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the resolution of his master; he must have known this; and, at all events, would scarcely, without authority, have dared to become responsible in circumstances so full of peril. The reasons which he assigned, therefore, when he declined to consult the cabinet of St Petersburgh, were doubtless those which really influenced him, whatever may be said by the calumniators of the Russian name.

The contemptuous refusal of Buonaparte's second offer for negociation exasperated him to madness, and he would assuredly have attempted some thing decisive in this moment of frenzy, had his fears not whispered to him, that his own soldiers had now become almost as dangerous to him as the enemy. The foreigners in his service deserted in thousands, and carried intelligence of all kinds to the Russians; even the French were seized with despair. There was neither advance nor retreat for them; no means of subsistence for the present, nor hope of deliverance for the future.-It remained for their leader but to make one further effort at negociation. Lauriston was again ordered into his presence, and desired, for the third and last time, to repair to the head-quarters of Prince Kutusoff with new proposals for an armistice, and with an offer that the French should evacuate Moscow, and take up a position in the neighbourhood, where the terms of a treaty might be afterwards arranged. The Russians were not to be deceived by such overtures; they had their enemy in their power; they had every thing to gain by the continuance of the war, and every thing to lose by its abrupt and unseasonable termination; and, above all, they were perfectly sensible that the evacuation of Moscow, which the French ruler seemed to hold out as an inducement, would have counteracted all their plans of vengeance. To the proposal for an

armistice and a negociation for peace, the Russian general-in-chief replied with firmness, "It is not time for us to grant either the one or the other, when the campaign on our part is just opening."-Thus were extinguished all the hopes which had for a while sustained the sinking spirits of Buonaparte and his army. His disappointment on account of what was past, was equalled only by his apprehension of what was to come; and in order to withdraw from the scene of misery, which was every day extending around him, he abandoned Moscow, and returned to the palace of Petrofsky, where he had formerly expected the Russian authorities to welcome him to the capital. Here he was left to meditate on his errors, and form unavailing plans for extricating his fol lowers from the difficulties which surrounded them.

The desire of revenge was the first impulse of his mind. He determined that Moscow should bear lasting marks of his resentment, and that whatever of its magnificence yet remained should fall a sacrifice to his disappointed hopes. He summoned his officers to the place where he had now fixed his residence; he ordered them to intimate to the soldiers that the barbarous warfare of the Russians had reduced the capital so much, that he could no longer avail himself of it as a military position, and that he had, therefore, determined on abandoning it. The severity of a Russian winter called upon him to provide for the comfort of his followers; and he meant therefore to lead them into other provinces of the empire, where all their wants would be supplied. When the return of spring should again open the field to their prowess, they would triumph in every quarter, and, advancing upon St Petersburgh, erase the name of Russia from the list of European nations.

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Orders were given by Buonaparte to his generals, and by them announced to the army, to complete the destruction of Moscow. These orders were obeyed with ferocious alacrity; and scenes occurred of which it is impossible to give even a faint impression. The soldiers indulged all their vile passions with confidence, for their atrocities had the sanction of their leader. For eight days every species of crime was committed with impuni. ty; nor did this memorable tragedy conclude until Moscow was no more. On this subject it is impossible to exaggerate; for every description must fall beneath the dreadful reality. Let him who doubts this, recollect to what a state of desperation the minds of the French soldiers had been wrought up by disasters and calamities of all kinds

-let him recollect what a ruffian soldiery is even in their calmest moments -and then let him reflect also how much their audacious violence must have been inflamed under the sanction of that power which they were accustomed to obey. When he takes these circumstances into account, he may be able to form some faint idea of these disgraceful scenes; but he will yet have difficulty in believing, that in the nineteenth century the most unparalleled atrocities should have been committed by the armies of a nation, which pretends to greater refinement and humanity than the other states of Europe.

It was the intention of Buonaparte to have placed a garrison in the Kremlin, and to have retained military possession of Moscow. With this view, he employed his troops in fortifying the palace; but when he discovered the full extent of the perils to which he was exposed, he abandoned this project; he had the palace undermined, and gave orders that it should be destroyed. He thought proper to assign his reasons for taking this step. He told his followers that the Kremlin had not

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sufficient natural strength to be defended by a garrison of less than 20,000 men; that so many could not be red without forfeiting advantages of greater moment; and that Moscow, now a heap of ruins, was not worth so great a sacrifice.-The enemy's official reports gave an exulting account of the success of this grand enterprise. "All the adjoining buildings having been emptied with great care, and the Kremlin being judiciously mined, at two o'clock in the morning of the 23d of October it was blown into the air by the Duke of Treviso (Mortier.) The arsenal, the barracks, the magazines, all have been destroyed. This ancient citadel, from which is dated the foundation of the empire, this first palace of the czars, exists no more!" This is, however, a very erroneous ac count of the enemy's success, for he was fortunately prevented from executing his plans to their full extent by the activity of the Russian corps in the neighbourhood, which arrived in time to save the greater part of this venerable edifice.

