Meanwhile old Kaminski had taken the command of the Russian army, and had fixed his head-quarters at Pultusk. His Generals concentrated their forces, and every thing denoted the design of removing to this side of the river. Napoleon hastened forward with the view of driving them from their position. He visited the entrenched camp of Okuniew, reconnoitred the river, the position of the Russians, and the plain which it was necessary to cross in order to come up with them. This plain, which was covered with trees, cut down wood, and marshes, was almost as difficult to carry as the redoubts, behind which the Cossacks had sheltered themselves. The Emperor examined it for a considerable time. Some clumps of trees intercepted his view; but he called for a ladder, and mounting on the roof of a hut, he was enabled to observe the nature of the position occupied by the Russians, and the movements that were taking place on the opposite bank of the river. "We will pass," said he; "send an officer hither." The second chief of the staff of the 3d corps presented himself, and wrote down to the Emperor's dictation the following arrangements.

"The first division is to proceed to the island, and to form itself at as great a distance as possible from the enemy.

"All the troops of the 3d division must remain at the head of the bridge; and are to take no share in the attack: they are to remain in reserve.

"Battalions are to be formed with the eight companies of voltigeurs, which, with the battalions of the 13th light, will form three columns. These three columns are to proceed as secretly as possible to the three extremities of the canal, and will halt in the centre of the island, so as to be beyond reach of the fusillade. Each of these columns will have three pieces of cannon in its rear.

"Each company will detach its cannon, escorted by a company of voltigeurs. These companies will commence the fusillade, covering themselves with the hedges. Meanwhile the artillery officers will plant their batteries, and fire grape-shot on the battalions and troops with which the enemy will not fail to oppose our passage.

"Bridges may be constructed under the protection of this artillery.

"The three columns are to cross the river; and as soon as they shall be stationed on the opposite side, three piquets of horse chasseurs, each consisting of sixty men, will cross to charge the enemy, pursue him speedily, and make prisoners.

"The 17th regiment will cross immediately after, and range itself in the order of battle, leaving between each battalion a space of twenty-five toises; in the rear of which will be stationed three squadrons of light cavalry. The remainder of the division will afterwards cross, and form itself in the rear."

We advanced towards the heights occupied by the enemy, whom we attacked on the right and the left: he was unable to resist the shock, and was repulsed. Our troops evinced unexampled valour: Napoleon applauded their courage; and he called Generals Morand and Petit, on whom he bestowed the most flattering compliments. He wished to afford some repose to the corps, who had just been engaged; and he detached Friant's division in pursuit of the Russians. Our voltigeurs came up with them at Nasielsk, attacked their left wing, routed, cut them up, and took three pieces of cannon: they pursued them into the woods; the fusillade commenced on both sides, and we experienced obstinate resistance. We had no artillery, and we could not drive from their position, columns which were protected by the nature of the ground, and the grape-shot; but the courage of our troops made amends for their deficiency of artillery. The signal for the attack was given: the 48th, led on by the intrepid Barbanegre, rushed headlong upon the enemy's masses, and routed them. Night approached, and the darkness enabled them to escape from the thrusts of our bayonets. We collected several pieces of cannon, which had stuck in the mud on the road.

Some formidable masses of the enemy's force were before us; but they did not venture to wait until we came up with them: they fled, some towards Golymin and others towards Pultusk. I pursued those who fled in the former direction, with the division of dragoons which the Emperor had entrusted to my command. The Marshal detached Daultane to cover the rear of the 5th corps, which he knew had proceeded to Pultusk. There had been a complete thaw for the space of two days;—a circumstance which was uncommon in Poland at that season of the year. The ground over which we passed was a clayey soil, intersected with marshes: the roads were excessively bad: cavalry, infantry, and artillery stuck in the bogs; and it cost them the utmost difficulty to extricate themselves. We advanced only a short league in the space of two hours. Many of our officers stuck in the mud and remained there during the whole of the battle of Pultusk. They served as marks for the enemy to shoot at.

The third division had no sooner debouched from the village than it was informed by its pioneers that a considerable mass of cavalry covered, at some distance a column of artillery and baggage. General Friant ordered them to be watched by detachments of cavalry, as he was well convinced that the cloud of Cossacks would disperse on the appearance of the infantry. They fled, and we took artillery, ammunition, carriages and cassoons of every kind. The General, pleased with these advantages, went to take up a position for the night, when a heavy cannonade was heard; it proceeded from Marshal Lannes' forces, who were driven by the Russians from Pultusk. We had our turn on the following day: they occupied a wood whence we wished to dislodge them; our columns advanced, the voltigeurs were in front, and the infantry were disposed en echelon behind them. We experienced obstinate resistance on the part of the enemy. He attacked us: we charged with the bayonet; and our battalions drove him back on his own masses. We remained masters of the field: it was covered with the bodies of the dead, and with bags which the Russians had thrown down in order to fly with the greater speed. The infantry was dislodged, and the cavalry now advanced. I went forward to meet them and drove them back. But the voltigeurs, who were dispersed about in the marshes, overwhelmed us with their balls: I had my left arm broken.

I had been four times wounded in the first campaigns of the army of the Rhine, under Custine, Pichegru, Moreau, and Desaix; twice before the ruins of Memphis, and in Upper Egypt before the ruins of Thebes; at the battle of Austerlitz and at Golymin. I also received four other wounds at Moscow, as I shall hereafter have occasion to mention.

