d, but, on the other hand, General Beker, who
commanded the French rearguard, refused to retreat with his soldiers, and
maintained his ground with a few men, who were slain as they stood; he
was at length obliged to give up his sword to a young Russian officer of
the Semenofskoi regiment, who, handing over his prisoner to his own
soldiers, returned immediately to the combat.

The two French generals had fixed on the village of Vaprio as a
rallying-place, but at the moment when our troops were thrown into
disorder through the evacuation of Pozzo, the Austrian cavalry charged
heavily, and Serrurier, finding himself separated from his colleague, was
obliged to retire with two thousand five hundred men to Verderio, whilst
Grenier, having reached the appointed place, Vaprio, halted to face the
enemy afresh.

During this time a terrible fight was taking place in the centre. Melas
with eighteen to twenty thousand men had attacked the fortified posts at
the head of the bridge of Cassano and the Ritorto Canal. About seven
o'clock in the morning, when Moreau had weakened himself by despatching
Grenier and his division, Melas, leading three battalions of Austrian
grenadiers, had attacked the fortifications, and for two hours there was
terrible carnage; thrice repulsed, and leaving more than fifteen hundred
men at the base of the fortifications, the Austrians had thrice returned
to the attack, each time being reinforced by fresh troops, always led on
and encouraged by Melas, who had to avenge his former defeats. At
length, having been attacked for the fourth time, forced from their
entrenchments, and contesting the ground inch by inch, the French took
shelter behind their second fortifications, which defended the entrance
to the bridge itself: here they were commanded by Moreau in person.
There, for two more hours, a hand-to-hand struggle took place, whilst the
terrible artillery belched forth death almost muzzle to muzzle. At last
the Austrians, rallying for a last time, advanced at the point of the
bayonet, and; lacking either ladders or fascines, piled the bodies of
their dead comrades against the fortifications, and succeeded in scaling
the breastworks. There was not a moment to be lost. Moreau ordered a
retreat, and whilst the French were recrossing the Adda, he protected
their passage in person with a single battalion of grenadiers, of whom at
the end of half an hour not more than a hundred and twenty men remained;
three