Alexander Suvorov
Early achievements

Early on in the path, going to join with the not yet defeated Korsakov, he struggled against general Claude Lecourbe and overcame the St. Gotthard and Oberalp (that goes round Oberalpsee) mountain passes. Suvorov's troops beat the French out of Hospental (situated in the Urseren valley), followed by the so-called Teufelsbrücke, or "Devil's Bridge", located in the Schoellenen Gorge, and the Urnerloch rock tunnel. All these interventions were not without great losses for Suvorov; but in his main attack, where he concentrated some 6,700 against 6,000 Frenchmen, he suffered relatively the same casualties as his opponent. However, Suvorov's troops were at their wits' end.

Russian troops of Andrey Grigoryevich Rosenberg crossed the Lukmanier Pass, Austrian troops of Franz Auffenberg overcame the Chrüzli Pass, while Suvorov himself also later traversed more remote passes such as Chinzig and Pragel (Bragell), before climbing the 8,000-foot mountain Rossstock. Marching over rocks had worn out the soldiers' inadequate footwear, of which many were now even deprived, uniforms were often in tatters, rifles and bayonets were rusting from the constant dampness, and the men were starving for lack of adequate supplies,—they were exhausted, surrounded by impassable mountains in freezing cold, and, one way or another, faced a French army far superior in numbers and equipment. Cossack reconnaissance units instead of the Austrians of Lincken found the French there. France's forces, meanwhile, blocked off many important places for troop movements; and on September 29 (18 OS), still uncertain but informed about the fate of Korsakov and Hotze (from the testimony of French prisoners), Suvorov assembled a council of war in the refectory of the Franciscan monastery of Saint Joseph, which decided to pave the way for the army toward Glarus. During the council the Russian commander showed himself extremely resolute not to surrender, blamed the Austrian allies for all the hardships they were forced to suffer, and proposed what appeared to him to be the only possible solution. Suvorov dictated the disposition: in the vanguard appointed to go Auffenberg, who came out on the 29th, and the next day the rest of the troops, except for Rosenberg's corps and Foerster's division, which remained in the rearguard and must hold the enemy coming out of Schwyz until all the packs had passed over the mountain Bragell. Rosenberg was ordered to hold firm,—to repel the French with all his strength, but not to pursue him beyond Schwyz. Alexander Suvorov's speech was written down from the words of Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration, made a huge impression on everyone who attended (especially angry and menacing looked Derfelden and Bagration):

We are surrounded by mountains… surrounded by a strong enemy, proud of victory… Since the Pruth expedition, under the Sovereign Emperor Peter the Great, Russian troops have never been in such a perilous position… To go back is dishonorable. I have never retreated. Advancing to Schwyz is impossible: Masséna commands more than 60,000 men and our troops do not reach 20,000. We are short of supplies, ammunition and artillery… We cannot expect help from anyone. We are on the edge of the precipice! All we have left is to rely on Almighty God and the courage and spirit of sacrifice of my troops! We are Russians! God is with us!
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