an left, the two French princes were pointing
out to the troops of their right wing the position which was to serve
them as a _point d'appui_, from which they were to make the attack, when
suddenly a great clamour arose on their left: their eyes were instantly
turned that way; the cavalry and infantry of that wing had twice
attacked the enemy, and been twice repulsed; the Russians, emboldened by
this success, were issuing in multitudes, and with frightful cries, from
their woods. The audacity and fervour of attack had passed over to them,
while the French exhibited the uncertainty and timidity of defence.

A battalion of Croats, and the 84th regiment, vainly attempted to make a
stand; their line gradually decreased; the ground in front of them was
strewed with their dead; behind them, the plain was covered with their
wounded, who had retired from the battle, with those who carried them,
and with many others, who, under the plea of supporting the wounded, or
being wounded themselves, successively abandoned their ranks. A rout
accordingly began. Already the artillery corps, who are always picked
men, perceiving themselves no longer supported, began retiring with
their pieces; a few minutes longer, and the troops of all arms, in their
flight towards the same defile, would have there met each other; thence
would have resulted a confusion, in which the voices and the efforts of
their officers would have been lost, where all the elements of
resistance would have been confounded and rendered useless.

It is said that Murat, on seeing this, darted forward in front of a
regiment of Polish lancers; and that the latter, excited by the presence
of the king, animated by his words, and, moreover, transported with rage
at the sight of the Russians, followed him precipitately. Murat had only
wished to stimulate them and impel them against the enemy; he had no
intention of throwing himself with them into the midst of a conflict, in
which he would neither be able to see nor to command; but the Polish
lances were ready couched and condensed behind him; they covered the
whole width of the ground; and they pushed him before them with all the
rapidity of their steeds; he could neither detach himself from them nor
stop; he had no resource but to charge in front of the regiment, just
where he had stationed himself in order to harangue it; a resource to
which, like a true soldier, he submitted with the best possible grace.

At the same time, g