and Peterswald, for the encouragement of the French no doubt, particularly the conscripts for the year, whose services were now to be called for, though six months before the time fixed by the constitution, a statement was published of all the pieces of cannon taken from the enemy, by the French, since their arrival on the Vistula. In the engagements of Pultusk and Golymin, they had taken 89 pieces of cannon; at the engagement of Bergfried, 4 pieces; in the retreat of Allenstein, 5 pieces; at the engagement of Deppen, 16 pieces; at the engagement of Hoff, 12 pieces; at the battle of Eylau, 24 pieces; at the engage. ment of Ostrolenka, 9 pieces; and at that of Braunsberg, 6 pieces: in all, 175 pieces of cannon. It must be owned that an account of the cannon, taken from the enemy, is a more satisfactory proof of success, than of the numbers said to be killed and wounded: for the can. non may be produced, as vouchers of its accuracy. And accordingly we are generally informed by the French gazettes, how the cannon taken were disposed of.

The attempts of the Russians, on the Lower Vistula, being frustrated by the engagements of Bergfried, Deppen, and Hoff, and the great battle of Eylau; Buonaparte was at leisure to form the blockade, and to push the siege of Dantzig. The proper positions being taken, and works necessary for the complete investment of this place constructed, trenches were opened before it, on the night between the 2d and 3d of April. But it was necessary, for carrying on the siege, to bring battering cannon, from the fortres

ses of Silesia, upwards of one hun. dred leagues. Part of this artillery arrived on the 12th, and the rest on the 24th.

Buonaparte, that he might be nearer to Graudenz, and Dantzig, had by this time moved his head quarters, from Osterode, to the castle of Finkenstein. The grand French army formed a semicircle around the corps under Le Febvre, employed in besieging those two fortresses; which corps was composed chiefly of Polanders, Hessians, Badenese, and other troops of the confederation of the Rhine.* The left wing extended from Elbing to Braunsberg, along the course of the Passarge, on which were construct. ed têtes-du-pont, as far as Gut. stadt. The centre retired a little behind this line to Prussian Holland, Liebstadt, and Mohringen. From Gutstadt, the army extended by a chain of posts, to Allenstein. the left wing communicated through Ortelsburg, with the left of the corps of Massena, whose right was posted on the river Bug, and stretched from thence to the mouth of the Narew. The left wing of the French, for the whole extent of the line, along the Passarge, was covered with a great number of entrenchments and batteries. In front of the centre and the right wing, were vast forests, and morasses. For security against accidents in the rear, a post was occupied between the Passarge and the Vistula, and here were established some maga. zines.

And

The right wing of the allied army, composed of the wrecks of the Prussians, and who had not been engaged in the battle of Jena, ex

tended

Hollanders and Spaniards. + The Germans that formed part of the army of observation, were furnished chiefly by the king of Bavaria, the grand duke of Baden, and the grand duke of Wurtzburg. The king of Wirtemberg sent three new regiments to recruit the army, under Jerome in Silesia. To the grand army was added a new levy of 15,000 Poles, 3,000 of which were cavalry. To the Saxon troops serving in the grand army, three new regiments were added, and 15 men to each company of the old ones. "In a word," says a Leyden gazette of that day, wholly, like all other gazettes on the Rhine, under the direction of Buonaparte, "all the states of Germany, in alliance with France, second with vigour, the vast designs of their new emperor, and spare no trouble or expence, for furthering to that great monarch the means of supporting with honour the contest in which he is engaged, and which has for its object, the restoration of peace to suffering hamanity. For this end all the members of the confederation have resolved to double their contingents." It is not easy to say whether this spectacle of Germans, destroying Germans, as well as Russians, and others at the nod of a foreign usur. per, of a foreign throne, is most calculated to excite indignation, commiseration, or contempt. No. thing could possibly have been more humiliating to the Germans, except perhaps the idea entertained by their oppressor, that their miserable vanity might be gratified by his praises of their zeal and vigour, in such a cause, nay, and by the smiles of his youngest brother.

