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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 22, 1914)
2 r I Marshal Ney Covering the Retreat From Moscow, 1812. i tk Pawus ar Toa at VmaHlaa. I BT RICHARD O. CONOVBR. Drummer, bAat me a. Vow retreat! Low, so the foe may not hear your rolling- Scattered and rent, in dire defeat. Call in our columns from death tolling. Grimly hl Eticks tile drummer raised. Over the rim they snapped from Ms bendinir: Out of Ms eyes the proud fire blazed, Gleamlngs of battle with wrath eparks blendinr. "Never lias roll like that," he cried, "Come from my drum In all of Its beating; Bound it, I couldn't though I tried Dead are my sticks and I'm past re treating!" The Drum of Fontenoy. i IDWAY between the awfulness of the great victory and of the " m gr rreat defeat comes the awfulness of the great retreat. In the wars of the world there have been few such military movements of magnitude. As a rule battles of the first grade have resulted in the annihilation or surrender of ths vanquished army. And when this has not been the case the victor has been so exhausted with his efforts that he has not dared to press a close pursuit. As all of the previous wars of his tory have been pygmy conflicts com pared with the present giants' struggle In Europe, it Is not surprising that the last and most stupendous- of all re- treats should have evolved from the military operations of the months of August and September of the fateful rear 1914. The falling back of 1,000,- 000 soldiers, fighting over a battle ' - line 26 miles wide, until they had given ground for almost 150 miles, ex- i TOi. ,k. i,.. tall. f the m-t oon-umm.t. mllitrv A t rl What ! mnit rAmArkihU f oil the same million of retreaters, battling .. .. i. v . .. i a . fortifications of their capital, turned on their pursuers when thus brought to bay and hurled them back in turn for mile after mile of . the distance measuring their own retreat. Annals of warfare fall to furnteh a match for this in the way of numbers engaged. length of battle line, mileage of con- Ilict and retreat and remarkableness of recovery and retaliation. Other fa- mous retreats may have been attended with greater carnage, hardship and fa- tality, according to percentage of men engaged, but In the stupendousness of numbers and operations connected with the retirement of the French-English army there is nothing in the bygone centuries that can be placed in equal Illustrative comparison. In middle August the allies faced the Germans In great masses from near Basel, tn Switzerland, to the Dutch f ron- tier near Maastricht. Brussels was taken August 20, Charlerol August 27, Le Fere August 30. These were westward move- ments from the axis of the German base at about Ettelbruck. Then began the ders. It all but ruined Russian com southward squeeze toward Paris. Sep- merce and was especially galling to a tember 1 the Germans had enveloped ruler so Imperious and mighty as Alex Khelms. By September 4 they were In ander. Napoleon's disposition of the" the vicinity of Amiens. By September 5 Duke of Oldenburg, the Czar's near rel they were to the west of Paris and on ative. also offended him deeply. Its same parallel of latitude. Then the n June 24 and 2S. 1807. on a gor retreat ended, the allies turning on the'Sfeously canopied and royally appointed German pursuers and making them In raft anchored In the middle of the their turn the pursued. This great retreat lasted between 10 days and two weeks. The Kaiser's sol. cliers were In superior numbers and ewept forward Irresistibly at the rate of about 20 miles every 24 hours. Dur- lng this time there never was an out- and-out battle fought it was Just a pushing of the allies southward. In this resnect it was also unlike the most fm mous retreats of history, especially the and ally. Alexander had opened his Moscow catastrophe. ports to British goods and had spoken Toward the end of the retreat the his mind about the Duke ot Oldenberg elites Increased in number and more business. Alexander should- be pun and more of the German troops reached lahed. an attacking position. From a tniUion Napoleon's army ot invasion, mar and a half to two million men took part "hailed on a magnificent scale, crossed In the movement. The loss of