Memory of Flames

CHAPTER 23

ON 25 March, Napoleon found himself near Wassy and wondered what his adversaries were planning to do. He had sent detachments of cavalry on reconnaissance trips in all directions - to Bar-sur-Aube, Brienne-le-Chateau, Joinville, Montier-en-Der, Saint-Dizier.

Finally he spotted the enemy. Near Saint-Dizier. The Emperor was triumphant, believing that the Allies were starting to turn back to protect their communications. Keen to keep up the pressure on them, he immediately launched his army in their direction, believing he had the advance Allied guard in his sights, when in fact all he had was the very back of the rearguard.

At the same time, several leagues away, Marshals Marmont and Mortier, who had been separated from Napoleon by the encounters and manoeuvres of the previous days and who were trying to rejoin him, noticed that the Bohemian and the Silesian armies -two hundred thousand soldiers altogether - had come to station

themselves between them and the Emperor. They withdrew immediately, pursued by the Allies. In less than forty-eight hours, they were attacked from all sides, and lost eight thousand men. But, unexpectedly, the National Guard, whom the enemy did not take seriously, fought with determination and to good effect, allowing Marmont and Mortier to continue their heroic retreat. They were left with only one option — to retire to Paris. This they did, bringing with them an unexpected escort.

Napoleon fell with such speed on Winzingerode that he was rapidly able to overwhelm him. From 26 March, the French cavalry vigorously fought off the Cossacks. The cannon fire of the mounted artillery, already in place, began to overpower the Russians. Winzingerode was delighted to see that his plan was working, but he was a victim of his own success. There were too many French, too quickly! He wanted to establish a solid position in Saint-Dizier to contain them. It was of the utmost importance that he should hold firm and continue to deceive the Emperor. But the French were already in battle formation - Macdonald, the Imperial Guard

- when Marshal Oudinot’s infantry burst in a torrent from the forest of Val and headed for Saint-Dizier. Winzingerode was rapidly ousted from the town, losing men and artillery, then pushed back again, and battered some more. The dragoons of the Imperial Guard and some Mamelukes galloped after him, charging everything in their way. The French army followed the cavalcade and set upon Winzingerode just as he was gathering his troops back into order; Napoleon thought he had caught the Bohemian army by the scruff of the neck, and so he went at them with all the force he could muster. But he found himself holding nothing but a handful of straw, a scarecrow, a decoy ...