The great divisions of the army detached from the central body were then stationed as follows:  To the right, Dombrowski, in front of Bobruisk and opposed to the corps of 12,000 men commanded by the Russian general Hoertel.

To the left, the Duke of Reggio, and St. Cyr, at Polotsk and at Bieloe, on the Petersburgh road, which was defended by Wittgenstein and 30,000 men.

At the extreme left were Macdonald and 38,000 Prussians and Poles, before Riga.  They extended their line towards the right upon the Aa, and in the direction of Duenabourg.

At the same time, Schwartzenberg and Regnier, at the head of the Saxon and Austrian corps, occupied, towards Slonim, the interval between the Niemen and the Bug, covering Warsaw and the rear of the grand army, which was menaced by Tormasof.  The Duke of Belluno was on the Vistula with a reserve of 40,000 men; while Augereau assembled an eleventh army at Stettin.

As to Wilna, the Duke of Bassano remained there, surrounded by the envoys of several courts.  That minister governed Lithuania, communicated with all the chiefs, sent them the instructions which he received from Napoleon, and forwarded the provisions, recruits, and stragglers, as fast as they arrived.

As soon as the emperor had made up his mind, he returned to Witepsk with his guard:  there, on the 28th of July, in entering the imperial head-quarters, he laid down his sword, and abruptly depositing it on his maps, with which his tables were covered, he exclaimed; “Here I stop! here I must look round me; rally; refresh my army, and organize Poland.  The campaign of 1812 is finished; that of 1813 will do the rest.”

BOOK V.

CHAPTER I.

With the conquest of Lithuania, the object of the war was attained, and, yet, the war appeared scarcely to have commenced; for places only had been vanquished, and not men.  The Russian army was unbroken; its two wings, which had been separated by the vivacity of the first onset, had now united.  We were in the finest season of the year.  It was in this situation that Napoleon believed himself irrevocably decided to halt on the banks of the Boristhenes and the Duena.  At that time, he could much more easily deceive others as to his intentions, as he actually deceived himself.

His line of defence was already traced upon his maps; the siege-equipage was proceeding towards Riga; the left of the army would rest on that strong place; hence, proceeding to Duenabourg and Polotsk, it would maintain a menacing defensive.  Witepsk, so easy to fortify, and its woody heights, would serve as an entrenched camp for the centre.  Thence, towards the south, the Berezina and its marshes, covered by the Boristhenes, supply no other passage but a few defiles; a very few troops would be sufficient to guard them.  Further on, Bobruisk marked out the