From Golymin I was removed to Warsaw. Napoleon arrived there on the 1st January, and he did me the honour to come and see me. "Well, Rapp," said he, "you are wounded again; and on your unlucky arm too." It was the ninth wound which I had received on my left arm, and the Emperor therefore called it my unlucky arm.—"No wonder, Sire," said I, "we are always amidst battles." "We shall perhaps have done fighting," he replied, "when we are eighty years old."

MM. Boyer and Yvan dressed my wound in his presence. When Napoleon saw that the bone was really broken, he said, "His arm must be amputated. He is now very ill; and this wound may be his death." M. Boyer smiled and said, "Your Majesty would go too hastily to work: the General is young and vigorous; we shall cure him."—"I hope," said I, "this is not the last time you will have occasion to make me suffer martyrdom."

Napoleon soon left Warsaw for the battle of Eylau, and established his head-quarters at Osterode. Here I was appointed to the government of Thorn, whither I was directed to proceed to complete the restoration of my health. I forwarded provisions, artillery, and ammunition, to carry on the siege of Dantzic.

I was now the Providence of the Prussian Generals. They wrote to me intreating my intercession in their behalf. Blucher himself did not disdain to solicit the grace of his Majesty the Emperor and King of Italy. He was at first to have been conducted to Dijon, as has been already mentioned; but he had laid down arms, and therefore it signified little whether he was at Dijon or elsewhere. He was permitted to retire to Hamburgh; but he soon grew tired of that city, and begged to be allowed to go to the neighbourhood of Berlin. The following is the letter which he addressed to me on this subject:—

The Emperor refused to grant the request, but the General cannot have forgotten the manner in which I treated him. It is in his power to say whether the French know how to respect misfortune.

On the surrender of Dantzic, I was appointed Governor of the city, with the rank of General-in-chief.

Napoleon arrived at Dantzic on the 29th of May, and he spent two days there. He expected that this new acquisition would afford immense resources, particularly in specie. I received the strictest orders to collect the contributions, which amounted to twenty millions, and which were extended to thirty in provisions by the treaty which I sometime after entered into with the town. I was furnished with a carte blanche, and was authorized to adopt any means I chose for effecting the collection; but I found the thing impossible. It occasioned me the greatest annoyance. Sometimes one measure of severity was resorted to, and sometimes another. The common people, as well as the richest and most considerable of the citizens, were all threatened in their turns. I constantly used my utmost endeavour to elude these violent orders; I spared the inhabitants of Dantzic many causes of discontent. At the peace, they still owed 17,000,000 of contributions.

Napoleon was present at the battles of Heilsberg, and Friedland. Eight days after his departure he wrote to me as follows:—

"M. de Talleyrand will proceed to Dantzic, and will stay with you some time. You will receive and treat him like a prince. You are aware of the esteem and attachment I entertain for that Minister," &c. He might have escaped many misfortunes had he never quarrelled with Talleyrand.

After the treaty of Tilsit, Napoleon sent me private instructions. He informed me of the probability of peace, and ordered me to keep a vigilant eye over Prussia and the Royal family. He was still incensed against William and his subjects. I could not guess the reason. Berthier explained it to me; and I did not think it a just one. Berthier came to Dantzic to deliver me fresh instructions, and to remind me of the directions I had received, to be on my guard against the plots which might be hatching around me. I was to remain at Dantzic until the cessation of hostilities. The Russians were for us. We had fine sport with the English; in less than two years those islanders were to be obliged to sue for peace.

In fine, I remained at Dantzic. I corresponded directly with Napoleon: most of his letters evinced an extraordinary degree of dissatisfaction, in which I must confess I myself participated for a considerable time.

The language and conduct of some Prussian officers contributed to keep up the prejudice against them. I treated them with great severity; the least fault was punished to the utmost; but at the same time I always rendered them justice, and never allowed them to be molested. Tranquillity, however, was restored. Each party mutually laid aside their animosity, and confidence was re-established. I saw and received the Prussians; and I may say, that from the first year after I obtained the command, all the reports which I forwarded to Paris were distinguished by moderation and truth. I represented to Napoleon that it was difficult for the Prussians so soon to forget their former greatness; that the public mind was becoming tranquil, and that the King, the ministers, and the Royal family never ceased to recommend to the people that resignation which misfortune renders indispensable.

I always wrote to this purport. I had no cause to complain of any one; for my own part, I was on very good terms with the civil and military authorities. I saw them frequently; and all of them, I may say, placed the greatest confidence in me. They were sensible of the justice of my proceedings.

All the commandants, however, did not act in the same way: their reports, and the disasters of Baylen, excited fresh doubts in Napoleon's mind with regard to the conduct of Prussia. He charged me to double my vigilance: "Overlook nothing in the Prussians," he said to me in one of his letters; "they must not be allowed to raise their heads."

The news of the disasters which we had experienced in the peninsula at length spread over Germany, and awakened new hopes; the public mind was violently agitated. I informed Napoleon of this; but he disliked the revival of painful recollections, and was still more averse to unpleasing anticipations of the future. He replied to me: "Germans are not Spaniards; the character of the German bears no resemblance to that of the fierce Catalonian."