under Essen, which was menacing it. Three days after the orders
of Napoleon were given, his army of a hundred thousand men was in
position on a line running in general east and west within the space
bounded by Willenberg, Gilgenburg, Mlawa, and Przasnysz, with one
reserve of forty thousand on the left, to prevent the loss of Thorn,
and another of fourteen thousand on the right. Everything was in
readiness for an advance under the most advantageous circumstances, to
take Bennigsen by surprise, strike him on his flank, and close the
campaign in a single battle. On January thirty-first the final orders
were issued for the advance, and the march began. As in Franconia, on
the eve of Jena, it seemed as if the victory were already assured, won
by the marvelous moving of great bodies of men, this time in the depth
of winter.

[Illustration: Map of the Battle of Eylau.]

On what a slender thread hang the fortunes of war! That day a French
courier carrying to Bernadotte a particularly detailed account of the
Emperor's plan, and orders to advance to Gilgenburg, was caught by the
Cossacks. The precious papers were in Bennigsen's hands next morning.
The Russian troops were still in a wretched condition, badly clothed,
and sustaining life by marauding; moreover, they numbered but sixty-five
thousand, Lestocq not yet having come in from Mohrungen. The Russian
general saw how he was entrapped, and that he could escape only by a
swift retreat. His conduct of the movement was masterly, and on February
sixth, though the French columns were not far behind, he had reached
Heilsberg. During the day the Russian rear-guard was driven in, and
Bennigsen, marching all night, found himself next morning before the
town of Eylau, or, more precisely, Preussisch-Eylau, the spot he had
selected for a desperate stand in defense of Koenigsberg. The Russian
rear-guard was again overtaken, this time at Landsberg, where Murat
arrived with his cavalry on the morning of the seventh. All day the
Russians slowly resisted him, fighting bravely under Prince Bagration,
and receding steadily as far as Eylau, which they held by a stubborn
stand until induced to evacuate it voluntarily by the considerations of
gathering darkness and a foe superior in numbers. Their loss during the
day was upward of two thousand. When night fell the Russian lines were a
short distance behind Eylau, and stretched two miles, from Serpalten on
the left to Schloditten on the right. Les