fifty thousand men, of whom twelve thousand were killed, and thirty-eight thousand wounded. In addition to this, the French lost ten, and the Russians thirteen pieces of cannon: so that on the whole, the French could boast of no other advantage in the action than the mere keeping possession of the battle-field.

The day after the battle of Borodino, the Russians retired by the great road toward Moscow. The magnitude of his loss, rendered Kutusoff unwilling to risk the remainder of the army in another general action with the French, who were constantly receiving reënforcements; but no signs of confusion marked his route; and the subsequent retreat was conducted with such perfect order, that when the French troops reached the point where the roads to Moscow and Kaluga separate, they were for some time uncertain, as they had previously been at Witepsk, which of the two the Russians had followed. Kutusoff reached a position half a league in front of Moscow on the 13th of September, and held a council of war to deliberate the question of abandoning the town to its fate. Kutusoff and Barclay eventually insisted on a retreat, assigning as a reason, that it was indispensable to preserve the army entire until the new levies could be incorporated into its ranks, and averring that the abandonment of the metropolis "would lead the enemy into a snare, where his destruction would be inevitable." These prophetic words determined the council, and orders were given for the troops to retire in the direction of Kolomna. On the morning of the 14th, therefore, the army continued its retreat, and in silent despondency defiled through the streets of the sacred city.

Nothing could exceed the consternation of the inhabitants of Moscow, when they found themselves deserted by their defenders. They had been led to believe, from the government reports, that the French were entirely defeated at Borodino, and that Napoleon's advance to Moscow was impossible; they therefore had not thought of preparations for quitting the city. Nevertheless, when their departure thus became unavoidable, they made exertions equal to the emergency, and in a short time, nó less than three hundred thousand people left their homes, and reverted at once to the nomadic life of their ancestors.

At eleven o'clock, on the 14th, the advanced guard of the French army, from an eminence on their route, descried the minarets of the metropolis; the domes of more than two hundred churches, and the roofs of a thousand palaces glittered in the rays of the sun, and the leading squadrons, struck by the magnificence of the spectacle, halted to exclaim, "Moscow ! Moscow !" and the cry, repeated from rank to rank, reached the Emperor's guard. The soldiers then broke their array and rushed tumultuously forward, while Napoleon in the midst of them gazed impatiently on the scene. His first words were, "Here is that famous city at last!" but he immediately added, "It is full time!"

The entry of the French troops into the town, however, dispelled many of their illusions. Moscow was deserted. Its long streets and splendid palaces reëchoed nothing but the clangor of the invader's march: the dwelling-places of three hundred thousand people were as silent as a wilderness. Napoleon in vain waited until evening for a deputation from the magistrates, or from the chief nobility. No one came forward to deprecate his hostility, and the mournful truth finally forced itself upon him, that Moscow, as if struck by enchantment, was bereft of its inhabitants. He nevertheless advanced, and the troops took possession of the

L

town, while he established his head-quarters at the ancient palace of the Czars.

But a terrible catastrophe was at hand. At midnight, on the 15th, a bright light illuminated the northern and western parts of the city; and the sentinels at the Kremlin, soon discovered that the splendid edifices in that vicinity were on fire. The wind changed repeatedly during the night, but to whatever quarter it veered, the conflagration extended itself; fresh fires were perpetually breaking out, and Moscow was soon one sea of flame. Napoleon clung with great tenacity to the Kremlin, but the approaching and surrounding fire at last forced him to abandon it, and with some difficulty he made his escape to the country palace of Petrowsky. The conflagration continued for thirty-six hours, and laid ninetenths of the city in ashes.

While these events were in progress, the Russian army retired on the road to Kolomna; and, after falling back two marches in that direction, it wheeled to the left, and, by a semi-circular route, regained the road to Kaluga, and encamped at Tarutino. By this masterly movement, Kutusoff at once drew near to his reënforcements, covered the richest provinces of the Empire, secured the supplies of his army, and threatened the enemy's communications.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

THE RETREAT FROM MOSCOW.

NAPOLEON returned to the Kremlin, which eventually escaped the flames, on the 20th of September, and anxiously awaited the impression which the intelligence of his success would produce on the Russian government. To aid the anticipated effect, Count Lauriston was dispatched to the head-quarters of Kutusoff, with authority to propose an armistice, and Murat had an interview with General Benningsen. Kutusoff immediately forwarded Napoleon's letter to St. Petersburg, through the hands of Prince Wolkousky, while the French deputation were amused with hopes of an arrangement held out to them by the Russian generals.

For a time, the Emperor lay inactive at Moscow, expecting the submission of the cabinet of St. Petersburg: but day after day, and week after week rolled on, without any answer to his proposals. Meantime, the early winter of those northern latitudes was visibly approaching, and the anxiety of the troops in regard to their future movements began to be loudly and freely expressed. At the same time, the discipline and efficiency of the army daily declined amid the license which followed the pillage of Moscow. All the efforts of the officers failed to arrest the insubordination of the men, and the more so, as the pressure of famine aggravated their calamities. The food of the officers frequently consisted of nothing but horse-flesh, and the common soldiers were often on the point of starving.

Very different from this was the appearance of the Russian camp at Tarutino. Discipline, order and comfort, reigned there conspicuous.

