his manoeuvre thwarted? Had he not used sufficient expedition in
that march, the object of which was to pass the left flank of Kutusoff?"

The emperor was still listening: the noise increased. "Is it then a
battle?" he exclaimed. Every discharge agitated him, for the chief point
with him was no longer to conquer, but to preserve, and he urged on with
all possible speed, Davoust accompanying him; but he and that marshal
did not reach the field of battle till dark, when the firing was already
subsiding, and the whole was over.

The emperor saw the close of the battle, but without being able to
assist the viceroy.[161] A band of Cossacks from Twer had nearly
captured one of his officers, who was only a very short distance from
him.

At this time an officer, sent by Prince Eugene, came to him and
explained the whole affair. "The troops had," he said, "in the first
place, been obliged to cross the Louja at the foot of the town, at the
bottom of an elbow which the river makes in its course, and then to
climb a steep hill. It is on this precipitous declivity, broken by
pointed crags, that the town is built. Beyond is an elevated plain,
surrounded with woods, from which run three roads, one in front coming
from Kaluga, and two on the left, from Lectazowo, the seat of the
intrenched camp of Kutusoff."

After crossing the Louja by a narrow bridge, the high road from Kaluga
runs along the bottom of a ravine which ascends to