Early in the month of October the French sent out strong detachments from Moscow, that they might deceive Winzengerode and the other Russian generals as to the real movements of their army. It was at first supposed by the Russians that these detachments had been sent out merely to plunder the surrounding country; but they were soon undeceived by the reports of deserters and prisoners.. Winzengerode received intelligence also, that the enemy's force still remaining in Moscow was very much re duced; and on the 19th of October he observed that the corps under Mortier, stationed on the Monjaisk road, had fallen back towards the capital. He sent a small party to reconnoitre the new positions which the enemy. had taken up; and the Russians were enabled gradually to approach even to

the city without opposition. They were at last assailed, however, by a strong body of French infantry and cavalry, and must have been cut to pieces but for the opportune arrival of General Iliovaskoy, with the whole force under his command, by whom the French were repulsed.-Winzen. gerode was thus enabled to draw his forces round Moscow; and on the 22d he passed the barriers of the city, overthrew the enemy, and drove them under the guns of the citadel. At this moment the Russian general, accompanied by his aid-de-camp, rode forward to the French lines, carrying a flag of truce, to intimate that further resistance by the enemy must be vain, and to propose a capitulation. The French answered by making the general and his aid-de-camp prisoners. This singular violation of the usages of war animated the Russians with resistless fury; and on the morning of the 23d of October, when the first mine was about to be sprung, which was to level the Kremlin to the ground, they marched forward under their general, Iliovaskoy, and seized the incendiaries with the torches in their hands. Thus was the Kremlin saved, and what remained of Moscow recovered to the Russian empire. Although Buona parte, in his report, had remarked,

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that the Kremlin exists no more,' scarcely any part of it had been injured; and the Russians, besides recovering their ancient capital, had the satisfaction of saving from the flames thousands of sick and wounded French, with whom the palace, as well as the neighbouring churches, was crowded. The inhabitants of Moscow returned to their desolated city; their wants were supplied as well as circumstances would permit; and every effort was made to mitigate as much as possible the severity of suffering, which no human power could altogether relieve. The return of the civil and military

authorities contributed to the restoration of order; and, above all, the reappearance of the magnanimous Ros topschin filled every heart with confidence and joy.

Those who recollect, that to the councils and example of this nobleman the abandonment of Moscow has been chiefly ascribed, and whose hearts are too cold to sympathize with the feelings which at this moment inspired the people of Russia, may wonder that the apparent author of so many calamities should have excited any other sentiments than those of horror and indignation. To such persons he will appear in the light only of a desperate and unrelenting barbarian, filled with vulgar antipathies towards the more civilized enemies of his country, and altogether regardless of the sufferings of his fellow creatures.-A very different view of his character was taken by his more generous countrymen, who attributed to his wise councils, and heroic resolution, the deliverance of their country from a foreign yoke. He was not one of those selfish patriots, who advise others to submit to sacrifices from which they themselves would shrink; for as he was among the most resolute of his countrymen in recommending eternal resistance to the enemy, so was he among the foremost in setting an example of the virtues which he so strenuously inculcated. Besides his houses in Moscow, he had a fine villa in the neighbourhood, to which he set fire with his own hands, having first affixed to one of the gates the following singular notification: "For eight years I found my pleasure in embellishing this country retreat. I lived here in perfect happiness within the bosom of my family; and those around me largely partook of my felicity. But you approach, and the peasantry of this domain, to the number of 1720 human beings, fly for

mercy, and I set fire to my house! We abandon all, we consume all, that neither ourselves nor our habitations may be polluted with your presence. Frenchmen, I left to your rapacity two of my houses in Moscow, full of furniture and valuables, to the amount of half a million of rubles. Here you

will find nothing but ashes."-So long as this memorable campaign shall be remembered, the name of Rostopschin will be pronounced with exultation and delight by all those who have any sympathy with the noblest virtues of human nature.

CHAP. XV.

Russian Affairs continued. The French prepare to retreat. They are surrounded by Difficulties. Account of the numerous Engagements which occurred during the Retreat-Of the Sufferings of the French-Of the Dispersion of their Armies, and their Expulsion from the Russian Empire. Buonaparte returns to Paris, and the Russians occupy Wilna.

THE reoccupation of the capital by the Russian troops, was an event of such importance, that the general-in chief immediately availed himself of the opportunity now offered him for developing his plains, and explaining to his soldiers the condition to which their enemies had been reduced, and the glorious prospects which began to unfold themselves. The address, which he circulated throughout the army, contained many just remarks and noble sentiments; and at the same time gave so faithful a description of the state of Russian feelings at this great crisis, that it shall be inserted. It is dated the 31st of October, and declared to be for the instruction of the troops: "At the moment in which the enemy entered Moscow," says the generalin-chief," he beheld the destruction of those vain hopes by which he had been flattered; he expected to find there plenty and peace; on the contrary, he saw himself deprived of every necessary of life; harassed by long marches; exhausted for want of provisions; wearied by our parties intercepting his slender resources; losing, without the honour of battle, thou sands of his troops, cut off by our

provincial detachments, and no pros pect before him but the vengeance of an armed nation, threatening annihilation to the whole of his army. In every Russian he beheld a hero disdainful of his fallacious promises; in every state of the empire he met an insurmountable rampart of peril to his efforts. After sustaining incalculable losses by the attacks of our brave troops, he recognized at last the frenzy of his expectations, that the foundation of the empire would be shaken by his possession of Moscow. Nothing remained for him but a precipitate flight; the resolution was no sooner taken than it was executed; and he fled, abandoning nearly the whole of his sick to the mercy of an outraged people, and leaving Moscow on the 23d of the month completely evacuated. The horrible excesses which he committed while in that city are already well known, and have left an unconquerable desire of vengeance in the bottom of every Russian heart; but I have to add, that his impotent rage exercised itself in blowing up part of the Kremlin, where, by a signal interference of Divine Providence, the sacred temples

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