MAN STRUG "i L UN SAN DIE6O CHARLES S. LANDERS, NEW BRITAIN, CONN. DATE, .203 HOW THE ALLIED TROOPS MARCHED INTO PARIS HISTORY OF THE GERMAN STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY BY POULTNEY BIGELOW, B.A. ILLUSTRATED WITH DRAWINGS By R. CATON WOODVILLE AND WITH PORTRAITS AND MAPS IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. II. NEW YORK HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 1896 Copyright, 189G, by HARPER & BROTHERS. All rigJiU rtltntd. CONTENTS OF VOL. II CUAPTEtt PAGB I. FREDERICK WILLIAM DESPAIRS OP nis COUNTRY 1811. 1 II. NAPOLEON ON THE EVE OF Moscow 9 III. THE FRENCH ARMY CONQUERS A WILDERNESS ... 18 IV. NAPOLEON TAKES REFUGE IN PRUSSIA 30 V. GENERAL YORCK, THE GLORIOUS TRAITOR 39 VI. THE PRUSSIAN CONGRESS OF ROYAL REBELS .... 50 VII. THE PRUSSIAN KING CALLS FOR VOLUNTEERS . C2 VIII. A PROFESSOR DECLARES WAR AGAINST NAPOLEON. 69 IX. THE ALTAR OF GERMAN LIBERTY 1813 ..... 80 X. THE GERMAN SOLDIER SINGS OF LIBERTY 87 XI. THE GERMAN FREE CORPS OF LUTZOW 95 XII. How THE PRUSSIAN KING WAS FINALLY FORCED TO DECLARE WAR AGAINST NAPOLEON 110 XIII. PRUSSIA'S FORLORN HOPE IN 1813 THE LANDSTURM . 117 XIV. LUTZEN '.'........"... 130 XV. SOME UNEXPECTED FIGHTS IN THE PEOPLE'S WAR. 140 XVI. NAPOLEON WINS ANOTHER BATTLE, BUT LOSES HIS TEMPER 157 XVII. BLUCHER CUTS A FRENCH ARMY TO PIECES AT THE KATZBACII 168 XVIII. THE PRUSSIANS WIN BACK WHAT THE AUSTRIANS HAD LOST 176 XIX. THE FRENCH TRY TO TAKE BERLIN, BUT ARE PUT TO ROUT BY A GENERAL WHO DISOBEYS ORDERS . 183 XX. How THE BATTLE OF LEIPZIG COMMENCED . 192 v CONTENTS OF VOL. II CHAPTER VAGB XXI. NAPOLEON'S STAR SINKS IN THE MUD AND BLOOD OF LEIPZIG 204 XXII. BLUCHER REACHES THE RHINE AFTER MUCH DIFFI- CULTY 214 XXIII. How GERMAN LIBERTY FARED BETWEEN THE BATTLE OF LKIP/IO AND NEW-YEAR'S-DAY OF 1814 . 223 XXIV. THE ARMY OF LIBERATION REACHES PARIS .... 234 XXV. THE GERMAN ARMY GOES HOME EMPTY-HANDED FROM PARIS 241 INDEX . 243 ILLUSTKATIONS IN VOL. II HOW THE ALLIED TROOPS MARCHED INTO PARIS. Frontispiece DESPATCHES FOR ENGLAND Facing p. 4 "EVERY HIGH-ROAD OF PRUSSIA WAS ALIVE WITH UNI- FORMS" " 6 PRUSSIAN GENDARMES BRINGING IN PRUSSIAN RECRUITS TO THE FRENCH ARMY " 8 ALEXANDER I. LEAVING THE BALL AT WTLNA TO SIGN " THE DECLARATION OF WAR AGAINST NAPOLEON . 18 NAPOLEON'S RETREAT FROM MOSCOW " 24 A STRAGGLER " 30 NAPOLEON CROSSING THE BERESINA " 34 REMNANTS OF THE GRAND ARMY " 36 GENERAL YORCK ENTERS KONIGSBERG " 48 " PRUSSIAN VOLUNTEERS LEAVING BERLIN 66 " A VOLUNTEER OF 1813 . .A. 70 " THE SMITH SPIKING THE GUNS ON THE LANGE BRUCKE . 78 "FOR KING AND FATHERLAND" " 84 " KORNER IN THE UNIFORM OF THE LUTZOW FREE CORPS . 90 LUTZOW'S WILD HUNTSMEN " 98 LUTZOW CAPTURES TWO HUNDRED RECRUITS FOR THE " FRENCH ARMY AT RODA t . 102 " CHEERING LUTZOW'S FLAG OF TRUCE IN LEIPZIG ... 104 " PRUSSIA'S PEASANT SOLDIERS, 1813 118 NAPOLEON AT WEIMAR " 132 MAP SHOWING THE RELATION OF THE BATTLE-FIELD OF LUTZEN TO BERLIN, ETC 135 Vi ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOL. II ONE OF TETTENBORN'S COSSACKS ENTERS LUNEBURG . Fating p. 144 " A SAXON CUIRASSIER 150 THE BRIDGE OVER THE ELBE AT DRESDEN AT THE PRES- " ENT DAY 158 BLUCHER'S FAVORITE PIPE 107 PRUSSIAN VOLUNTEERS ATTACK NAPOLEON'S 'PICKET TROOPS Fating p. 172 OLD MARSHAL VORWARTS ATTACKS THE FRENCH ON " THE KATZBACH 174 " MONUMENT ON THE BATTLE-FIELD OF KULM .... 178 SINGLE FIGHT BETWEEN A MAGYAR AND A FRENCH " HUSSAR 180 " BERNADOTTE PLANS A RETREAT 186 " THE PURSUIT AFTER GROSS BEEREN 190 " THE TOWN-HALL AT LEIPZIG 194 " THE CAVE AT HALLE, ONCE A RESORT OF JAHN ... 196 BLUCHER ON HIS WAY TO LEIPZIG " 200 GENERAL YORCK AND HIS SNUFF-BOX " 202 MAP SHOWING NAPOLEON'S LINE OF RETREAT 207 THE SAXONS GO OVER TO THE ENEMY Fating p. 208 " A MECKLENBURG HUSSAR'S CAPTURE 212 " CAUB, WHERE BLUCHER CROSSED THE RHINE .... 220 " BLUCHER'S PASSAGE ACROSS THE RHINE 236 GENERAL YORCK AND FREDERICK WILLIAM CANNOT " AGREE ABOUT THE LOOKS OF THE PRUSSIAN ARMY 242 MAP OF PRUSSIA AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR . 252 HISTORY OF THE GERMAN STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. II HISTOEY OF THE GERMAN STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY I FREDERICK WILLIAM DESPAIRS OF HIS COUNTRY-1811 " Heart, let not scorn beguile thee, Nor cunning craft of foes; For God, the God of Freedom, Will all to good dispose." " K5rner (born, 1791 ; died, 1813), Trost." THE year 1811 included, for Germans, perhaps more of humiliation than any other, not excepting even that of Jena. In the spring of that year Napoleon made no " secret of his intention to absorb Prussia.