Book: History of the Expedition to Russia

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To escape from this vast region of calamities, it was further necessary
to pass a long convoy of powder, which was defiling amidst the fire.
This was not the least of his dangers, but it was the last, and by
nightfall he arrived at Petrowsky.

Next morning, the 17th of September, Napoleon cast his first looks
towards Moscow, hoping to see that the conflagration had subsided. He
beheld it again raging with the utmost violence: the whole city appeared
like a vast spout of fire rising in whirling eddies to the sky, which it
deeply coloured. Absorbed by this melancholy contemplation, he preserved
a long and gloomy silence, which he broke only by the exclamation, "This
forebodes great misfortunes to us!"

The effort which he had made to reach Moscow had expended all his means
of warfare. Moscow had been the term of his projects, the aim of all his
hopes, and Moscow was no more! What was now to be done? Here this
decisive genius was forced to hesitate. He, who in 1805 had ordered the
sudden and total abandonment of an expedition, prepared at an immense
cost, and determined at Bologne-sur-mer on the surprise and annihilation
of the Austrian army, in short, all the operations of the campaign
between Ulm and Munich exactly as they were executed; the same man, who,
the following year, dictated at Paris with the same infallibility all
the movements of his army as far as Berlin, the day fixed for his
entrance into that capital, and the appointment of the governor whom he
destined for it--he it was, who, astonished in his turn, was now
undecided what course to pursue. Never had he communicated his most
daring projects to the most confidential of his ministers but in the
order for their execution; he was now constrained to consult, and put to
the proof, the moral and physical energies of those about him.

In doing this, however, he still preserved the same forms. He declared,
therefore, that he should march for Petersburg. This conquest was
already marked out on his maps, hitherto so prophetic: orders were even
issued to the different corps to hold themselves in readiness. But his
decision was only a feint: it was but a better face that he strove to
assume, or an expedient for diverting his grief for the loss of Moscow:
so that Berthier, and more especially Bessieres, soon convinced him that
he had neither time, provisions, roads, nor a single requisite for so
extensive an excursion.

At this moment he was apprised that Kutusoff, after having fled
eastward, had suddenly turned to the south, and thrown himself between
Moscow and Kalouga. This was an additional motive against the expedition
to Petersburg; there was a threefold reason for marching upon this
beaten army for the purpose of extinguishing it; to secure his right
flank and his line of operation; to possess himself of Kalouga and
Toula, the granary and arsenal of Russia; and lastly, to open a safe,
short, new, and virgin retreat to Smolensk and Lithuania.

Some one proposed to return upon Wittgenstein and Witepsk. Napoleon was
undecided between all these plans. That for the conquest of Petersburg
alone flattered him: the others appeared but as ways of retreat, as
acknowledgments of error; and whether from pride, or policy which will
not admit itself to be in the wrong, he rejected them.

Besides, where was he to stop in a retreat? He had so fully calculated
on concluding a peace at Moscow, that he had no winter quarters provided
in Lithuania. Kalouga had no temptations for him. Wherefore lay waste
fresh provinces? It would be wiser to threaten them, and leave the
Russians something to lose, in order to induce them to conclude a peace
by which it might be preserved. Would it be possible to march to another
battle, to fresh conquests, without exposing a line of operation,
covered with sick, stragglers, wounded and convoys of all sorts? Moscow
was the general rallying point; how could it be changed? What other name
would have any attraction?

Lastly, and above all, how relinquish a hope to which he had made so
many sacrifices, when he knew that his letter to Alexander had just
passed the Russian advanced posts; when eight days would be sufficient
for receiving an answer so ardently desired; when he wanted that time to
rally and re-organize his army, to collect the relics of Moscow, the
conflagration of which had but too strongly sanctioned pillage, and to
draw his soldiers from that vast infirmary!

Scarcely indeed a third of that army and of that capital now existed.
But himself and the Kremlin were still standing: his renown was still
entire, and he persuaded himself that those two great names, Napoleon
and Moscow, combined, would be sufficient to accomplish every thing. He
determined, therefore, to return to the Kremlin, which a battalion of
his guard had unfortunately preserved.




CHAP. VIII.


