Boris the Bear-Hunter
CHAPTER XXX.RUSSIA'S GREAT DAY.
In the autumn of 1707, Charles XII. made the first move in the greatgame which was to decide for ever the supremacy of Sweden or of hergreat rival of the north of Europe. Charles left his camp near Altstadtwith forty-five thousand men, marching through Poland; twenty thousandwere sent under Lewenhaupt to Riga, and fifteen thousand to Finland; inall, the Swedish king put in the field eighty thousand of the finesttroops in the world.
Passing the winter at Grodno, Charles appeared early in the followingsummer at Borisof. Here he found a Russian army ready to contest hispassage over the river Beresina; but he drove the Tsar's troops beforehim, and defeated them again at Moghilef, and a third time at Smolensk,which point he reached about September 1708.
He was now but ten days' march from Moscow, and there is no doubtthat, had he pushed straight on at this time, he might have, as he hadpromised, dictated terms of peace from the Kremlin. There is no doubt,also, that the Tsar himself began at this period to entertain gravefears for the final outcome of the struggle, and made proposals ofpeace which would practically have annulled his successes of the pastfew years. Had Charles either accepted these terms or marched directto Moscow, the history of Russia from that day to this would have beenwritten very differently; but, fortunately for the Tsar and for Russia,he did neither the one nor the other, and the reason for this was theconviction of a certain individual of whom we have lately heard thatthe run of luck which had attended the arms of Russia had received acheck.
Mazeppa, watching events from his castle at Batourin, observed withdisquietude the rapid and victorious advance of the dashing youngsoldier whom all Europe at that time hailed as a second Alexanderof Macedon. He saw his lord the Tsar, in the person of his advancedguards, driven from pillar to post, and flying before the soldiersof Charles like sheep before the sheep-dog; and the politic soul ofMazeppa quaked within him. Still he waited on, unwilling to takedecisive action until there remained no doubt whatever as to thefinal issue of the struggle. When, however, the Swedish hosts arrivedat Smolensk, Mazeppa deemed that the moment had come when it behovedhim to declare for the stronger, and he despatched letters secretly toCharles at his camp in that city, offering to place at the disposal ofthe Swedish monarch his entire strength of fifty thousand lances.
On receiving this communication, Charles immediately altered his plans.He quitted the highroad to Moscow, and turned aside into the Ukraine inorder to effect a junction with the Cossacks of Mazeppa.
This movement proved a fatal mistake. The Tsar had not been idle duringthe last few months, and though his troops had met with no success intheir efforts to stop the onward march of Charles's hosts, Peter, withhis best officers and an army of about one hundred thousand men, hadstill to be reckoned with before his Majesty of Sweden could carry outhis threat of dictating peace from the palace in Moscow.
No sooner had Charles turned aside into the Ukraine, thereby exposinghis flank to the Russian attack, than the Tsar saw his advantage, andhastened towards the Borysthenes, or Dnieper, with all the speed hecould, at the head of a strong force of fifty thousand picked troops.His object was to cut off the main Swedish body from communicationwith the army of Lewenhaupt, which was hastening to join Charles inthe Ukraine, at a distance of twelve days' march behind him. With thisforce was the whole of Charles's supply of provisions, upon which theSwedish host relied for its maintenance during the approaching winter.Peter, with whom was of course his faithful bear-hunter, in command ofthe Semenofski regiment, fell upon Lewenhaupt near the banks of theriver Borysthenes. For three days a stubborn fight dragged on, and thebrave Swedes strove to break through the opposing ranks of the equallyvaliant Russians; and when, at length, they cut their way through, andthe general joined his master at the river Desna, he found himselfat the head of but four thousand men--the rest of his army of twentythousand fine troops being either dead on the battle-field or prisonersin the hands of the enemy, who had captured also all the guns andammunition, and, worst of all, the invaluable convoy of supplies uponwhich the troops of Charles had relied.
This was a great day for the Tsar, and he celebrated his victory bya grand Te Deum in the cathedral at Moscow, leaving Charles and hisfamishing troops to winter as best they could in the Ukraine, incompany with their perfidious ally Mazeppa, who, instead of fiftythousand lances, had provided but six thousand in all, the rest eitherpreferring to remain loyal to Russia, or else joining Charles, butafterwards deserting. The Swedish army spent a wretched winter in theUkraine, and Charles lost half his men by hunger and cold.
Before departing for Moscow, the Tsar demolished Mazeppa's castle atBatourin; and from that day to this, or until recent years, the nameof Mazeppa has been solemnly cursed once a year in all the churches ofRussia.
