They had marched twelve miles, and the troops were allowed a short rest at this, their first halting-place. They breakfasted, and the Goddess of Reason, with her donkey and her kegs of brandy, passed through the ranks. One of the kegs was left behind there, and with the cry of "Long[Pg 191] live the Republic!" the column started at eight o'clock for Froeschwiller, scarcely two miles away.
Meanwhile the unceasing roar of the cannon could be heard in the direction of Reichsoffen. After a quarter of an hour the firing ceased suddenly. Had the passage been forced, or had Abatucci been obliged to retreat?
The general called Doumerc.
"Have you a good horse, captain?" he asked.
"Excellent."
"Can he take ditches and fences?"
"He can take anything."
Doumerc rode off; ten minutes later two horsemen were seen rapidly approaching from the direction that Doumerc had taken. They were the captain and Falou.
The captain had ridden but half of the way when he met a chasseur, who had been despatched by Abatucci to announce that he had carried the bridge and was about to march upon Froeschwiller. Falou having taken a Prussian officer prisoner, Abatucci had made him a corporal—a nomination3 he begged the general to confirm.
Falou returned to Abatucci with his nomination confirmed, and carried a verbal order to march upon Froeschwiller, and threaten the town, while the general attacked the heights. He was also to hold himself in readiness to render any assistance that might be needed. The troops had meantime continued their march and the heights of Froeschwiller were coming into view.
A small wood covered the road between Niederbronn and Froeschwiller, and fearing lest it might conceal4 an ambuscade the general ordered a sergeant5 and twenty men to form in skirmishing line and to investigate it.
"Oh!" said Doumerc, "it is not worth while to trouble the men for a little thing like that." And he went through the wood at a gallop, saying, as he returned, "There is no one there, general."
[Pg 192]
They passed through the wood safely, but as the advance-guard arrived at the edge of a brook6 it was greeted by a volley. Two or three sharpshooters had been stationed along the windings7 of the stream and in the numerous thickets8. The two generals formed their men to attack. Pichegru ordered Charles to remain in the rear, but at his earnest solicitation9 he was allowed to accompany the staff.
Froeschwiller lies at the foot of a little hill which was then bristling10 with cannon and redoubts; on the right they could see Abatucci's force driving before them into the town the men who had attempted to defend the bridge.
"Comrades," said Pichegru, "shall we wait for our companions, who have already had their share of glory at the bridge, before attacking these redoubts, or shall we keep for ourselves alone the glory of the undertaking11, which will be a difficult one, I warn you!"
"Forward! Forward!" shouted with one accord the battalion12 of the Indre, which formed the head of the column.
"Forward!" cried the men of Hoche's division, who had threatened insubordination the night before, and who had subsequently obtained permission to march second in the line.
"Forward!" cried General Dubois, who was in command of the rear-guard of the Army of the Moselle, which now formed the advance-guard, owing to the reverse movement which had been made.
The drums and trumpets13 beat the charge. The front ranks began to sing the "Marseillaise"; the quick-step of three or four thousand men shook the earth, and like a human cyclone14 the army advanced with levelled bayonets.
They had scarcely gone a hundred feet before the little hill vomited15 fire like a volcano, and bloody16 furrows17 were plowed18 through the thick ranks, which were closed as rapidly as they were broken. The "Marseillaise" and the cries of "Forward!" continued, and the distance between the first ranks of the French soldiers and the intrenchments was rapidly lessening19, when a second volley burst forth20, and again the balls plowed their way through the ranks. They[Pg 193] closed again, but this time a dogged rage succeeded to the enthusiasm, and the song grew fainter, the steps slower.
As the first rank reached the intrenchment, a third discharge burst from the hostile guns; this time the artillery21, loaded with grape-shot, sent a hurricane of lead through the attacking column. The assailants fell back before that fiery22 blast. This time Death did not mow23 in long swaths, but fell as hail among the wheat. The song ceased, the music was hushed, the wave of humanity not only stopped but flowed backward.
Again the troops took up the music of the victorious24 hymn25. General Dubois, commanding the attack, had his horse killed under him, and was believed to be dead; but he extricated26 himself from beneath the animal, rose, and putting his hat on the point of his sword, cried, "Long live the Republic!"
This cry was repeated by all the survivors27, and even by those of the wounded who were able to make their voices heard. The momentary28 hesitation29 vanished; the charge sounded again. The bayonets were levelled, and a roaring as of lions succeeded the singing and the shouts. The first ranks had already reached the redoubts. The grenadiers had begun to scale the walls, when thirty pieces of cannon belched30 flame with a noise like that of an explosion in a powder-mill.
This time General Dubois fell to rise no more. A ball had cut him in two. The first ranks disappeared in the whirlwind of fire as if engulfed31 in an abyss. This time the column not only wavered but fell back, and a space of forty feet, piled with the dead and wounded, was cleared.
Then a heroic deed was done. Before Pichegru, who had sent two of his aides-de-camp to Abatucci to come to their assistance, could guess his purpose, Hoche, throwing his hat on the ground that he might the better be recognized by all, with his sword in hand, dashed at a gallop into the clearing and shouted: "Soldiers! six hundred francs apiece for the Prussian cannon!"
[Pg 194]
"Taken!" cried the soldiers with one voice.
The music, which had been silent for a second, began again, and, amid shot and crashing balls, which did deadly work with their hail-like rain, Hoche, followed by his men, mad with hate and revenge, reached the first redoubt, climbed over it, and urged his horse into the midst of the enemy.
