THE POORER INHABITANTS DURING WAR. 339 like a furnace,-fanned by a storm. It was known that at least 6,000 wounded and helpless Russians, and probably some French, were lying in the Hospitals after the Fires broke out, and there can be little doubt as to the dreadful fate of these poor creatures. In fact, the sacrifice of life throughout this Invasion of Russia was enormous ;-never fully known. The desertion, and burning of their Capital by the Russians, -when they found themselves unable to cope with their Invaders, in the open Field,-has,-for its devotion,-no parallel in History! "Sire!" said the Russian Merchants to their Emperor, Alexander,-" Ask all!" "It is yours! Take all!" The detestation of the French was universal; they were resolved to make any sacrifices. At one of their patriotic meetings, the President put down his name for an immense sum; it was half his fortune! One of the Russian Princes wrote to the French,-" I leave you two Palaces in Moscow, which, with their furniture, cost half a million of roubles, but before you enter them they will be in ashes." Napoleon, at St. Helena, contended that he could be no more expected as a General, to have foreseen, and provided against -so tremendous an expedient as the desertion and burning of their Capital by the Russians, than he could be expected to have foreseen an earthquake! THE POORER INHABITANTS DURING WAR. Doubtless, all the wealthier inhabitants had left Moscow, after the taking of Smolensko,—and had removed their chief valuables which could be carried away. It is known that the Magazines, Public Archives, &c.,-as in the case of Smolensko, had been safely removed. But the distress caused to the poorer inhabitants left to evacuate the city without any means of subsistence, will never be known. Napoleon calculated (let us hope with some exaggeration), that 100,000 of these poor creatures perished from want and exposure in the Forests and Wilderness round Moscow ! Thus it always is in War,-whoever may be victorious, the wretched poorer inhabitants suffer more than the trained soldiers, who, as a rule, are systematically provided for. Thus, at San Sebastian, when the French soldiers had defended the breaches to the last, dealing fearful destruction upon our troops, they retired to the Citadel, leaving the maddened soldiers, as at Badajoz,-infuriated by their losses, to fall upon the defenceless inhabitants. So many of our corporals, sergeants, &c., had fallen, that Wellington, for once, lost control of the men. When discipline had been resumed, the 340 WARNINGS OF DISASTER. French soldiers capitulated, and were allowed to march out unharmed. War is ruin to all, but most of all it is ruin to the poorer classes. The wealthy lose a portion of their goods,-but from the poor it takes their all. The Generals who escape, and they generally are seen on the hills at a respectful distance from " the front,"-may return to receive honours and emoluments, but the working classes, from whose ranks the common soldiers are drawn,-have to go into the battle and get, for their reward, death, or a wooden leg! The burning of Moscow was then a frightful expedient,but it proved also the ruin of the French! Napoleon entered the Kremlin at Moscow, on the 20th September, after the flames had raged for two entire days; it then lulled for want of fuel, the churches and buildings of stone alone remaining. To reach it he passed through the camps of his soldiers forced to remain outside the burning city in the dismal rain and cold mire. Around immense fires, fed by rich mahogany furniture and gilt doors, the soldiers, splashed with mud, were lying in wet straw sheltered by a few planks, and around them, in heaps, lay superb arm chairs, damask silk sofas, costly Cashmere shawls, gold stuffs from Persia, and even dishes of solid silver rescued before the fires broke out. Yet the soldiers, as yet, had nothing to eat but black dough, and half-broiled horseflesh. No doubt the pillage secured during the past two days had been very large, but it is doubtful if any portion of it eventually crossed the Beresina in their flight. PERISHING IN THE SNOW. A RUSSIAN WINTER BEGINS. 