Mazeppa was safe with Charles, however, having discreetly fled beforethe Tsar appeared, carrying with him two barrels of gold, in which formhe had consolidated the greater portion of his possessions.
The winter was spent by the Tsar, as well as by Boris, in busilypreparing for the crisis of Russia's fate--a crisis which could notnow be longer delayed, for the enemy was at the gates, and with thespring would commence to knock loudly for admittance. When the troopswere collected and drilled into shape, Boris received a signal favourfrom the Tsar in the command of a contingent of these forces, whichhe was instructed to conduct southwards to Pultowa, a fortified cityon the river Vorskla, which had the advantage of commanding the mainroad to Moscow as well as that of being close to the base of Charles'soperations. Boris had charge of large quantities of provisions andammunition for the use of the army during the coming season.
The trusty hunter safely reached his destination and took over thecommand of the garrison at Pultowa. And none too soon, as it turnedout; for early in the spring Charles set out upon his march for Moscow,and as a first step towards attaining his end, invested the fortressof Pultowa, of which he expected to make short work. But Charles wasnot so intimately acquainted with the character of Commandant Boris asyou, reader, and I; and all his efforts to bring the brave bear-hunterand his men to submission were unavailing. On the contrary, he foundthem perfectly ready and willing to meet him, in so far as fighting atclose quarters was concerned, and many a time did the Russian troopssally out from behind their protecting walls and give battle to theirassailants in the open. On one of these occasions, Boris had the honourof crossing swords a second time with his Swedish Majesty. The twomen met at the head of their respective parties, Charles being, asusual, on horseback, the hunter afoot. Charles recognized his formeradversary immediately. "Ha!" he cried, "Mr. Russian, we are old friendssurely? There was a matter we left unfinished; come, lay on now. I amon horseback; you shall have the first blow!"
Boris did not wait for a second invitation, but aimed one of hisbravest slashes at the king's head, which the king neatly turned aside,aiming a furious blow at Boris in return, which went near to loppingoff one of the hunter's ears. Then the pair had a cut-and-thrust match,each laying on at his best, until something startled the horse ofCharles and it swerved aside, just as the sword of Boris descended froma vicious sweep at Sweden's most precious crest. Most unfortunately forCharles, the sharp blade caught his foot in its descent and inflicted apainful wound, while at the same moment the horse bolted and the duelcame to an indecisive termination.
On this occasion, as always, the sortie did no more than vex thebesiegers, and the enterprising party of Russians were soon drivenback. But Boris found that his men liked these sorties, as a changefrom the dulness of the siege, and he was not the man to refuse themtheir pleasure from prudential motives.
But the crisis was now at hand. In June, the Tsar, fearing for thesafety of Pultowa, hastened to the relief of the garrison with a forceof nearly sixty thousand men. He crossed the Vorskla and establishedhimself upon the same side of that river with the besiegers, arranginghis lines so that if the army of Charles should attack him and beworsted in the fight they must be driven back to the angle formed bythe j
unction of the Vorskla and the Borysthenes. Here he strengthenedhis position with redoubts mounted with heavy artillery, and awaiteddevelopments; which he could afford to do, for his troops were amplysupplied with provisions and ammunition, whereas what was left ofCharles's force--about twenty-five thousand men--were in a wretchedcondition by reason of the hardships they had endured for many monthswhile roughing it in the Ukraine.
The proud Charles, hearing that Peter intended to attack him,immediately decided to take the initiative and be himself theassailant. Still suffering from his wounded foot, he was carried tobattle in a litter, and, placing himself at the head of his troops, headvanced to attack the Russian redoubts.
It was scarcely a fair fight, for Peter's force outnumbered that ofCharles by two to one, besides having the fortress of Pultowa withits garrison at their back. But so bravely did the Swedes fight thatday, that at the first advance they reached and captured the firstRussian line of defence, and were actually raising cries of victorywhen the Russians, encouraged by the Tsar himself, who fought all dayat the head of his men, made a tremendous effort and put a new aspectupon the affair. Forth from the walls of Pultowa poured fresh massesof Russians, with Boris at their head; the Swedes, at the point ofvictory, wavered, but fought bravely on; the Russian guns redoubledtheir efforts and poured a rain of cannon-balls among the ranks ofthe assailants; Peter called upon his men to make their effort, andlike one man the Russian host, singing their soldier songs as theywent, advanced and drove the Swedes before them. In vain the gallantCharles was borne up and down the lines in his litter, shouting,fighting, encouraging; in vain Mazeppa and his Cossacks made chargeupon charge--for, in spite of all his faults, it must be admitted thatthe hetman fought well this day and performed prodigies of valour.The Russians would take no denial, but marched steadily forward. Andever as they advanced they drove the Swedes before them; and ever asthe Swedish hosts retired the star of Sweden fell lower and lower inthe heavens, until, on the evening of Pultowa, it sank for ever in thewaters of the Borysthenes.
