about two o'clock
It reached our shoulders , for the river was swollen by the autumn rains ; but we crossed , notwithstanding , without the loss of a man . Nearly all of us had our muskets when we reached the other bank , and we pressed onward across the fields , and soon reached the little wooden bridge at Schleissig , and thence turned to Lindenau . We marched silently , turning from time to time to gaze on the other side of the Elster , where the battle still raged in the streets of Leipzig . The furious shouts , and the deep boom of cannon still reached our ears ; and it was only when , about two o'clock , we overtook the long column which stretched , till lost in the distance , on the road to Erfurt , that the sounds of conflict were lost in the roll of wagons and artillery trains . Hitherto I have described the grandeur of war -- battles glorious to France , notwithstanding our mistakes and misfortunes . When we were fighting all Europe alone , always one against two , and often one to three ; when we finally succumbed , not through the courage of our foes , but borne down by treason , and the weight of numbers , we had no reason to blush for our defeat , and the victors have little reason to exult in it . It is not numbers that makes the glory of a people or an army -- it is virtue and bravery .