life, ao- the Nlemen In five columns. Contrary cording to .reports, was much greater to the belief that prevails extensively, among the attackers than the retreat- ttoe great Emperor's troops were not a ers another exception in warfare. Un- representative body of French soldiers, til the history of the war is written There were fighting men from Italy, after its conclusion, what the losses of Switzerland," Holland, Poland, Austria, each side were cannot be given for use Prussia and other of the smaller Ger in comparison with other great retreats man speaking principalities. In fact. 1 of history. th French formed the smaller part of Nor can the hardships and losses from th huge army. Soldiers came from all fatigue be estimated to match the other over Europe to fight under the banner great retreat tragedies. Suffering from of Bonaparte because treaties made lack of food, such as accompanied other their countries temporary allies. Great great retreats, was no feature of this Britain and Sweden were the only last and greatest. The orderliness of friends of Russia, and they gave only retirement was also without parallel. Bcant aid. But at that the Tsar did not Figuratively the host of the allies nesd Generals "January" and backed away slowly. Instead of hurry- "Fehruary." as the rigorous Russian lng southward in a near-panic, with a "Winter was dubbed by a commander, rear guard holding the van of the pur- later Proved all-sufficient. suit until a new zone of safety was reached. It was the retreat stupen dous of history. So, while the army may fall back, or retire, or change its base, or give ground, if it be not systematically fol- IKS w4 Xenophon, the Greek General wno commanded the Greeks in tn Famous Retreat ot tn Ten Thousand, t lowed or harassed during such move ment, then the chronicle of Its shift means nothing more than the chronicle of a march. Lee's withdrawal south- ward after the battle of Gettysburg did not at all approach the calamity of a cavalry forced, pell mell retreat. It was an expeditious retirement, but far from approximating the panic point at any stage. An exhaustive search of history Is not needed to pick the premier retreat of all time. Napoleon's Invasion of Russia in 1812 stands without a parallel. Near ly 300,000 soldiers battling under the French colors died of wounds, exposure or lack of food between the months of August and December. In five months Bonaparte's hosts, numbering 663,000 men, shrank more than 60 per cent In march approximating 1600 mil. counting advance and retreat. For everv milestone naased thr w. a tragic tally of nearly 200 dead battlers Vnw aVAfV HA hAlico riaerh ntalmail -a .nil ' 2000 men. m.,,. k.fnr, nr in vio retreat or rout exhibited such horror. Hut mrnnrn a 1 1 f ha rltrjinrip ntfi. tmnh. th rvrfl-nttfnn .r, rii.Mniin ot the French army was preserved. Sometimes It seemed that there was not even remnant of army left for preeer- nation or discipline, but out of the mists and tne oarkness of the snow-entombed ateppes always there came the distant " ot the drum and the faint outlines 01 lne advancing SKirmisners. igni a while, march a mile and fight a while again was the constant programme. Not ": the first soldier In the worlds lstory donned a uniform were men required to do. to dare and to endure more than these who marched to the streets of Moscow and then back again across the Nlemen. Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia was the outcome of the refusal of the Muscovite ruler to acknowledge the French Emperor's right to boss the continent of Europe. Bonaparte's fa- mous Continental System was the root of It. This system menat that all countries on the Continent must close their ports to British products and seize all British property and citizens within their bor- River Nlemen, Napoleon and Alexander agreed upon the Peace of Tilsit. It was supposed that this settlement of the differences between the conqueror an ai late" adversary would lead to a lasting alliance. Five years later to the day Napoleon crossed the same Nlemen at the head of more than half a million troops to Invade the realm of his former friend Austria's contribution to the invasion was 30,000 soldiers and Prussia's 20,000.' The Austriarrs, under Schwarzenberg, were on the right