e first rank. Seized with terror, they fancied that there
was an end of them, that they were cut off, that their end was now come,
and they fell down terrified; those who were behind, got entangled among
them, and were brought to the ground. Ney, who saw that all was lost,
rushed forward, ordered the charge to be beat, and, as if he had
foreseen the attack, called out, "Comrades, now is your time: forward!
They are our prisoners!" At these words, his soldiers, who but a minute
before were in consternation, and fancied themselves surprised, believed
they were about to surprise their foes; from being vanquished, they rose
up conquerors; they rushed upon the enemy, who had already disappeared,
and whose precipitate flight through the forest they heard at a
distance.

They passed quickly through this wood; but about ten o'clock at night,
they met with a small river embanked in a deep ravine, which they were
obliged to cross one by one, as they had done the Dnieper. Intent on the
pursuit of these poor fellows, the Cossacks again got sight of them, and
tried to take advantage of that moment: but Ney, by a few discharges of
his musketry, again repulsed them. They surmounted this obstacle with
difficulty, and in an hour after reached a large village, where hunger
and exhaustion compelled them to halt for two hours longer.

The next day, the 19th of Nov., from midnight till ten o'clock in the
morning, they kept marching on, without meeting any other enemy than a
hilly country; about that time Platof's columns again made their
appearance, and Ney halted and faced them, under the protection of the
skirts of a wood. As long as the day lasted, his soldiers were obliged
to resign themselves to see the enemy's bullets overturning the trees
which served to shelter them, and furrowing their bivouacs; for they had
now nothing but small arms, which could not keep the Cossack artillery
at a sufficient distance.

On the return of night, the marshal gave the usual signal, and they
proceeded on their march to Orcha. During the preceding day, he had
already despatched thither Pchebendowski with fifty horse, to require
assistance; they must already have arrived there, unless the enemy had
already gained possession of that town.

Ney's officers concluded their narrative by saying, that during the rest
of their march, they had met with several formidable obstacles, but that
they did not think them worth relating. They continued, however,
spea