* That poor * Blticher, from bis headquarters at Treptow, about an hour's drive southwesterly of Colberg, wrote to Frederick William III. personally, begging for instructions in case the French should invade his part of the country contrary to treaty. This letter is dated July 25, 1811. On August 22d he wrote to Gneisenau from Treptow : "I have to-day written to the King my last words. If he does not take them to heart, he will move on to his own destruction. -His fate, and that of his house, will be that of the Bourbons, all of which I wrote to him last year. I must have the entire, not the divided, con- fidence of the King. Armed with his full confidence, I can and shall be able to accomplish something. Believe me, my friend, there will be found scoundrels who will seek to treat me as they treated Schill, II. 1 2 THE GERMAN STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY fellow, the King of Prussia!" said he, "in four weeks there may be nothing left of him but a Marquis of Bran- " denburg !" And, indeed, he was a poor fellow." He carried about with him a handkerchief of Queen Luise, and occasionally kissed it, with tears in his eyes. Had he carried about some of his noble wife's courage, it might have been better. For a time such men as Gneisenau and Scharnhorst seemed to prevail in their efforts to make him feel con- fidence in the future of the country, and in April at times he appeared to favor a general call to arms rather than the prospect of being kidnapped by Napoleon or chased away into uncomfortable exile. But these periods were not of long duration, and they were inevitably followed by others more congenial to I acted without I at their twaddle but still because authority. laugh ; all that blocks me in my work. I was at Colberg yesterday, and have got everything moving with such activity that the principal work (of fortification) will be done in two weeks, and the whole will be finished in three. But what good is all this to me if I am not allowed enough men for manning the works ? Is Scharnhorst still with you ? "BLUCHER. "P.S. Do try to procure an order authorizing me to act in Pome- rania according to my discretion. They need not be afraid that I shall be reckless. I never forget the gravity of the situation. " 3d P.S. ... Do get the King to dismiss all the Commissioners of Safety and the sloths (Faulthiere); a coward can always be told by the way in which he sighs and raises his shoulders (das Achselzucken und Seufzen verrdtlien fast allemal einen >Sc7tw/0." Blilclier was essentially a monarchical-minded man, and an honest man as well. Things were indeed bad when he wrote that letter, and they became worse. Napoleon sent agents to watch Bliicher's work at Colberg. On October 7th an agent reported that he found as many as nine thousand men working upon the fortifications. Hereupon Napoleon demanded the disgrace of Blttcher. He was immediately recalled to Berlin, court-martialled, and dismissed from the army. So much for patriotic endeavor in 1811. (Cf. Blasendorf, p. 170.) FREDERICK WILLIAM DESPAIRS OF HIS COUNTRY 3 him. Every day he drilled his guards in parade-ground tactics, and sought to forget the worries of a king by playing the drill-sergeant. "While Napoleon was draw- ing together 300,000 men about his frontiers ready for an invasion, Frederick William was absorbed with the creation of a model school for non-commissioned officers, the object of which was to draw from every regiment of Prussia a certain number of under-officers, who should be instructed uniformly, and then be sent back to the regiments from which they came. During this year the preparations of Napoleon for the coming campaign against Russia went on steadily. The Prussian patriotic leaders were very uneasy, and old Bliicher, who commanded in Pomerania, northeasterly from Berlin, called in all the reserves he could, and em- ployed thousands more in public works. The little army of 40,000 men allowed to Prussia by the grace of the conqueror became in August of 1811 nearly 75,000, not actually in the ranks, but in the King's pay, and gathered together under competent officers. The fortress of Colberg, on the Baltic, about sixty miles eastward from the mouth of the Oder, was the object of Bliicher's particular care. We have already noted the great role it played under Gneisenau in 1807, how pluckily it held its own against the French besiegers. In fact, had the commanders of Magdeburg, Spandau, Kiistrin, and the other Prussian strong places fought for their country half as pluckily as Gneisenau, there need never have been so humiliating a record as that of this year 1811. Stettin was in French hands, so was Dan- zig, each with a heavy hostile garrison. According to the treaty the French were to have in Stettin no more than 3900 men, including officers.