wing and the Prus sians, under "York, on the left. They formed separate armies, the entire left THE SUXDAT OREGOXTAJf, PORTLAND. NOVE3I13 ER 22, 1914. RETREaj "V.' TK4 7 r- 1 The Flight of Charles XIL, v rrom rtter lb. Ol.l,' being under the command of the French Marshal Macdonald. June 38, Wllna, ths capital of Lithuania, was reached, There seventeen days were spent while a terrible storm raged throughout the province. The main army stormed " took Smolensk August 18. The rencn won ine Dailies or coroamo ana Moshaisk on September 7, after a des perate resistance. Moscow wfts reached September 14, Z Up leo" s ln. Arunk to 96.000 men. The city had been deserted by the inhabitants, the Governor. Rostopchin, setting it on fire before his departure. For five days Moscow was ablaze, as' a result of which more than 7000 houses and three-fourths of the habitable portions were laid In ashes. Napoleon proffered a truce to Alexander. He waited in Moscow five weeks before he concluded negotiations were impossible. And then, noting the w,ft of n unusually hard Win- nu .""eiier ' aim mignty rmy. iew up me nistonc Jtremun "u T commana 10 set in mo- "on lne most woerui retreat of history. " October 19, 1812, when the backward march of the invaders began, From the very start the deadly Cossack began his work. There was not one in sight In the vicinity of Moscow during the flve weeks Napoleon remained there, "ut as soon as nis columns got under way in the open country the Czar's ffcmoue horsemen Appeared. Sometimes only In squadrons, sometimes by thou- sands, they swept down upon the French flanks and rear as if summoned by the wave of the conjuror's wand. Dash after dash they made, leaving a swath of dead as they galloped off again, into the snow mists of the Rus sian roads. The retreat was taken up first in a southwesterly direction and afterward toward Smolensk. After the Cossacks began their harassing and had got the French considerably shaken up the Russian main army under General Kut- usoff appeared In the invader's path, On October 24 a desperate contest of separate corps of the two armies took place at Jaroslavez and again at VJazma on rxovemDer 0. ina t rencn repuisea both attacks and continued their re treat. But their Incidental victories did not deter the swarms of Cossacks from constantly attacking Napoleon's troops. REMARKABLE PROPHECY MADE BY VICTOR HUGO o N MARCH 1, '1871, the National Asscuiuijr ul ittuvo v, u ii i ... DUrUCilUi IU (ALU) I II t frrav. nary articles of peace concluded with Germany. On that occasion Victor her children, to rear with sacred pas- Europe, we shall be the continental Bj8tence. Large numbers succumbed women specialists, children's special Hugo, after charging Napoleon III with slon those little ones who shall become federation, we shall be the Liberty ot to the cold. Tissaphernes with his lst8 and specialists in X-rays. . diet, the French debacle, contrasted the fu- great, to form citizens; to create an Europe. And now let us clasp hands, par.i.n armv ponnmniw nilr, blood, skin and bone. lures oi me contending nt&iiuns. a result of her victory Germany, he de-. clared w.ould be sternly . ruled by a Caesar of "divine right," whose scepter would be the saber, enchaining thought, muzzling the press and stifling the national, conscience, while conquered France would overcome her misery under the guidance of the sovereign people, with free speech, free con- science and human rights. Amid the wildest enthusiasm he concluded with this remarkable prophecy: "Oh! The clock will strike and we shall hear the sound for this prodl gious revenge. Thus will begin the to 7 . Sir John Moore, Who Conducted a Masterly Retreat in the Peninsu la Campaign and, Athcuflh Losing His Life. Brought His Army Safety to the Coast and the Transports. .X " As T5t V King of Sweden, After the Battle of Poltava. ne rougm the Russians. CuJt Sckarltr Pabll-keS k- Ok.rlr. orRtr Every dreary mile from Moscow to the last moment of their marching the sol- diers fighting for France lay dead by thousands on the roads or rather The dismal wastes. The date November 6, 1812, goes down In history as a tragic point In the retreat. That day there was a heavy fall of snow, proclaiming the arrival of the terrible Russian "Winter. It came