The camps which he traversed on his way thither presented an
extraordinary sight. In the fields, amidst thick and cold mud, large
fires were kept up with mahogany furniture, windows, and gilded doors.
Around these fires, on a litter of damp straw, imperfectly sheltered by
a few boards, were seen the soldiers, and their officers, splashed all
over with mud, and blackened with smoke, seated in arm-chairs or
reclined on silken couches. At their feet were spread or heaped Cashmere
shawls, the rarest furs of Siberia, the gold stuffs of Persia, and
silver plates, off which they had nothing to eat but a black dough baked
in the ashes, and half broiled and bloody horse-flesh. Singular
assemblage of abundance and want, of riches and filth, of luxury and
wretchedness!

Between the camp and the city were met troops of soldiers dragging along
their booty, or driving before them, like beasts of burden, Muscovites
bending under the weight of the pillage of their capital; for the fire
brought to view nearly twenty thousand inhabitants, previously
unobserved in that immense city. Some of these Muscovites of both sexes
were well dressed; they were tradespeople. They came with the wreck of
their property to seek refuge at our fires. They lived pell-mell with
our soldiers, protected by some, and tolerated, or rather scarcely
remarked by others.

About ten thousand of the enemy's troops were in the same predicament.
For several days they wandered about among us free, and some of them
even still armed. Our soldiers met these vanquished enemies without
animosity, or without thinking of making them prisoners; either because
they considered the war as at an end, from thoughtlessness, or from
pity, and because when not in battle the French delight in having no
enemies. They suffered them to share their fires; nay, more, they
allowed them to pillage in their company. When some degree of order was
restored, or rather when the officers had organized this marauding as a
regular system of forage, the great number of these Russian stragglers
then attracted notice. Orders were given to secure them; but seven or
eight thousand had already escaped. It was not long before we had to
fight them.

On entering the city, the Emperor was struck by a sight still more
extraordinary: a few houses scattered among the ruins were all that was
left of the mighty Moscow. The smell issuing from this colossus,
overthrown, burned, and calcined, was horrible. Heaps of ashes, and at
intervals, fragments of walls or half demolished pillars, were now the
only vestiges that marked the site of streets.

The suburbs were sprinkled with Russians of both sexes, covered with
garments nearly burned. They flitted like spectres among the ruins;
squatted in the gardens, some of them were scratching up the earth in
quest of vegetables, while others were disputing with the crows for the
relics of the dead animals which the army had left behind. Farther on,
others again were seen plunging into the Moskwa to bring out some of the
corn which had been thrown into it by command of Rostopchin, and which
they devoured without preparation, sour and spoiled as it already was.

Meanwhile the sight of the booty, in such of the camps where every thing
was yet wanting, inflamed the soldiers whom their duty or stricter
officers had kept with their colours. They murmured. "Why were they to
be kept back? Why were they to perish by famine and want, when every
thing was within their reach! Was it right to leave the enemy's fires to
destroy what might be saved? Why was such respect to be paid them?" They
added, that "as the inhabitants of Moscow had not only abandoned, but
even endeavoured utterly to destroy it, all that they could save would
be legitimately acquired; that the remains of that city, like the relics
of the arms of the conquered, belonged by right to the victors, as the
Muscovites had turned their capital into a vast machine of war, for the
purpose of annihilating us."

The best principled and the best disciplined were those who argued thus,
and it was impossible to reply. Too rigid scruples at first prevented
the issuing of orders for pillage; it was now permitted, unrestrained by
regulations. Urged by the most imperious necessities, all hurried to
share in the spoil, the soldiers of the _elite_, and even officers
themselves. Their chiefs were obliged to shut their eyes: only such
guards as were absolutely indispensable were left with the eagles and
the fasces.

The Emperor saw his whole army dispersed over the city. His progress was
obstructed by a long file of marauders going in quest of booty, or
returning with it; by tumultuous assemblages of soldiers grouped around
the entrances of cellars, or the doors of palaces, shops, and churches,
which the fire had nearly reached, and into which they were endeavouring
to penetrate.

His steps were impeded by the fragments of furniture of every kind which
had been thrown out of the windows to save it from the flames, or by
rich pillage which had been abandoned from caprice for some other booty;
for such is the way with soldiers; they are incessantly beginning their
fortune afresh, taking every thing without discrimination, loading
themselves beyond measure, as if they could carry all they find; then,
after they have gone a few steps, compelled by fatigue to throw away the
greatest part of their burden.