tended from the Frisch-haaf, along the right bank of the Passarge, as far as Wormditt. At this place, the channel of the river was both so shallow and so narrow, that deserters were in the practice of fording it. The Prussians were a fine body of men, loyal, brave, and well disciplined. They were under the immediate command of general Blucher. The Russian army occupied Wormditt, and stretched from thence over Heilsberg, Bartenstein, and Schippenbell. Before the centre, and each of the wings of the Russian army, there was an advan. ced guard. The left wing was commanded by Platow, hetman or chief of the Cossacks, who pushed detachments as far as Ortelsburg, where several actions took place; while on every other part of the line, there was a tacit armistice. A considerable body of Russians, also a recent reinforcement, was stationed near the Narew. Besides the grand French army, opposed to the line of the Russo-Prussian, there was the corps of Le Febvre, before Dantzig and Colberg, already mentioned. There was an army also noticed above, of Bavarians and Wirtembergers, under Jerome, aliàs prince Jerome, in Silesia, occupied in completing the reduction of the fortresses. And in addition to the whole, a grand army of observation had begun to assemble from different, and some of those very remote countries under the orders of mar. shal Brune, in Pomerania, whose head quarters were established pro. visionally at Stettin. This army, when completed, was to be 80,000 strong, half French troops, the other half confederates of the Rhine,

The

"The corps of prince Jerome (says the 47th Bulletin of the grand French army) continues to besiege Breslaw. That beautiful city is in ashes. The siege makes a progress. The Bavarian and Wirtemberg troops have merited the praise of prince Jerome."

Marshal Le Brune, by an order, May 21st, called the troops that were dispersed in the Hanse towns, Hanover, and the duchies of Magdeburg, and Mecklenburg, to Pomerania; they were replaced by 31,000 Spaniards, the flower of the Spanish army of these 26,000, including 6,000 cavalry, came directly from Spain, under the command of the marquis of Romana; the other 5,000 from Etruria. These Jast arrived in different columns, on the Oder, between which river and the Eibe, the grand army of observation was stationed, at the end of May, and in the beginning of June. But the whole, or part of this division, of the Spaniards, appear to have joined the grand French army. The former were distributed in the Hanse towns, Hanover, and Miecklenburg, in the end of June, and beginning of July. The queen of Etruria 100, made an extraordinary levy of 20,000 men, “for promoting the general end of the war, as well as for the defence of her own coasts." The Swiss, who had shown themselves very backward to raise the 16.000 men, to be furnish. ed according to treaty, to the mitos of France when demanded, were called on by a letter from Buonaparte, to the Landamman, to furnish the troops without delay, under the pain of forfeiting the French alliance.

Not satisfied with all this host of auxiliaries,, Buonaparig invited his people to send twelve regiments of

the conscripts of 1807, to the theatre of war, six months before the time fixed by the constitution; and ordered the 80.000 conscripts for 1808, to be prepared and hold themselves in readiness, to march when called on.

the

While the commander of the French armies, and of France, was thus employed in repairing his loss by disease and by a series of hardfought battles, particularly that of Eylau, the allies on their part laboured, though unfortunately with less success, to repair their loss, to increase their force, and oppose numbers to numbers. The court of St. Petersburgh, which had been loudly importuned to take up arms in defence of Prussia, reckoned with confidence on the co-operation of Great Britain, not only in the way of a subsidy, but of an army, that should form a junction with the Swedes, and Prussian insurgents, and occupy a portion of French force, by a diversion on their rear. It was hoped that a combined army of Swedes and English, would oblige the French to raise the siege of Stralsund, and moving up along the left bank of the Oder, menace the rear of the French army, and lay siege to Stettin, which was but weakly garrisoned, and in a bad state of defence; the possession of which would open a communication with Berlin, the Elle, and the rest of Germany. If the French should remain in, Po land, so considerable a force acting in their rear, might oblige them to evacuate that country, or at least to detach such a considerable por. tion of their force, as might render them, in point of numbers, inferior to the allies. Even if the French should maintain themselves on the line of the Oder, this diversion would

be

be of the greatest importance, as it would enable the Russians to march with the greater part of their army into Silesia. And it was the apprehension of such an auxiliary force, that determined Buonaparte to as semble so large an army of observation in Pomerania. Repeated and earnest applications for an English army, infantry, and cavalry, were made in vain. A subsidy was granted of £500,000-but no troops were sent from Britain until it was too late. And the force then sent to the Island of Rugen, in July, consist ed only of the German legion, about 8,000 strong. But the king of Prus sia made some, though small atone. ment, for the selfish, blind, and infa. tuated policy that had disgraced his reign, by the resignation, patience, and firmness of his conduct after the disastrous day of Jena; and the heroic, though romantic bravery of the king of Sweden, and his gallant little army, served, no doubt, both to enliven the hopes of the emperor Alexander, and to excite his emulation.