weeks earlier than usual and with un common severity. This was the mo- ment the f lerceCossacks had waited for. Apparently Immune to the rigors of the storm, they dashed out of the darkness, hoarsely shouting their battle eiy, shooting and sabring. They cut off stragglers by the hundred. In a single night of extraordinary cold 6000 men were frozen to death in the drifts and around the bivouac fires. But onward the great Napoleon led his men toward the Nlernan. Over-partial historians declare that he shared the hardships of his troops to a great degree. Once the column he commanded lost the road. Night was coming on and the snow descending heavily. By the light of a huge fire built along the road Bonaparte and his Generals scanned their maps again. The column filed past huzzaing even in Its hunger and peril. "Had we not better halt them before they go further out of their way?" Na poleon was asked. "Let them march, even though It be to the equator," answered Bonaparte grimly. "They will die of cold In 15 minutes if you stop them." Suddenly the great leader called on a general of his engineers for a com pass. Holding it close to the fire light he watched the needle swing to the north. The army had been marching due east, or back toward Moscow again! "Tear up your maps and execute your guides," said the Emperor contemptu ously. "In this little needle you have the only solution of distance." There were continuous engagements with the Russians, those at Krasnoy and Borissoff being especially fierce. At the former place the Russians barred the way with 60,000 men under the in defatigable Kutusoff. Napoleon's per sonal exertions alone saved his army from utter destruction. Ney, who corn- morrow when "France shall have one vnuuguL cLiuiiv, iu cuueui uciBBu, icsi . i Ulll HID iciliui, 1UUII1 Ul U6D)JCiaUUll to reassemble her forces, to educate army wnicn snail De me people, 10 can science to the aid of war, to study the strategy of the Prussians as Rome studied the strategy of the Carthagin- ians; to fortify herself, to consolidate and regenerate herself, to become again the France of '92, the France of an idea, the France of her promise. "Then, one day. she will suddenly rouse herself. She will become formtd- able. She will be seen at one blow to regain Loraine, to regain Alsace. Is it enough? No! No! She will capture listen' Treves. Mainz. Cologne Cob- lenz! and you shall hear France crv. "The clock strikes my hour! Germany! - j.. -v. 'r-7t--yf i..."5T' WMW&U -Taw., -j- 2fv.:- fit Where ot. m Marshal Emmanuel de Grouchy. ltnm Napotto Marshal .Utile, Biewa ft Cfc, 4 MOO. . minded the rear guard, had not yet come up, and the French were over- whelmlngly outnumbered. This great marshal had engaged the Russian- in a trur-intia t.i. v, i.-i.. .-.a manaa-ina to eluda their nursult. croa,ad tne Dnieper on the .ce d re- jolned Bonaparte at Orsca. with only liant feat in which hardship was over the wreck of his splendid corps. come, much more than death. On November 26 the retreating In- The Ten Thousand were Greek mor vaders reached the River Beresina, ,,-V. y) .. 1 . - tti 1. fn... """" "" to prevent a crossing. Napoleon sue- ceeded in laying two bridges across the stream and In transporting the greater part of his troops to the opposite bank. But It was at frightful cost. At one point Marshals Ney and Oudlnot, with only 8600 men, had to pry their way through 25.000 Russians to reach the shore. Victor's corps covered the point of passage and again and again was driven back on the bridges. One of these broke under the artillery and the other was blown up by Victor's order. The Russian artillery kept up a fatal fire upon the struggling masses of the French. Thousands perished in the Beresina and thousands more were captured. As soon as the remnants of this army of invasion had made the passage of this disputed stream Napoleon left the command to Marshall Murat and nurnea 10 fans 10 disprove reports 01 hi. j..,k ...i, i.. v, . his death and crush the plotter, who aimed to turn the government over to hurried to Paria to disprove reports of the representatives of Great Britain and her allies. Murat led the broken Invaders to the Nlemen. still pursued by Cossacks, and a crossing was made De cember 13, or Just about six months from