Experiences of a cuirassier at Dresden, 1813 …

Auguste Thirion was second lieutenant in the 9th Cuirassiers. He participated in the battle of Dresden and wrote an interesting eyewitness account of the event in his ‘Military Recollections’ :

For forty-eight hours, all the floodgates of the sky had been opened on top of our heads, and if we were not sad-looking knights, one could at least say that we were sad-faced cuirassiers? Soaked, fatigued, totally lacking in provisions, as much as for our horses as for ourselves, wading through drenched ground, these were the conditions in which we found ourselves at the battle of Dresden.

It is true that the enemy, apart from the food which they did not lack, shared with us the unpleasantness of the atmosphere. A remarkable and fortunate circumstance for us was that the enemy presented us almost nothing else but infantry, and here is how ‘fortunate’ they really were. The flintlocks and bassinets were so thoroughly damped that the infantry could not fire. The battle began with battery fire, which lasted long enough, and as both armies held their ground, we were ordered to advance on the enemy’s squares, for all this infantry was formed into squares, a manoeuvre employed when opposing cavalry.

As we drew nearer we were forced to convince ourselves that we were conducting an attack of the most feeble description, for out of a square consisting 1,500 bayonets on which my regiment was advancing, only fifty muskets were able to fire, and, still advancing, we finally came within range of the bayonets, of which the infantry made the best use they could. They hurled themselves vigorously against the chests or nostrils of our horses, and we were confined in this position for quite a long time without being able to penetrate the square, either because our horses were frightened by this movement, or because the riders did not make use of their spurs, none of them wanting to sacrifice their horses.

If we had charged this infantry with the might of our steeds, they would not have attempted to hold out, for they would have realised that it would have been impossible for them to withstand the shock of an impetuously moving mass, but we came up to speed and [yet] they defended themselves as well as they could.

I cannot remember how long we would have remained in this particular and very extraordinary position; the cuirassiers, sabres held high and threatening; the infantry engaged in violent and incessant bayonet exercises, had not a man in the regiment cried out: ‘Take (out) pistols!’ The advice was immediately obeyed: the shabraques were lifted, the muzzles uncovered, and the pistols, which were perfectly sheltered from the rain which immobilised the muskets, were seized and aimed at these unfortunate Austrians, who at once ceased all resistance, threw down their arms, and the cavalry entered the square, which surrendered itself as well as the others that occupied the battlefield. It seems impossible to win a victory at such a small cost …

Source : Auguste Thirion, Souvenirs militaires, Berger-Levrault et Cie, 1892, pp. 280-282.