This young monarch, having set out from St. Petersburgh on the 28th of March to join his army, accompanied only by count Tolstoy, was met at Polanden on the Prussian frontiers, by the king of Prussia, who conducted him to Memel, and accompanied him in his progress from thence to Konigsberg.

The archduke Constantine, with a re-inforcement of 30,000 men, consisting principally of the Imperial guard, arrived at that place about eight days thereafter, when the trenches were opened before Dantzig,

The force that lay before Dantzig was between 30 and 40,000 men: that before Graudenz 3,000. Dantzig was defended by dou

ble, and in some places, by triple rows of fortifications, by marshy. ground, inundations, the fort of Weischelaunde, and a garrison consisting of 12,000 Prussians and 6,000 Russians: the whole under the command of the Prussian gene. ral Kalkreuth.

The siege of Dantzig was pushed on with great vigour and courage by the besiegers, and the defence of the place maintaine with equal courage by the besieged. All the artil lery required having arrived, the whole of the batteries were mounted, and the bombardment commenced on the 24th of April. The garrison not only returned the enemies' fire with skill and persevering resolu tion, bat made frequent sorties, in which they both suffered very considerably. Among the most important of these, was one which took place at 10 hours afternoon of the 29th. Some battalions issuing from their fortifications, rushed upon the French of the 3d parallel. They were twice repulsed, and returned a third time to the charge. They were driven back at last by the French body of reserve, who came up to the aid of the troops defending the pa. rallel. The French found it necessary to

defend this trench against similar sorties, by the erection, on both flanks, of new batteries. A grand council of war was held at Bartenstein, a town on the Alla; at which the king of Prussia and the grand duke Constantine attended. The subject of their deliberations was the dangerous situation of the city of Dantzig. It was agreed that Dantzig could be relieved only in two ways. The first was to force a passage across the Passarge, attack the French line at different points, and hazard a gene.

ral

succours

The first plan was deemed too dan. gerous, as it might expose the Russian army to complete defeat and dispersion. It was therefore resolved to confine themselves to the plan of relieving Dantzig by water.

In pursuance of this plan, lieu. tenant-general Kamenskoy, son of the field-marshal, embarked at Pillaw, with two Russian divisions, formed of 12 regiments, and several Prussian regiments. On the 10th of May, the troops were landed from 66 transports, under the convoy of three frigates, in the port of Dantzig, under the protection of the fort of Weischelmunde.

Buonaparte on this immediately ordered marshal Lasnes who commanded the reserve of the grand army, to advance from Marienburg, where he had his head quar. ters, with the division of Oudinot, to reinforce the army of marshal Le Febvre. The general arrived after an uninterrupted march, at the very moment when the Russi. ans were landing. On the 13th and 14th, the Russians made preparations for attacking the French. The opposite port of Weischelmunde was separated from the town of Dantzig, by a space from two to three miles in extent: this space was occupied by French troops.

The general of brigade, Schramm, who was at the advanced posts of the French by two o'clock in the morning of the 15th, had formed the troops under his command, consisting of the second regiment of light infantry, a battalion of Saxons, and another of Poles, in order of battle, covered by the redoubts opposite

4

Marshal Le Febvre repaired to the bridge, which is situated below the fort on the Vistula, and ordered the 12th regiment of light infantry, together with a battalion of Saxons, to cross over that way, to support general Schramm. General Gar. danne, who was charged with the defence of the right bank of the Vistula, also pressed that way with the rest of his troops. Marshal Lasnes with the reserve of Oudinot, was placed on the left bank of the Vistula, where it was expected, the day be fore, that the enemy too would make his appearance. But when marshal Lasnes saw the movements of the Russian general disclosed, he crossed the Vistula, with 4 battalions of General Oudinot's reserve. After two hours hard fighting, the whole of the line, and reserve of the Russians, were thrown into confusion, and pursued to the palisadoes. A Russian column, which held out to the last, was put to the bayonet to a man.

At nine in the morning, they were all shut up in the fort of Weischelmunde. The field of battle was strewed with dead bodies. The loss of the French, according to their accounts, was not more than 25 killed and 200 wounded; that of the Russians 1,300 killed, 1,500 wounded,