At the same time the emperor assigned its place to each corps; the rest of the army formed in line, and a general discharge of musketry, accompanied at intervals with that of a few cannon, ensued.  It continued till each party had fixed its limit, and darkness had rendered their fire uncertain.

One of Davoust’s regiments then sought to take its rank in the first line.  Owing to the darkness, it passed beyond it, and got into the midst of the Russian cuirassiers, who attacked it, threw it into disorder, took from it three pieces of cannon, and killed or took three hundred men.  The rest immediately fell into platoons, forming a shapeless mass, but making so formidable a resistance, that the enemy could not again break it; and this regiment, with diminished numbers, finally regained its place in the line of battle.

CHAPTER VI.

The emperor encamped behind the army of Italy, on the left of the high-road; the old guard formed in square around his tents.  As soon as the fire of small arms had ceased, the fires were kindled.  Those of the Russians burned brightly, in an immense semicircle; ours gave a pale, unequal, and irregular light,—­the troops arriving late and in haste, on an unknown ground, where nothing was prepared for them, and where there was a want of wood, especially in the centre and on the left.

The emperor slept little.  On General Caulaincourt’s return from the conquered redoubt, as no prisoners had fallen into our hands, Napoleon surprised, kept asking him repeatedly, “Had not his cavalry then charged apropos?  Were the Russians determined to conquer or die?”—­The answer was, that “being fanaticised by their leaders, and accustomed to fight with the Turks, who gave no quarter, they would be killed sooner than surrender.”  The emperor then fell into a deep meditation; and judging that a battle of artillery would be the most certain, he multiplied his orders to bring up, with all speed, the parks which had not yet joined him.

That very same night, a cold mizzling rain began to fall, and the autumn set in with a violent wind.  This was an additional enemy, which it was necessary to take into account; for this period of the year corresponded with the age on which Napoleon was entering, and every one knows the influence of the seasons of the year on the like seasons of life.

During that night how many different agitations!  The soldiers and the officers had to prepare their arms, to repair their clothing, and to combat cold and hunger; for their life was a continual combat.  The generals, and the emperor himself, were uneasy, lest their defeat of the preceding day should have disheartened the Russians, and they should escape us in the dark.  Murat had anticipated this; we imagined several times that we saw their fires burn more faintly, and that we heard the noise of their departure; but day alone eclipsed the light of the enemy’s bivouacs.