Hand-coloured engraved Vue d'Optique, 12½" x 18". Some foxing, browning and light staining, but overall very good. Chez Jean, St. Jean de Beauvais, No. 10, Paris, n.d, 1807.
Striking image of Napoleonic warfare. The opposing forces of French cavalry and Russian infantry provide the converging lines which produced the perspective effect when viewed through the optical device. The lengthy captioning describes the French victory in glowing terms, drawing attention to the presence of Augereau, Davout and "le Grand Duc de Berg" - Murat, who "...fit plusieurs charges superbes". According to this version of events, the Russians lost 1200 baggage waggons, eighty pieces of ordnance, and had 12,000 men "tués, blessés ou faits prisonniers", the French losses being "peu nombreuse". Digby Smith is somewhat less glowing in his account of what he describes as a "clash". The Russians were outnumbered by some 7,000, but even the French only had 16,000 in the field and the losses recorded by the Russians were about 100 dead, 500 wounded and 200 missing, French losses being "Equal to those of the Russians". "Despite being heavily outnumbered, the Russians held on until dark and then withdrew from the trap which was to have crushed them on three sides. They then withdrew east out of the inhospitable desert in which they had been fighting and went into winter quarters around Bialystock. Napoleon's army gave up the chase and did the same." [The Napoleonic Wars Data Book p.236]. Contemporary propaganda promoting the glories of Napoleon's military effort.
