r and farther into the country, knowing that with every
mile of advance their difficulties would increase and their armies
become weakened by fatigue, sickness, and the assaults of the peasantry.
But the continued retreats were telling upon the spirit of his own
troops also. To them the war was a holy one. They had marched to the
frontier burning to meet the invader, and that, from the moment of his
crossing the Niemen, they should have to retreat, hunted and harassed
like beaten men, goaded them to fury. The officers were no less
indignant than the men, and Barclay found that it was absolutely
necessary to make a stand.

The French were as eager as the Russians to fight, and when it became
known that the enemy seemed determined to make a stand at Smolensk they
were filled with exultation. Ney's corps was the first to appear before
the town, and took up its position on rising ground a short distance
from the suburbs lying outside the wall and next to the river. Davoust's
corps was to his right, Poniatowski's division came next, while Murat
with his cavalry division completed the semicircle.

"The Russians must be mad," was the comment of the veterans of Julian's
regiment. "The place is of no strength; the artillery will breach the
walls in no time. They have but one bridge by which to retreat across
the river, and we shall soon knock that to pieces with our guns on the
right, and shall catch all who are in the town in a trap."

The obstinate resistance, however, that had been given by the Russians
to the attacks on their rear-guard had impressed the invaders with a
respect for their foes, that was in strong contrast to the feeling
entertained when they crossed the frontier, save only among the soldiers
who had met the Russians before, and who knew with what dogged valour
they always fought, especially when on the defensive.

"It is going to be tough work, Jules, I can tell you," one of them said
to Julian, whose English birth was now almost forgotten, and who, by
the good temper he always manifested, however long the marches and
however great the fatigues, had become a general favourite. "I guess we
are only going to fight because the Russians are tired of retreating,
just as we are tired of pursuing them. They can gain nothing by fighting
here. We outnumber them tremendously. The great bulk of their army lies
on the heights on the other side of the river, and there is nothing to
prevent their retreating to some stro