Boris, as well as his master, fought like a lion on this Russia'sgreatest day. His great object during the fight was to come to closequarters with the traitor Mazeppa; but though he was able at one momentto arrive within speaking distance, he could not approach close enoughto exchange blows.
"Ha, traitor and liar!" Boris had shouted, as Mazeppa dashed past atthe head of his Cossacks, "is this your sworn love and devotion to theTsar? Come and answer for your lies!"
"My dear man," said the courtly hetman, "the rats leave a fallinghouse. Peter should have made a better fight last year. As for meetingyou now, I should be delighted, but there is no time for pleasureto-day, I am too busy. _Au revoir!_"
Mazeppa certainly was busy, and it was no fault of his that his sidefailed to gain the day.
Soon the battle became a mere rout. The Swedes were driven steadilyonward towards the angle of the two rivers; and here they were forcedto surrender to their pursuers, though a few hundred men, among whomwere Charles and Mazeppa, succeeded in crossing the waters of theBorysthenes. About ten thousand had fallen on the field or in theredoubts.
That night on the banks of the Borysthenes Peter pitched his tent injoy and gratitude such as no words can describe. Weary as he was withthe tremendous exertion and excitement of the day, sleep would notvisit the aching eyes or soothe the restless brain of the victoriousTsar, and he left his tent and strolled out in the quiet moonlight inorder to breathe the cool air of night and enjoy the luxury of a littlecalm reflection upon the events of the day.
The July moon lay upon the face of the river, so lately crossed in hothaste by Charles and the traitor Mazeppa. What were they doing at thismoment, thought Peter, and where were they, poor wretches?--hurryingon, probably, in terror for their lives, somewhere in the heart ofyonder forest, their hopes turned to despair, their lives spoiled, thegreatness of Sweden buried for ever in the reddened soil of Pultowafield; while he stood here and contemplated the same events from howwidely different a standpoint! To them Pultowa meant ruin, complete andirretrievable; to him it told of a fatherland saved, of an empire whosefoundations this day had been secured for ever, of the removal of anhereditary enemy whose existence as a first-class power in the northof Europe must for ever have hampered and prevented the expansion ofRussia. And then, what a battle it had been! how his men had fought,and how Charles's soldiers had fought also, to do them justice!
As the conqueror thus mused and watched the moon's broad highway overthe water, a man came up and disturbed the Tsar's reflections. It wasBoris. He, too, was unable to sleep after this exciting day, and hadwandered down to the river side to cool his heated brow in the freshnight air. Peter grasped his old friend's hand solemnly and without aword and wrung it until the bones crunched together; then he took thehunter's arm and walked up and down by the river's bank in silence.
"Bear-eater," said the Tsar at length, "God has been very good to usthis day. The Neva is safe; we shall have the Baltic for our own. Youhave served me well, my Boris, both this day and for many a day--askwhat you will of me!"
But Boris laughed, and said that he had all he desired and there wasnothing to ask.
"That is well," said Peter; "the wisest man is he who is the mostcontented."
After a while the Tsar spoke again. "My Bear-eater," he said, "I amso happy to-night that I even feel glad poor Charles escaped; but notMazeppa--not Mazeppa! Ha! if I had come within reach of the traitor!"Peter burst out laughing. "Poor fellow," he said, "poor fellow! hethought Charles was our master, my Boris--poor Charles the Twelfth--thenew Alexander--who is wandering among the wolves and the pine trees,tired and cold and hungry, in yonder forest--poor fellow!" Then after apause, "Can you sleep to-night, Boris?" he asked.
Boris could not sleep, he said; he was too much affected by theexcitement and wild joy of the battle.
"Neither can I," said Peter. "Sit you down here and tell me a stirringwolf tale or two, or a bear story--something which will take us bothfrom the events of the day. This will ease our brains, and we shallsleep after it."
So the pair settled themselves upon the bank of the Dnieper and watchedthe moonlight weld its silver ladder over the broad stream, and Boristold many tales of adventure--of Nancy's bear, and of his little Katiecarried off by the wolves, and many others. And when he had done, andglanced at his companion, lo! Peter--like that other monarch whom Byrondescribes as listening on this very night to Mazeppa's tale in thesanctuary of yonder dark forest--Peter, tired out with the joys andexertions of this great day, "had been an hour asleep."