the date the proud invaders had passed over the river marching on Moscow. Barely 125,000 soldiers left Russian territory. The remainder of the 553.000 troops had died in battle; had perished from cold, hunger or fatigue or had been captured. For 23 centuries the world has ad- Hear mel Am I thine enemy? No, I am thy sister! I have taken, all from thee, I return all to theel Upon one condi tion: That we shall no longer be a divided people; that we shall be one united family, one republic I will de molish my fortresses, thou thine. My vendetta is brotherhood! u tuuio 1 1 un un . ui ii o, in i n3 R11U 111 vv aiiail UB I II O Mm, TV- public, we shall be the United States ot lor we naye renaereu eacii a recipro- cated service. Thou hast freed me from my Emperor. I will free thee from thine." Spirit of Loyalty. (Washington Star) "Didn't that man who sold you the machine tell you it had a 40-horaenow. er motor?" "Yes," replied Mr. .Chuggins. "Beems kind of weak: to me." "Well. I wasn't there when they made the calculation. You know some horses are a good deal stronger than others, . ."kv J Ji irw li,-f w4 Napoleon in .'1 r : yl if J fi.i " wra ci mired the celebrated retreat of the Ten Thousand. While this remarkable march out of danger has much to rivet the attention and evoke praise, it cannot be ,w. i,k , v, in thn wav of amffrlnar an A thA int of its fatalities. Rather Is It a brll- cenaiies. They had been hired by . 1. . . wiu. younger son 01 mo great Persian King Darius, who was a satrap of Phrygla. Lydia and Cappadoela. They were mustered Into service on the pretext or engaging In an expedl- tIon a8rainat the bandits of Pisldla, and their march began from Sardis in the Spring of B. C. 401. In reality, how- ever, Cyrus designed the expedition as a rebellion against his elder brother, Artaxerxes II., who had succeeded to the throne. He crossed the Euphrates at Thapsadus, and then the Greeks learned for the first time what they were to fight for. It was too late to turn back, so they marched to the plain of Cunaxa. 67 miles from Baby- Ion. and faced the royal army under Artaxerxes. The Greeks were winning the battle for Cyrus when he penetrated to his brother's tent and was cut down by the King's guard. His death put an end to the conflict and the campaign. The Persians of the dead rebel's army made their neac with A rtm.i-r.. meir peace wnn Artaxerxes, leaving the Greeks to shift for them- ,eive. Tissaphernes. the successor to the satrapy of Cyrus, detained them In of Burgos when he heard that Soult's the vicinity for a month on pretense vastly superior force was marching of treating with them. against him. On January 16, 1809, Finally he enticed them as far as the Soult caught up with Moore near Cor upper waters of the Tigris, where he unna. at which point the English entrapped their officers and put them awaited their dilatory transports. to death. Then it was that Xenophon, . who had accompanied the army of Cyrus, but not as a soldier, assembled the remaining Greek leaders at mid night, pointed out the necessity of In stant action, and urged tnem to select new officers and try to regain their own land, over 1000 miles away. The Greeks chose five Generals, one of them Xenophon, and at sunrise the morning began their retreat. Entirely ignorant of the country they must traverse, and without guides. the Ten Thousand set out In the Win- ter eeason. Their route of march l. across the desolate territorv of tr. menia. with nothing to be obtained that would contribute to their shelter and onlv a scanty onnortunitv fr -h. harassed them. Their constant neces- slty was the division of their force for relief as van and rearguards, so that the rear attacks of the pursuing Per sians might be adequately met and re pelled. The discipline and valor of the re treating Greeks were of such a high srrade that th hl.rnrlan rai,iM tt never once were they compelled to halt their march. , a a a This famous retreat is declared to . . have occupied 215 days. Decimated and almost on the point of giving up hope of escaping the Persians or of ITT C f a It- i . i...4..c-'S - the fletreat from Moscow, 1812, ever seeing their homes asaln, the lit tle army came to a mountain to the south of Trapezus and beheld the wide expanse of the Euxlne or Black