ithin reach of him, and on his left flank. This was,
undoubtedly, one of those grand determinations which, executed with the
unity and rapidity of their conception, change instantaneously the face
of war, decide the fate of empires, and display the genius of
conquerors.

As we marched from Orcha to Liady, the French army formed a long column
on the left bank of the Dnieper. In this mass, the first corps, that of
Davoust, was distinguished by the order and harmony which prevailed in
its divisions. The fine appearance of the troops, the care with which
they were supplied, and the attention that was paid to make them careful
of their provisions, which the improvident soldier is apt to waste;
lastly, the strength of these divisions, the happy result of this severe
discipline, all caused them to be acknowledged as the model of the whole
army.

Gudin's division was the only one wanting; owing to an ill-written
order, it had been wandering for twenty-four hours in marshy woods; it
arrived, however, but diminished by three hundred combatants; for such
errors are not to be repaired but by forced marches, under which the
weakest are sure to sink.

The emperor traversed in a day the hilly and woody tract which separates
the Duena from the Boristhenes; it was in front of Rassasna that he
crossed the latter river. Its distance from our home, the very antiquity
of its name, every thing connected with it, excited our curiosity. For
the first time, the waters of this Muscovite river were about to bear a
French army, and to reflect our victorious arms. The Romans had known it
only by their defeats: it was down this same stream that the savages of
the North, the children of Odin and Rurik, descended to plunder
Constantinople. Long before we could perceive it, our eyes sought it
with ambitious impatience; we came to a narrow river, straitened between
woody and uncultivated banks; it was the Boristhenes which presented
itself to our view in this humble form. At this sight all our proud
thoughts were lowered, and they were soon totally banished by the
necessity of providing for our most urgent wants.

The emperor slept in his tent in advance of Rassasna; next day the army
marched together, ready to draw up in order of battle, with the emperor
on horseback in the midst of it. The advanced guard drove before it two
pulks of cossacks, who resisted only till they had gained time to
destroy some bridges and some trusses of forage. The villag