MICHEL NEY, MARSHAL OF FRANCE 259 A few days afterward Ney was fighting madly on the shores of the fatal Beresina to clear the way for the surging and almost frenzied crowd of soldiers stragglers, women and children, who, under the merciless fire of the Russian bat- teries were streaming across the river on the rickety bridges improvised by the French engineers. The Grand Army was by this time only a crowd of wretched and undisciplined fugitives. Ney managed to preserve the semblance of a rear- guard, and if it had not been for his unceasing efforts it seems probable that hardly a single soldier would ever have seen again the shores of France. As it was, when he crossed the Niemen on December 13th, himself the last man to leave Russian territory his rear-guard had vanished, and he had with him only his aides-de-camp, while of about five hundred thousand men who had crossed the river five months before scarcely fifty thousand returned. No sooner did this catastrophe become known than Europe so long ground under his heel rose against Napoleon, who at once called upon France for fresh levies. Ney was given the command of the first Corps. On April 29, 1 81 3, he drove the allies from Weissenfels toward Leipsic. On May ist he again compelled a retrograde movement ; and on May 2d he commanded the French centre at the battle of Lutzen, where, indeed, he bore the brunt of the fighting. The allies were compelled to retire, but they did not consider them- selves beaten, and they fought again at Bautzen a few days afterward. Lutzen and Bautzen were both dubious victories, but at Dresden the allies were defeated with great loss. This victory, however, was annulled by the defeat of Vandamme, who was taken prisoner in Bohemia, after losing io,cxx) men. When Napoleon heard of this disaster he at once sent Ney to replace Oudinot in the command of the Northern army, with the object of pushing on to Berlin ; but for once Ney's evil stars were in the ascendant, for on September 5th he was totally defeated by Bernadotte, at Dennewitz, losing 10,000 prisoners and eighty guns. "The Bravest of the Brave " was inconsolable. For some days he took no food, and scarcely spoke. He wished to give up his command and fight as a grenadier. " If I have not blown out my brains," he said, "it is only because I want to rally my army before dying." And now came the catastrophe at Leipsic ^the three days' battle of the Na- tions where, on the first day, Ney was defeated by Blucher, after a desperate struggle in which he lost 4,000 killed and wounded, and upward of two thousand prisoners. On the third day, after the defection of the Saxons, he held out for five hours with 5,000 men against 20,000, and retired fighting to the end. Through the whole of the succeeding campaign of France, he was at the empe- ror's side ; and when, in spite of all the genius of Napoleon, and all the bravery of his soldiers, Paris capitulated, Ney was one of three marshals sent by the defeated Emperor of the French to negotiate with the Emperor of Russia for his abdication in favor of his son, the King of Rome. This mission failed of any result Napoleon went to Elba, and Louis XVI IL reigned over France in his stead. Ney accepted the new order of
