s of the
pass. Greater perils awaited them. Their road lay past Sterzing, the
scene of Hofer's victory. Every trace of the conflict had been
obliterated, and Wrede vainly sought to discover what had become of
Baeraklau and his battalion. He entered the narrow pass through which the
road ran at that place, and speedily found his ranks decimated by the
rifles of Hofer's concealed men.

After considerable loss the column broke through, and continued its
march to Innsbruck, where it was immediately surrounded by a triumphant
host of Tyrolese. The struggle was short, sharp, and decisive. In a few
minutes several hundred men had fallen. In order to escape complete
destruction the rest laid down their arms. The captors entered Innsbruck
in triumph, preceded by the military band of the enemy, which they
compelled to play, and guarding their prisoners, who included two
generals, more than a hundred other officers, and about two thousand
men.

In two days the Tyrol had been freed from its Bavarian oppressors and
their French allies and restored to its Austrian lords. The arms of
Bavaria were everywhere cast to the ground, and the officials removed.
But the prisoners were treated with great humanity, except in the single
instance of a tax-gatherer, who had boasted that he would grind down the
Tyrolese until they should gladly eat hay. In revenge, they forced him
to swallow a bushel of hay for his dinner.

The freedom thus gained by the Tyrolese was not likely to be permanent
with Napoleon for their foe. The Austrians hastened to the defence of
the country which had been so bravely won for their emperor. On the
other side came the French and Bavarians as enemies and oppressors.
Lefebvre, the leader of the invaders, was a rough and brutal soldier,
who encouraged his men to commit every outrage upon the mountaineers.

For some two or three months the conflict went on, with varying
fortunes, depending upon the conditions of the war between France and
Austria. At first the French were triumphant, and the Austrians withdrew
from the Tyrol. Then came Napoleon's defeat at Aspern, and the Tyrolese
rose and again drove the invaders from their country. In July occurred
Napoleon's great victory at Wagram, and the hopes of the Tyrol once more
sank. All the Austrians were withdrawn, and Lefebvre again advanced at
the head of thirty or forty thousand French, Bavarians, and Saxons.

The courage of the peasantry vanished before this threateni