Napoleon's spies at Frankfort and on the Rhine heard only the
grumbling of Blucher, but they did not see the preparations of
Gneisenau.
On the 26th of December orders were dispatched to the commanders of
the different corps of the great Silesian army, communicating the
time and place of crossing the Rhine, and on the 31st every soldier
of that army stood on the bank ready for the passage. This was to be
effected at three different points--Mannheim, Caub, and Coblentz.
The grand, all-important moment had come; midnight was at hand.
It was a clear and beautiful night; the deep-blue sky was spangled
with stars, and the air cold and bracing. None saw the blank columns
moving toward the Rhine. The French, on the opposite side, were
asleep; they did not perceive Field-Marshal Blucher, who, at Caub,
on the bank of the river, was halting on horse back by the side of
his faithful Gneisenau, apparently listening in breathless suspense.
Suddenly, the stillness was interrupted by the chime of a
neighboring church-clock; another struck, and, like echoes, their
notes resounded down the Rhine, in all cities and villages,
proclaiming that the old year was past, and a new one begun.
Blucher took off his gray forage-cap, and, holding it before his
face, uttered a low, fervent prayer. "And now, forward!" he said, in
a resolute tone.
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