The roads were obstructed; the open places, like the camps, were turned
into markets, whither every one repaired to exchange superfluities for
necessaries. There, the rarest articles, the value of which was not
known to their possessors, were sold at a low price; others, of
deceitful appearance, were purchased at a price far beyond their worth.
Gold, as being more portable, was bought at an immense loss with silver,
which the knapsacks were incapable of holding. Everywhere soldiers were
seen seated on bales of merchandize, on heaps of sugar and coffee,
amidst wines and the most exquisite liqueurs, which they were offering
in exchange for a morsel of bread. Many, in an intoxication aggravated
by inanition, had fallen near the flames, which reached them, and put an
end to their lives.

Most of the houses and palaces which had escaped the fire served
nevertheless for quarters for the officers, and all that they contained
was respected. All of them beheld with pain this vast destruction, and
the pillage which was its necessary consequence. Some of our men
belonging to the _elite_ were charged with taking too much pleasure in
collecting what they were able to save from the flames; but their number
was so few that they were mentioned by name. In these ardent men, war
was a passion which presupposed the existence of others. It was not
covetousness, for they did not hoard; they spent lavishly what they
picked up, taking in order to give, believing that one hand washed the
other, and that they had paid for every thing with the danger.

Besides, on such an occasion, there is scarcely any distinction to be
made, unless in the motive: some took with regret, others with pleasure,
and all from necessity. Amidst wealth which had ceased to belong to any
individual, ready to be consumed, or to be buried in ashes, they were
placed in a quite novel situation, where right and wrong were
confounded, and for which no rule was laid down. The most delicate,
either from principle, or because they were richer than others, bought
of the soldiers the provision and apparel which they required: some sent
agents to plunder for them; and the most necessitous were forced to help
themselves with their own hands.

As to the soldiers, many of them being embarrassed with the fruits of
their pillage, became less active, less thoughtless: in danger they
began to calculate, and in order to save their booty, they did what they
would have disdained to do to save themselves.

It was amidst this confusion that Napoleon again entered Moscow. He had
allowed this pillage, hoping that his army, scattered over the ruins,
would not ransack them in vain. But when he learned that the disorder
increased; that the old guard itself was seduced; that the Russian
peasants, who were at length allured thither with provisions, for which
he caused them to be liberally paid for the purpose of drawing others,
were robbed of the provisions which they brought us, by our famished
soldiers; when he was informed that the different corps, destitute of
every thing, were ready to fight for the relics of Moscow; that,
finally, all the existing resources were wasted by this irregular
pillage; he then issued strict orders, and forbade his guard to leave
their quarters. The churches, in which our cavalry had sheltered
themselves, were restored to the Greek worship. The business of plunder
was ordered to be taken in turn by the corps like any other duty, and
directions were at length given for securing the Russian stragglers.

But it was too late. These soldiers had fled: the affrighted peasants
returned no more; great quantities of provisions were spoiled. The
French army have sometimes fallen into this fault, but on the present
occasion the fire pleads their excuse: no time was to be lost in
anticipating the flames. It is, however, a remarkable fact, that at the
first command perfect order was restored.

Some writers, and even French ones, have ransacked these ruins in quest
of traces of outrages which might have been committed in them. There
were very few. Most of our men behaved generously, considering the small
number of inhabitants, and the great number of enemies, that they met
with. But if in the first moments of pillage some excesses were
committed, ought this to appear surprising in an army exasperated by
such urgent wants, such severe sufferings, and composed of so many
different nations?

Misfortune having since humbled these warriors, reproaches have, as is
always the case, been raised against them. Who can be ignorant that such
disorders have always been the bad side of great wars, the inglorious
part of glory; that the renown of conquerors casts its shadow like every
thing else in this world! Does there exist a creature ever so
diminutive, on every side of which the sun, great as is that luminary,
can shine at once? It is therefore a law of nature, that large bodies
have large shadows.

For the rest, people have been too much astonished at the virtues as
well as at the vices of that army. They were the virtues of the moment,
the vices of the age; and for this very reason, the former were less
praiseworthy, and the latter less reprehensible, inasmuch as they were,
if I may so express myself, enjoined by example and circumstances. Thus
every thing is relative, which does not exclude fixed principles and
absolute good as the point of departure and aim. But here the question
relates to the judgment formed of this army and its chief; and he who
would form a correct judgment of them must put himself in their place.
As, then, this position is very elevated, very extraordinary, very
complicated, few minds are capable of attaining it, embracing the whole
of it, and appreciating all its necessary results.




