eceived his orders in time, and,
ignorant of the Emperor's plans, had changed his line of march to one
more southerly, thus leaving the road to Studjenka open for
Wittgenstein, who abandoned the pursuit and marched direct to the
spot. The latter's advance was, however, slow; Tchitchagoff was
completely deceived, as many of the French believe, by a feint of
Oudinot's, but, as he himself declared, both by false information
concerning the movements of Schwarzenberg, and by misrepresentations
concerning Napoleon's march as communicated through both Kutusoff and
Wittgenstein. Be this as it may, the veterans from the Danube marched
a whole day down the stream to guard against an imaginary danger. The
French therefore worked at Studjenka without disturbance, and, as the
frost set in once more, the swampy shores were hardened enough to make
easy the approach to their works. By the twenty-sixth two bridges
were completed--a light one for infantry early in the morning, and
late in the afternoon another considered strong enough for artillery
and wagons. At one o'clock Oudinot's foot-soldiers began to cross, and
a body of cavalry successfully swam their horses over the stream,
which owing to the freshet was now in places five feet deep instead of
three and a half as when the ford was first discovered; a few hours
later artillery followed, and the opposite shore was cleared of the
enemy sufficiently to open the bridge-head entirely, and control the
direct road to Vilna, which leaves Minsk to the south. This great
success was due partly to unparalleled good fortune, but chiefly to
the gallant fellows who worked for hours without a murmur in the
freezing water, amid cakes of grinding ice.

With two short interruptions, of three and four hours respectively,
due to the breaking of the heavier bridge, the crossing went forward
irregularly, at times almost intermitting, until the morning of the
twenty-eighth. About noon on the twenty-seventh the Emperor passed;
having superintended certain repairs to the bridge, he started next
morning for Zembin. The same afternoon, Victor's van reached
Borrissoff somewhat in advance of Wittgenstein, who came up a few
hours later, and attacking the former's rear, captured two thousand
men. Tchitchagoff, having finally learned the truth, appeared that
night opposite Borrissoff; communication with the opposite shore was
quickly established, and after a conference the two belated Russian
generals agreed to