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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 impunity; 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 destroy. ed. He thought proper to assign his reasons for taking this step. He told his followers that the Kremlin had not

sufficient natural strength to be defended by a garrison of less than 20,000 men; that so many could not be spared 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 maga zines, all have been destroyed. 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.

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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 Mor. tier, 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.-Winzengerode 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 fur ther 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 Buonaparte, 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 Rostopschin 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.

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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 оссиру Wilna.

THE reoccupation of the capital by the Russian troops, was an event of such importance, that the general-inchief 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, thousands 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

and cathedral have been saved. Let us then hasten to pursue this impious enemy, while other Russian armies, once more occupying Lithuania, act in concert with us for his destruction. Already do we behold him in full flight, abandoning his baggage, burning his war carriages, and reluctantly separating himself from those treasures which his profane hands had torn from the very altars of God. Already destruction and famine spread confusion before Napoleon, and behind him arise the murmurs of his troops, like the sound of threatening waves. While these appalling sounds attend the retreat of the French, in the ears of the Russians resounds the name of their magnanimous monarch. Listen, soldiers, while he thus addresses you, Extinguish the flames of Moscow in the blood of our invaders.' Russians, let us obey this solemn command; our injured country, appeased by this great vengeance, will then retire satisfied from the field of war, and behind the line of her extensive frontier will take her august station, between peace and glory. Russian warriors, God is our leader!"-This address had great effect throughout the army, and redoubled the zeal of the soldiers to avenge the cause of their country.

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While these great events occurred in the neighbourhood of Moscow, some affairs of considerable moment took place in other quarters. A short summary of these events, which may fix attention on the state of the detached corps during the intermediate period, will be necessary to a right understanding of their movements and operations, when they came to act under one great system against the retreating enemy. The army of General Essen, in the neighbourhood of Riga, for some time maintained the position which it had taken up without molestation, and preserved its communication with the corps of Count

Wittgenstein, which the enemy_scarcely attempted to interrupt. The French, however, for a moment weakened their force, and withdrew from Mittau; and Essen, knowing the importance of this station, hastened to occupy it, and succeeded almost without resistance -General D'Yorck, who commanded the Prussians in this quarter, advanced to retake the posi tion. Essen, aware of the great superiority of the assailants, deemed it prudent to retire in the direction of Riga, where he endeavoured to unite his ar my to that of General Steingel, who was acting in front of this place.Steingel's position was at this time threatened by the French, who had assembled in considerable numbers in the vicinity of Petergoff, and occupied a station which gave them many advantages. The Russian general advanced to the neighbourhood of a small village called Garossen, where, on the morning of the 31st of September, a severe engagement took place, in which the French succeeded at first in driving the Russians from their position, but were afterwards repulsed.-A similar attempt was made by the enemy four several times during the day, and the same result regularly fol lowed. These affairs, and the intelligence that the Russians had received considerable reinforcements at Riga, induced Macdonald to form a closer junction with the Prussians; and this movement had the effect of liberating the corps which Wittgenstein had stationed to observe the French marshal at Dinaburg. The Prussian auxiliaries did not exert themselves on this occasion with very great zeal; the French already began to abandon the shores of the Úwina; and the Russian generals, unable to comprehend the object of these singular movements, thought that the enemy prepared to unite the whole of his tenth division, and fall at once upon Riga with his

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