CHAP. IX.


Meanwhile Kutusoff, on leaving Moscow, had drawn Murat towards Kolomna,
to the point where the Moskwa intersects the road. Here, under favour of
the night, he suddenly turned to the south, proceeding by way of Podol,
to throw himself between Moscow and Kalouga. This nocturnal march of the
Russians around Moscow, the ashes and flames of which were wafted to
them by the violence of the wind, was melancholy and religious. They
advanced by the baleful light of the conflagration, which was consuming
the centre of their commerce, the sanctuary of their religion, the
cradle of their empire! Filled with horror and indignation, they all
kept a sullen silence, which was unbroken save by the dull and
monotonous sound of their footsteps, the roaring of the flames, and the
howling of the tempest. The dismal light was frequently interrupted by
livid and sudden flashes. The brows of these warriors might then be seen
contracted by a savage grief, and the fire of their sombre and
threatening looks answered these flames, which they regarded as our
work; it already betrayed that ferocious revenge which was rankling in
their hearts, which spread throughout the whole empire, and to which so
many Frenchmen fell victims.

At that solemn moment, Kutusoff in a firm and noble tone informed his
sovereign of the loss of his capital. He declared, that, "in order to
preserve the fertile provinces of the south, and his communication with
Tormasof and Tchitchakof, he had been obliged to abandon Moscow, but
emptied of the inhabitants, who were the life of it; that as the people
are the soul of every empire, so wherever the Russian people were, there
would be Moscow and the whole empire of Russia."

Here, however, he seemed to bend under the weight of his grief. He
admitted that "this wound was deep and could never be effaced;" but soon
recovering himself, he added, that "the loss of Moscow made but one city
less in the empire, that it was the sacrifice of a part for the
salvation of the whole. He was throwing himself on the flank of the
enemy's long line of operation, keeping him as it were blockaded by his
detachments: there he should watch his movements, cover the resources of
the empire, and again complete his army;" and already (on the 16th of
September) he announced, that "Napoleon would be forced to abandon his
fatal conquest."

It is said that on the receipt of this intelligence Alexander was
thunderstruck. Napoleon built hopes on the weakness of his rival, and
the Russians at the same time dreaded the effect of that weakness. The
Czar belied both these hopes and these fears. In his addresses to his
subjects he exhibited himself great as his misfortune; "No pusillanimous
dejection!" he exclaimed: "Let us vow redoubled courage and
perseverance! The enemy is in deserted Moscow as in a tomb, without
means of domination or even of existence. He entered Russia with three
hundred thousand men of all countries, without union or any national or
religious bond;--he has lost half of them by the sword, famine, and
desertion: he has but the wreck of this army in Moscow; he is in the
heart of Russia, and not a single Russian is at his feet.

"Meanwhile, our forces are increasing and inclosing him. He is in the
midst of a mighty population, encompassed by armies which are waiting
for, and keeping him in check. To escape famine, he will soon be obliged
to direct his flight through the close ranks of our brave soldiers.
Shall we then recede, when all Europe is looking on and encouraging us?
Let us on the contrary set it an example, and kiss the hand which has
chosen us to be the first of the nations in the cause of virtue and
independence." He concluded with an invocation to the Almighty.

The Russians entertain different opinions respecting their general and
their Emperor. We, for our part, as enemies, can only judge of our
enemies by their actions. Now such were their words, and their actions
corresponded with them. Comrades! let us do them justice! their
sacrifice was complete, without reserve, without tardy regrets. They
have since claimed nothing, even in the enemy's capital which they
preserved. Their renown has therefore remained great and unsullied. They
have known real glory; and when a more advanced civilization shall have
spread among all classes of that great nation, it will have its
brilliant era, and will sway in its turn the sceptre of glory, which it
seems to be decreed that the nations of the earth shall successively
relinquish to each other.

This circuitous march made by Kutusoff, either from indecision or
stratagem, turned out fortunate for him. Murat lost all trace of him for
three days. The Russian employed this interval in studying the ground
and entrenching himself. His advanced guard had nearly reached Woronowo,
one of the finest domains belonging to Count Rostopchin, when that
nobleman proceeded forward before it. The Russians supposed that he was
going to take a last look at this mansion, when all at once the edifice
was wrapt from their sight by clouds of smoke.

