of his aides-de-camp were killed at his side. This retreat was
accomplished without disorder, and then Moreau himself retired, still
fighting the enemy, who set foot on the bridge as soon as he reached the
other bank. The Austrians immediately rushed forward to capture him,
when suddenly a terrible noise was heard rising above the roar of the
artillery; the second arch of the bridge was blown into the air, carrying
with it all those who were standing on the fatal spot. The armies
recoiled, and into the empty space between them fell like rain a debris
of stones and human beings. But at this moment, when Moreau had
succeeded in putting a momentary obstacle between himself and Melas,
General Grenier's division arrived in disorder, after having been forced
to evacuate Vaprio, pursued by the Austro-Russians under Zopf, Ott, and
Chasteler. Moreau ordered a change of front, and faced this new enemy,
who fell upon him when he least expected them; he succeeded in rallying
Grenier's troops and in re-establishing the battle. But whilst his back
was turned Melas repaired the bridge and crossed the river; thus Moreau
found himself attacked frontally, in the rear, and on his two flanks, by
forces three times larger than his own. It was then that all the
officers who surrounded him begged him to retreat, for on the
preservation of his person depended the preservation of Italy for France.
Moreau refused for some time, for he knew the awful consequences of the
battle he had just lost, and he did not wish to survive it, although it
had been impossible for him to win it. At last a chosen band surrounded
him, and, forming a square, drew back, whilst the rest of the army
sacrificed themselves to cover his retreat; for Moreau's genius was
looked upon as the sole hope that remained to them.

The battle lasted nearly three hours longer, during which the rearguard
of the army performed prodigies of valour. At length Melas, seeing that
the enemy had escaped him, and believing that his troops, tired by the
stubborn fight, needed rest, gave orders that the fighting should cease.
He halted on the left bank of the Adda, encamping his army in the
villages of Imago, Gorgonzola, and Cassano, and remained master of the
battlefield, upon which we had left two thousand five hundred dead, one
hundred pieces of cannon, and twenty howitzers.

That night Souvarow invited General Becker to supper with him, and asked
him by whom he had been taken priso