Thus it was, that the feeble report of three muskets, to which there was no reply, apprised us of the opening of a new campaign, and the commencement of a great invasion.

Either from a feeling of prudence, or from presentiment, this first signal of war threw the emperor into a state of violent irritation.  Three hundred voltigeurs immediately passed the river, in order to cover the erection of the bridges.

The whole of the French columns then began to issue from the valleys and the forest.  They advanced in silence to the river, under cover of thick darkness.  It was necessary to touch them in order to recognize their presence.  Fires, even to sparks, were forbidden; they slept with arms in their hands, as if in the presence of an enemy.  The crops of green rye, moistened with a profuse dew, served as beds to the men, and provender to the horses.

The night, its coolness preventing sleep, its obscurity prolonging the hours, and augmenting wants; finally, the dangers of the following day, every thing combined to give solemnity to this position.  But the expectation of a great battle supported our spirits.  The proclamation of Napoleon had just been read; the most remarkable passages of it were repeated in a whisper, and the genius of conquest kindled our imagination.

Before us was the Russian frontier.  Our ardent gaze already sought to invade the promised land of our glory athwart the shades of night.  We seemed to hear the joyful acclamations of the Lithuanians, at the approach of their deliverers.  We pictured to ourselves the banks of the river lined with their supplicating hands.  Here, we were in want of every thing; there, every thing would be lavished upon us!  The Lithuanians would hasten to supply our wants; we were about to be encircled by love and gratitude.  What signified one unpleasant night?  The day would shortly appear, and with it its warmth and all its illusions.  The day did appear! and it revealed to us dry and desert sands, and dark and gloomy forests.  Our eyes then reverted sadly upon ourselves, and we were again inspired by pride and hope, on observing the imposing spectacle of our united army.

[Illustration:  Passage of the Niemen]

Three hundred yards from the river, on the most elevated height, the tent of the emperor was visible.  Around it the hills, their slopes, and the subjacent valleys, were covered with men and horses.  As soon as the earth exhibited to the sun those moving masses, clothed with glittering arms, the signal was given, and instantly the multitude began to defile off in three columns, towards the three bridges.  They were observed to take a winding direction, as they descended the narrow plain which separated them from the Niemen, to approach it, to reach the three passages, to compress and prolong their columns, in order to traverse them, and at last reach that foreign soil, which they were about to devastate, and which they were soon destined to cover with their own enormous fragments.