Supplement to Mr. Harding's Paper.

[Extract from Memoirs of General Marbot, read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 3rd November, 1897, by Mr. W. T. L. Travers.]

The 23rd Chasseurs, posted at Zapole, were covering one flank of the united corps when Marshal Victor, hearing that a large force of the enemy was at Vonisokoi-Ghorodie, ordered General Castex to reconnoitre this point with one of his regiments. It was the turn for mine to march. We started at nightfall, and reached Ghorodie without hindrance. The village stood in a bottom, on a large drained marsh. Everything was quiet, and the peasants, whom I questioned through Lorenz, had not seen a Russian soldier for a month. I therefore prepared to go back to Zapole; but our return was not as calm as our outward march had been. There was no fog, but the night was very dark, and I was afraid that the regiment was going astray among the numerous dykes in the marsh. I therefore took for guide one of the inhabitants of Ghorodie who appeared less stupid than the others. My column had proceeded in good order for half an hour when I suddenly perceived bivouac fires upon the hills surrounding the marsh. I halted my men, and sent out two intelligent sergeants to reconnoitre, bidding them try and avoid being seen. They soon came back saying that a strong body was blocking our way, while another was in position in our rear. I turned round, and when I saw thousands of fires between me and Ghorodie it seemed clear that I had inadvertently got into the middle of an army corps, which was preparing to bivouac on the spot. The fires kept increasing in number; the plain and hills were soon covered with them, and presented the appearance of a camp of fifty thousand men, in the midst of which was I with less than seven hundred troopers. The odds were great, but how were we to avoid the danger which threatened? The only way was to gallop forward in silence along the main dyke upon which we were, to surprise the enemy by a sudden charge, and cut our way through, sword in hand. Once out of the light of the camp-fires the darkness would save us from pursuit. Having decided on this course, I sent officers all along the column to let the troops know, being certain that all would approve my plan and follow me resolutely. I must admit that I was not without anxiety, for the enemy's infantry might stand to their arms at the first challenge of a sentry, and kill many of my people while my regiment was passing in front of it. In the middle of my anxiety the peasant who was guiding us burst into shouts of laughter, and Lorenz did the same. In vain did I question the latter. He could not stop laughing; and, not knowing enough French to explain the unusual circum-