Pichegru placed his hand on Charles's shoulder. The boy was watching the terrible spectacle with wide-opened eyes and quickened breath.
"Charles," said he, "did you ever see a demigod?"
"No, general," replied the boy.
"Well, then," said Pichegru, "look at Hoche. Not even Achilles, son of Thetis, was grander or more beautiful."
And in truth, Hoche, surrounded by his enemies, his hair floating in the wind of death, his brow pale, his lip disdainful, with his tall figure and his beautiful face, looked like an ideal hero, at once dealing32 death and scorning it.
How would the men climb behind him? how would they scale those parapets eight or ten feet high? It would be impossible to describe how it was done, but in less than five minutes Hoche was followed by his men, the redoubt was carried, and the corpses33 of one hundred and fifty men were lying at his feet. Then Hoche sprang upon the redoubt, and counting the cannon, said: "Four cannon awarded, for two thousand four hundred francs, to the first ranks of the attacking column!"
Thus he stood for a moment, a living flag of the Revolution before the whole army, a target for bullets, none of which touched him. Then, in a terrible voice, he shouted: "At the others! Long live the Republic!"
And in the midst of rolling drums, the blare of trumpets, generals, officers and soldiers rushed pell-mell upon the intrenchments. At the first sound of the trumpets, the royalists, who were in readiness, rushed from their camp; but they were received by Abatucci's advance-guard, which came up at the double-quick, and kept them so busily engaged[Pg 195] that they were unable to assist their allies, the Prussians. Abatucci, in obedience34 to Pichegru's orders, had even detached fifteen hundred men, which he sent with the two aides-de-camp to join the main army.
Pichegru took command of them, and seeing that Abatucci was fully35 able to take care of himself with his remaining men, he hastened to the assistance of his comrades, who were hard-pressed at the redoubts. These fresh troops, animated36 by their victory at the first charge, penetrated37 the battery. The gunners were cut down, and such guns as could not be turned upon the Prussians were spiked38.
The two generals met in the midst of the fray39, and standing40 upon the summit of a low hill, from which they could see the whole plain of Neschwiller, joined in a shout of triumph. A black mass of shining weapons, tri-colored plumes41, and flags bending like the masts of a ship in a tempest, were advancing at the double; it was Macdonald and the first column, who thus arrived, not in time to decide the victory, for that was already gained, but to share in the glory.
At sight of them the Prussians became panic-stricken and thought only of flight. They flung themselves over the parapets of the redoubts, and rolled, rather than ran, down a slope so steep that it had not been thought necessary to fortify42 it. But Macdonald by a prompt man?uvre had skirted the hill, and received the soldiers at the point of the bayonet.
The royalists, who alone had not fled, on seeing their comrades, knew that the day was lost. The infantry43 retreated slowly, covered by the cavalry44, whose bold and frequent charges won the admiration45 even of those who were fighting against them.
Pichegru, under pretext46 that they were wearied, sent word to their conquerors47 to allow them to retreat slowly, while, on the contrary, the cavalry was to charge the fleeing Prussians, who did not rally until they had passed Woerth.
Then each of the generals, hastening to the top of the[Pg 196] low hill to view the battlefield, met at the summit. They threw themselves into each other's arms, and waving, the one his bloody sword, the other his hat pierced by two bullets, looked like two gigantic statues through the smoke which still mounted to the sky like the expiring flame of an extinguished volcano.
A tremendous cry of "Long live the Republic!" resounded48 across the battlefield at this sight, until it gradually died away, and was merged49 in the groans50 of the wounded and the last sighs of the dying.
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1
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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2
gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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3
nomination
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| n.提名，任命，提名权 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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7
windings
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| （道路、河流等）蜿蜒的，弯曲的( winding的名词复数 )； 缠绕( wind的现在分词 )； 卷绕； 转动（把手） | |
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8
thickets
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| n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 )；丛状物 | |
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9
solicitation
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| n.诱惑；揽货；恳切地要求；游说 | |
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10
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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11
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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12
battalion
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| n.营；部队；大队(的人) | |
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13
trumpets
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| 喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 )； 小号； 喇叭形物； （尤指）绽开的水仙花 | |
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14
cyclone
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| n.旋风，龙卷风 | |
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15
vomited
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16
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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17
furrows
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| n.犁沟( furrow的名词复数 )；（脸上的）皱纹v.犁田，开沟( furrow的第三人称单数 ) | |
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18
plowed
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| v.耕( plow的过去式和过去分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过 | |
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19
lessening
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| 减轻，减少，变小 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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21
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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22
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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23
mow
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| v.割（草、麦等），扫射，皱眉；n.草堆，谷物堆 | |
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24
victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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25
hymn
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌 | |
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26
extricated
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| v.使摆脱困难，脱身( extricate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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survivors
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| 幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 ) | |
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28
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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30
belched
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| v.打嗝( belch的过去式和过去分词 )；喷出，吐出；打（嗝）；嗳（气） | |
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31
engulfed
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| v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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32
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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33
corpses
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| n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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34
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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35
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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36
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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38
spiked
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| adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的 | |
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39
fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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40
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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41
plumes
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| 羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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42
fortify
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| v.强化防御，为…设防；加强，强化 | |
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43
infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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44
cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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45
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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46
pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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47
conquerors
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| 征服者，占领者( conqueror的名词复数 ) | |
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48
resounded
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| v.（指声音等）回荡于某处( resound的过去式和过去分词 )；产生回响；（指某处）回荡着声音 | |
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49
merged
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| （使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
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50
groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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