ounted his horse, and followed them. He directed his course towards the
Kohlgaerten[3], leaving the field of battle on the right. I soon
perceived the cause of this movement: the message informed him of the
arrival of the whole of his guards, for whom he had been waiting. They
came from Dueben, entering by the Halle gate, and now made a countermarch
upon Dresden. When I beheld their endless files and cannon without
number pouring out of the city, I certainly gave up the allies for lost.
I was thoroughly convinced that Napoleon had no other plan than to
strike off to the right behind the Kohlgaerten, with his new army, and,
proceeding from Stoetteritz, to turn his enemies on the right flank, and,
as he had often done before, to attack and annihilate them. I was
however egregiously mistaken. The emperor went with his retinue scarcely
a thousand paces, to the first houses of the Kohlgaerten, where he took
up his quarters, and quietly passed the night. The guards and the whole
train likewise stopped in that neighbourhood, and there bivouacked. It
grew dark. The palisades at the gate had left but a narrow passage,
through which troops and artillery kept pouring without intermission.
People on horseback and on foot, who wanted to return into the city, had
been already detained for several successive hours; the crowd every
moment increased, and with it the danger. To seek another entrance was
impracticable, as a person would run the risk of being detained by the
thousands of pickets, and shot, or at least dragged to the filthiest
bivouacs. The night was dark as pitch, and no hope left of getting home.
It rained fast, and not a corner was to be found where you might take
shelter. I was in the midst of more than a thousand horses, which
threatened every moment to trample me under their feet. Fortunately for
me, they were all tolerably quiet The thunder of the artillery had long
ceased; but, had it even continued, it could not possibly have been
heard amidst the rattling of carriages and cannon; the shouts of
soldiers and officers, as sometimes cavalry, at others infantry, wanted
to pass first; the incessant cursing, cracking, pushing, and thrusting.
Never while I live shall I witness such a scene of confusion, of which
indeed it is impossible to convey any conception. It continued without
intermission from four in the afternoon till twelve at night, so that
you may figure to yourself the disagreeable situation in which I was
place