to England, had been formed in his mind so far back as the year 1807;
but he had to combat his own army as well as ours; and though
commander-in-chief and minister, he was neither Russian enough, nor
victorious enough, to win the confidence of the Russians. He possessed
that of Alexander alone.

Bagration and his officers hesitated to obey him. The point was to
defend their native land, to devote themselves for the salvation of all:
it was the affair of each, and all imagined that they had a right to
examine. Thus their ill fortune distrusted the prudence of their
general; whilst, with the exception of a few chiefs, our good fortune
trusted implicitly to the boldness, hitherto always prosperous of ours;
for in success to command is easy; no one inquires whether it is
prudence or fortune that guides. Such is the situation of military
chiefs; when successful, they are blindly obeyed by all; when
unfortunate, they are criticized by all.

Hurried away notwithstanding, by the general impulse, Barclay had just
yielded to it for a moment, collected his forces near Rudnia, and
attempted to surprise the French army, dispersed as it was. But the
feeble blow which his advanced guard had just struck at Inkowo had
alarmed him. He trembled, paused, and imagining every moment that he saw
Napoleon approaching in front of him, on his right and every where
excepting on his left, which was covered as he thought by the Dnieper,
he lost several days in marches and counter-marches. He was thus
hesitating, when all at once Newerowskoi's cries of distress resounded
in his camp. To attack was now entirely out of the question: his troops
ran to arms, and hurried towards Smolensk for the purpose of defending
it.

Murat and Ney were already attacking that city: the former with his
cavalry, at the place where the Boristhenes enters its walls; the
latter, with his infantry, where it issues from them, and on woody
ground intersected by deep ravines. The marshal's left was supported by
the river, and his right by Murat, whom Poniatowski, coming direct from
Mohilef, arrived to reinforce.

In this place two steep hills contract the channel of the Boristhenes;
on these hills Smolensk is built. That city has the appearance of two
towns, separated by the river and connected by two bridges. That on the
right bank, the most modern, is wholly occupied by traders; it is open,
but overlooks the other, of which it is nevertheless but a dependency.

The ol