They hurried on to extinguish the fire, but Rostopchin himself rejected
their aid. They beheld him amid the flames which he was encouraging,
smiling at the demolition of this splendid mansion, and then with a firm
hand penning these words, which the French, shuddering with surprise,
read on the iron gate of a church which was left standing: "For eight
years I have been embellishing this country seat, where I have lived
happily in the bosom of my family. The inhabitants of this estate, to
the number of 1,720, will leave it on your approach, while I have set
fire to my house, that it might not be polluted by your presence.
Frenchmen, I have relinquished to you my two houses at Moscow, with
their furniture, worth half a million of rubles. Here you will find
nothing but ashes."

It was near this place that Murat came up with Kutusoff. On the 29th of
September there was a smart engagement of cavalry towards Czerikowo, and
another, on the 4th of October, near Vinkowo. But there, Miloradowitch,
too closely pressed, turned round furiously, with twelve thousand horse,
upon Sebastiani. He brought him into such danger, that Murat, amidst the
fire, dictated a proposal for a suspension of arms, announcing to
Kutusoff the approach of a flag of truce. It was Lauriston that he
expected. But as the arrival of Poniatowski at that moment gave us some
superiority, the king made no use of the letter which he had written; he
fought till nightfall, and repulsed Miloradowitch.

Meanwhile the conflagration at Moscow, which commenced in the night of
the 14th of September, suspended through our exertions during the day of
the 15th, revived in the following night, and raging in its utmost
violence on the 16th, 17th, and 18th, abated on the 19th. It ceased on
the 20th. That very day, Napoleon, whom the flames had driven from the
Kremlin, returned to the palace of the czars. He invited thither the
looks of all Europe. He there awaited his convoys, his reinforcements,
and the stragglers of his army; certain that all his men would be
rallied by his victory, by the allurements of such vast booty, by the
astonishing sight of captive Moscow, and above all, by his own glory,
which from the top of this immense pile of ruins, still shone attractive
like a beacon upon a rock.

Twice, however, on the 22d and 28th of September, letters from Murat had
well nigh drawn Napoleon from this fatal abode. They announced a battle;
but twice the orders for departure, written in consequence, were burned.
It seemed as though the war was finished for our Emperor, and that he
was only waiting for an answer from Petersburg. He nourished his hopes
with the recollections of Tilsit and Erfurt. Was it possible that at
Moscow he should have less ascendancy over Alexander? Then, like men who
have long been favourites of fortune, what he ardently wished he
confidently expected.

His genius possessed besides that extraordinary faculty, which consisted
in throwing aside the most important occupation whenever he pleased,
either for the sake of variety or of rest: for in him the power of
volition surpassed that of imagination. In this respect he reigned over
himself as much as he did over others.

Thus Paris diverted his attention from Petersburg. His affairs were as
yet divided, and the couriers, which in the first days succeeded each
other without intermission, served to engage him. But the rapidity with
which he transacted business soon left him nothing to do. His expresses,
which at first came from France in a fortnight, ceased to arrive. A few
military posts, placed in four towns reduced to ashes, and in wooden
houses rudely palisaded, were not sufficient to guard a road of
ninety-three leagues: for we had not been able to establish more than a
few echelons, and those at too great distances, on too long a line of
operation, broken at every point where it was touched by the enemy; and
for which a few peasants and a handful of Cossacks were quite
sufficient.

Still no answer was received from Alexander. The uneasiness of Napoleon
increased, and his means of distraction diminished. The activity of his
genius, accustomed to the government of all Europe, had nothing
wherewith to occupy itself but the management of one hundred thousand
men; and then, the organization of his army was so perfect, that this
was scarcely any occupation. Here every thing was fixed; he held all the
wires in his hand: he was surrounded by ministers who could tell him
immediately, at any hour of the day, the position of each man in the
morning or at night, whether alone or not, whether with his colours, or
in the hospital, or on leave of absence, or wherever else he might be,
and that from Moscow to Paris--to such a degree of perfection had the
science of military administration been brought, so experienced and well
chosen were the officers, and so much was required by their commander.

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