ame
in sight of the high-road at the moment when the French had only to
force the height of Valoutina and the passage of Kolowdnia, in order to
reach that outlet. Ney had furiously carried that of the Stubna; but
Korf, driven back upon Valoutina, had summoned to his aid the column
which preceded him. It is asserted that the latter, without order, and
badly officered, hesitated to comply; but that Woronzof, aware of the
importance of that position, prevailed upon its commander to turn back.

The Russians defended themselves to defend every thing, cannon, wounded,
baggage: the French attacked in order to take every thing. Napoleon had
halted a league and a half behind Ney. Conceiving that it was but an
affair between his advanced guard and the rear of the enemy, he sent
Gudin to the assistance of the marshal, rallied the other divisions, and
returned to Smolensk. But this fight became a serious battle; 30,000 men
were successively engaged in it on both sides: soldiers, officers,
generals, encountered each other; the action was long, the struggle
terrible; even night did not suspend it. At length, in possession of the
plateau, exhausted by the loss of strength and blood, Ney finding
himself surrounded only by dead, dying, and obscurity, became fatigued;
he ordered his troops to cease firing, to keep silence, and present
bayonets. The Russians hearing nothing more, were silent also, and
availed themselves of the darkness to effect their retreat.

There was almost as much glory in their defeat as in our victory: the
two chiefs carried their point, the one in conquering, the other in not
being conquered till he had saved the Russian artillery, baggage, and
wounded. One of the enemy's generals, the only one left unhurt on this
field of carnage, endeavoured to escape from among our soldiers, by
repeating the French word of command; he was recognized by the flashes
of their fire-arms, and secured. Other Russian generals had perished,
but the grand army sustained a still greater loss.

At the passage of the bridge over the Kolowdnia, which had been badly
repaired, General Gudin, whose well-regulated valour loved to confront
none but useful dangers, and who besides was not a bold rider, had
alighted from his horse to cross the stream, when, at that moment, a
cannon-ball skimming the surface of the ground, broke both his legs.
When the tidings of this misfortune reached the emperor, they put a stop
to every thing--to discussion a