Sea. The troops in advance burst Into a great cry of "The sea! The sea!" and tho deispalring thousands coming: on took it up and passed it down the lines. Their hardships were not all over, but they knew where they were and hence forward marched for a certainty toward distant Greece. One of the great retreats of history was a consequence of the naval battle of Salamis, September 20, B. C. 4So. The Greeks had defeated tho Persians under Xerxes, who had invaded Greece with upward of a million soldiers some accounts have it two millions. As soon as the Greek sea victory was assured Xerxes began his march back to Persia. The remnants of the Persian fleet were ordered to the Hellespont to guard the bridge. Reach ing Thessaly in forced march. Xerxes left Mardonlus with a command to op pose the Greek pursuit and hurried tdward the sea. His stores were ex hausted and vast numbers of his troonn died from famine and fatigue on the way. At the Hellespont ho found hi bridges destroyed by a storm, so th.it his mighty army was obliged to cross the Strait in ships. Food was ob tained at Abydos, but the hunriy troops ate so ravenously that lar&e numbers died from gorging. Evea on the other aide of the Hellespont the sol diers of Xerxes were hurriedly marched as though the Greeks were on their heels. At last, eight months after the Persian King had set out from Lydia. he entered the capital of that province again with barely a third ot his mag nificent host. A remarkable retreat that has been but meagerly chronicled is that of Mar. shal Grouchy after the battle of Water loo. He was at Llmale, eight miles from Mont St. Jean, when he heard that Wellington had won the great victory. He decided to retreat to France by way of Namur, . Dlnant and Glvet. It was necessary to make great haute In order to e8caPe General Tliielmann, of allies, and possibly Blucher. The the re- treat began at 11:30 on the morning of June 19, 1815, or the da yafter Waterloo, a a a Grouchy reached Namur at 4 o'clock in the afternoon and his main body bivouacked later at Templaix, six miles beyond Gembloux. Pajol formed the A J J PeargT,ard and protected the retreat. The operation was effected without tiTlng a Bhot. The next day van.iamme withdrew his troops from Namur too soon. It was necessary there to cle- fend the fortress against the attacks - or tha Pruaalan. while nmnrhv main army reached Dinant. The following day, June 21. the French frontier was reached, and by evening the entire army was collected In safety under the guns of Glvet The march has been onllrl nn nf the mnftt astonlfihincr re- treats of modern military history. It was the more remarkable in that Grouchy did not despair and decide to 8urrenjer his 33,000 soldiers and 116 Kun..When he learned that his great e&ptain had lost a battle and a throne. The retreat of Sir John Moore, in which he lost his life at the moment pf success, has always had a praised place In history. Napoleon had entered Madrid in triumph, and, Austrian trou- ble demanding his attention nearer . - - . - . , ' home, he turned over to Marshal Soult the task of driving Moore out of the -A. L . 6 . ?Ie.2!' ff.J! Moore so arranged his fighting that the retreat was never halted and final ly all of his army was safely removed to the vessels. Specializing tn Medicine. (Philadelphia Ledgrer.) Specializing in medicine is getting next upon ones nerves. Pneumonia.' con sult Jones. Typhoid? See no one but Smith. Mumps? Trust only Brown. Bro"4" IeT nono set lt Robinson. Headache? You imperil your I by taking medicine from anybody but White. Throat specialists, eye specialists. ear specialists, stomacn specialists. nerve specialists, men specialists. Nevertheless, I feel that there Is room for Just ono more "Peciallst, to wit: lno a--ouna oocior. Certain lawyers make a specialty or claims against the city. Others sue out claims against corporations. I don't mean the vulgar ambulance chasers, but real, high-class attorneys.. i i - k., iVi, " And wnat a lot of specializing in ent lines. One man can buy. but can't sell. others can sell things, but couldn't buy advantageously .JY ZVZ ngi,ne"s' ar" tects, painters and decorators you dls- cover another army of specialists. Even banks are known to do special things better than other things.