341 Up to the middle of October, 1812, the weather remained open, but during an armistice many warnings of what was before them were given by the Cossacks to the French Sentinels. What does your Emperor mean?" they would say,-" In three weeks your fingers will be dropping off with the cold! Were there not corn, air, and graves enough in your own Country, that you must come to fatten our soil? Beguiled by the wily foe,-Napoleon,-hoping from day to day to receive the submission of the Russian Emperor Alexander, lingered on five weeks in Moscow. But on the 13th of October the first sudden fall of snow occurred in Moscow, and, from that moment, the only thought was of retreat! As in Spain,-it was the old tale, everything they could not carry away was to be destroyed. EVERYTHING TO BE DESTROYED AS USUAL. The splendid Kremlin was blown to pieces, and the massive iron cross carried away as a trophy! It never, however, reached the frontier, being, with everything else, abandoned in the flight. Of course, only a very small portion of Napoleon's immense armies,-occupied as they were in every part of Europe, ever actually entered Russia, much less reached Moscow. Probably 100,000 effective men marched out of Moscow with 550 cannon, 200 artillery wagons, and followed by an immense train of Camp followers with the sick and wounded, and with carts, carriages, and even wheelbarrows laden with spoil. Many more might have crossed the Beresina the day before the Bridge broke, but, with the instinct of Bandits, they clung to their spoil with desperate tenacity, and refused to abandon it. But fully half perished before they had even reached Smolensko! The scene,-says an eye witness,— resembled a vast horde of Tartars returning from a successful foray. Were they anything better? By the 12th of November, the Imperial Guard,-with Napoleon,-after fighting some terrible Battles against the Russians who endeavoured to cut off their retreat,-reached Smolensko. Behind them awful scenes were going on,-for on the 6th of November, the weather had suddenly changed to frightful cold,-in fact, a Russian Winter had begun! Napoleon ordered the wounded in these battles to be taken up by the Camp followers, and in some cases, stopped to see it done, but no sooner had Napoleon and the Guard left, than the Camp followers threw out these poor creatures into the ditches to perish miserably. A French 342 THE COLLAPSE AT SMOLENSKO. officer relates seeing their dead bodies, lying in rows as they rode up from the rear, the cold being ten to twenty degrees below zero! In fact, it soon became a mad struggle for life and self alone, the one thought during those terrible days and dreadful nights was to reach Smolensko! Around the drifting snow, and wilderness with gloomy pines,-horses and men dying by hundreds,-the wretched host struggled through the Wilderness of snow,-through these terrible days,-and awful nights of a Russian Winter! The provisions failed;-the damp forest trees would not burn; and the packs of starving fierce dogs from the Villages cruelly burnt,—as usual, by the French, as in their retreats from Spain, followed the host day and night, fiercely disputing with the Soldiers the flesh of the fallen horses. Behind these came the wolves and the Cossacks. It is believed that only some 50,000 of the entire host ever reached Smolensko, to say nothing of the Beresina and the Frontiers! It really reminds us of our Saviour's words, Pray ye that your flight be not in the Winter, for then shall be great tribulation, &c." Meanwhile, the Imperial Guard,-with Napoleon,-had fought their way back to Smolensko, where they expected to find the immense stores,-twenty-five days' provisions,Napoleon had ordered to be stored up there, for 100,000 men. Instead of this he found a mere nothing! No meat, -only Rice, Flour, and Brandy! Napoleon rarely allowed, -even in the most terrible scenes,-his outward calm to be disturbed, or to exhibit any outward signs of emotion. Thus, when the Couriers and officers came in bringing the report of the awful scenes going on in the rear, Napoleon cut them short by calmly saying,-"Why do you attempt to rob me of my serenity?" And on their attempting to continue,-repeated, "I ask you, gentlemen,-why do you thus attempt to rob me of my serenity? Long accustomed to every detail of the movement of vast armies, he knew,-after his fatal delay in Moscow,-as a General,-what would follow. But this unlooked for collapse at Smolensko,-which he knew must prove fatal,-was too much even for that iron nerve! For once even Napoleon's habitual calmness gave way, and his trembling officers from without, heard the Emperor's voice in frantic tones,-furiously upbraiding the Army Contractors, and Commissariat Agents, -who only saved their lives by piteous appeals, on their knees, pleading that what with convoys of provisions cut off by the Cossacks,-the Country, swept clear of cattle and provender, and irregularities and disorder in everything,they had really done all that was possible; and they were |