Cool summer quarters, or, going on swimmingly

The heavy drifts of snow that covered the Russian countryside have melted and transformed into a large body of water. The French troops, including Napoleon, are bobbing in the water and struggling towards dry land. In this satire Cruikshank provides a companion to his earlier engraving titled "Boney Hatching a Bulletin or Snug Winter Quarters!!!!" Napoleon is in the center of the image. He is immediately identifiable by his large bicorne hat topped with bedraggled plumes and dripping tassels. His boots kick out behind him in his attempts to swim for shore. As he swims, Napoleon casts an angry glance at his troops flailing in the water. In the foreground, several figures strive to keep their heads above water. To the left, a standard bearer wearing a long, limp mustache has fallen backwards into the choppy waves. At the right corner, a plump soldier wearing a liberty cap grasps the pigtail of a dragoon on horseback. In response, the officer cries out and pulls up on the reins. Comically, it is the dragoon's tail the soldier grasps, and not the horse's. In the distance, Allied troops can be distinguished forcing French soldiers held at bayonet point into the water. Thick clouds of smoke from the cannons obscure much of the landscape full of tall mountains and pines. George notes that this satire makes reference to a dispatch of 1 September, which was published on the 21st of the month in a British periodical, "An Extraordinary Gazette." The dispatch contained news of Blücher's victory over the French in the battle of the Katzbach that occurred near the Bober river. Significantly, George also writes that Napoleon was not in Katzbach, but in Dresden, where he had just beaten the Allies. The heavy drifts of snow that covered the Russian countryside have melted and transformed into a large body of water. The French troops, including Napoleon, are bobbing in the water and struggling towards dry land. In this satire Cruikshank provides a companion to his earlier engraving titled "Boney Hatching a Bulletin or Snug Winter Quarters!!!!" Napoleon is in the center of the image. He is immediately identifiable by his large bicorne hat topped with bedraggled plumes and dripping tassels. His boots kick out behind him in his attempts to swim for shore. As he swims, Napoleon casts an angry glance at his troops flailing in the water. In the foreground, several figures strive to keep their heads above water. To the left, a standard bearer wearing a long, limp mustache has fallen backwards into the choppy waves. At the right corner, a plump soldier wearing a liberty cap grasps the pigtail of a dragoon on horseback. In response, the officer cries out and pulls up on the reins. Comically, it is the dragoon's tail the soldier grasps, and not the horse's. In the distance, Allied troops can be distinguished forcing French soldiers held at bayonet point into the water. Thick clouds of smoke from the cannons obscure much of the landscape full of tall mountains and pines. George notes that this satire makes reference to a dispatch of 1 September, which was published on the 21st of the month in a British periodical, "An Extraordinary Gazette." The dispatch contained news of Blücher's victory over the French in the battle of the Katzbach that occurred near the Bober river. Significantly, George also writes that Napoleon was not in Katzbach, but in Dresden, where he had just beaten the Allies. Published by S. Knight. 1813-10-01 Caption: Pubd Octr 2d 1813 by S. Knight No 3 Sweetings Alley Royl Exchang Dialogue: Standard bearer (l.): "Oh! by Gar me no like dis vater vidout de vine." Dialogue: Napoleon: "D__n the Bober,--but I must put the best face on a bad business & tell my good people of Paris (credulous souls) that my Grand Army is in Snug Summer Quarters. (& I believe I may lie without fear of detection for few will escape to contradict or complain)--whoever, I must tell them, that we are going on in prime twig, quite, Swimmingly!!--& lay all the blame in that infernal Bore the River!!" Dialogue: Soldier in background: "Yes, upon my word, dis is de nice cool quarters." Dialogue: Dragoon on horseback: "O! D__n you sare let my Tail alone" Printed Signature: G. Cruikshank fect. Annotation: THI.53 Collector's Mark: A