The little room where he conceived that sublime
poem is hallowed as if by the presence of unseen spirits.
I was anxious to see the spot where Poniatowsky fell. We returned over
the plain to the city, and passed in at the gate by which the Cossacks
entered, pursuing the flying French. Crossing the lower part, we came to
the little river Elster, in whose waves the gallant prince sank. The
stone bridge by which we crossed was blown up by the French to cut off
pursuit. Napoleon had given orders that it should not be blown up till
the Poles had all passed over as the river, tho narrow, is quite deep
and the banks are steep. Nevertheless, his officers did not wait, and
the Poles, thus exposed to the fire of the enemy, were obliged to plunge
into the stream to join the French army, which had begun retreat toward
Frankfort. Poniatowsky, severely wounded, made his way through a garden
near, and escaped on horseback into the water. He became entangled among
the fugitives, and sank. By walking a little distance along the road
toward Frankfort we could see the spot where his body was taken out of
the river; it is now marked by a square stone covered with the names of
his countrymen who have visited it. We returned through the narrow
arched way by which Napoleon fled when the battle was lost.
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