The levies which arrived from the southern provinces filled up the numerous chasms in the battalions, and all the necessaries of life were furnished in abundance by the surrounding country. One feeling of enthusiasm and one purpose of vengeance animated the entire soldiery. The Cossacks of the Don took arms in a body at the call of Platoff, and twenty-two regiments joined the army. The savage aspect of the horses which these rude warriors brought from the wilderness, with their uncombed manes sweeping the ground, attested how deeply the innermost recesses of the Russian Empire were pervaded by that indomitable spirit of resistance, which brought thence these wild children of the desert to combat for the national freedom.

While the fate of Napoleon's proposals to Alexander remained in suspense, a sort of armistice prevailed between the two main armies; but a guerilla warfare was maintained by the Russian light troops, and especially by the Cossacks, who formed a vast circle around Moscow, occupied every road, and intercepted the enemy's supplies of forage and provisions. The French cavalry were by this means compelled to traverse large districts in search of food, and their detachments were almost invariably cut off by their enterprising and active assailants. During the first three weeks of October, the French lost in this manner more than four thousand men who were taken prisoners, and the reports from Murat announced the alarming fact, that one-half of the whole remaining cavalry of the army had perished in these inglorious encounters.

With these facts in view, the officers were impressed with the most gloomy forebodings as to the fate of the army, if its stay at Moscow were prolonged and Napoleon, although he still flattered himself with a belief that his negotiations for peace would end satisfactorily, saw nevertheless, that if they were to eventuate otherwise, he would be forced to a disastrous retreat. As early as the 2nd of October, he had given orders for the evacuation of the Cathedral and adjoining convents of Smolenskowhich had escaped the conflagration of that city, and were then occupied as hospitals—in order that they might be ready to receive the sick and wounded followers of his retrograde march; and on the 6th of the same month he had written to Berthier, to post his corps in such a manner as to cover his anticipated retreat to that city. But it was now easier for Napoleon to issue orders for the protection of his homeward route, than for his marshals to obey them. The courage and audacity of the straggling Russian parties along the whole line of the French communications, increased with the embarrassments of the invaders; and not only convoys of provisions, but columns in march were intercepted and destroyed by these indefatigable foes.

During this critical period, Napoleon was wasting invaluable time in expectation of an answer to his proposals, which were never seriously entertained by the Russians, and would never have been received at all, but for the secret purpose of detaining him at Moscow until the approach of winter had rendered the escape of his army impossible. But on the 13th of October, a fall of snow aroused Napoleon to a sense of his danger, and he began in earnest to make preparations for retreat.

Kutusoff, who had remained inactive in his encampment, solely because he was fearful of prematurely awaking Napoleon from his fancied security, prepared to resume the offensive as soon as it became evident that the French were about to retire. He had for some time observed that the

advanced guard, under Murat and Poniatowski, thirty thousand strong, posted in the neighborhood of Winkowo, kept so negligent a watch at their outposts, as to offer a tempting opportunity for a surprise. He therefore placed a large body of men under the command of Benningsen, with orders to make the attack. Benningsen divided his force into five columns and hastened to Winkowo, where he arrived on the morning of the 18th of October, and assaulted the French position with great spirit: but as his columns did not all reach their designated positions at one time, Murat was enabled to retreat with a loss of only fifteen hundred men, thirty-eight pieces of cannon and all his baggage.

This comparatively trifling disaster accelerated Napoleon's movements. He left the Kremlin on the morning of the 19th, exclaiming, "Let us march to Kaluga, and wo to those who interrupt our progress!" He retreated from Moscow at the head of one hundred and five thousand combatants, with six hundred pieces of artillery; and in the rear of this imposing array, came an almost interminable train of wagons bearing the spoils pillaged from the devoted city. Napoleon at first advanced on the old road to Kaluga, which led directly to Kutusoff's encampment; but after marching for some hours in that direction, he turned suddenly to the right, and gained by cross-roads the new and shorter route to Kaluga, which ran through Malo-Jaroslawitz. This manoeuvre was concealed from the Russians by the corps of Marshal Ney, which continued to advance slowly on the old road; and Kutusoff, in the belief that the whole army had moved on this route, at first sent only Platoff with fifteen regiments of Cossacks to take possession of Malo-Jaroslawitz. On discovering his error, he dispatched the corps of Doctoroff by a rapid night march to support the Cossacks. The French troops had, however, already reached the place in some force under Eugene, and an obstinate contest ensued, at the termination of which, late in the evening of the 24th, the viceroy remained master of a burning town; but he had purchased it by a loss of five thousand of his best troops. Moreover, a Russian army of one hundred thousand men, with seven hundred pieces of cannon, had improved the time consumed in the action to occupy a semi-circular line in his front, which precluded the possibility of a further advance toward Kaluga, without a general battle.

Napoleon remained in the neighborhood of Malo-Jaroslawitz during the night of the 24th, and sent out numerous parties to reconnoitre the Russian position; and their reports induced his most experienced officers to believe that a successful attack was impossible. No alternative remained, therefore, but to fall back on the Smolensko road; and the Emperor's agitation at this juncture was so great, that his attendants dared not approach him. On returning to the miserable cottage that constituted his head-quarters, he sent for Berthier, Murat and Bessières, and seating himself at a table on which a map of the country was spread out, he began to speak to them of the change which the arrival of Kutusoff on the highgrounds of Malo-Jaroslawitz had made in his situation. After a little discussion he became meditative, and, resting his cheeks on his hands and his elbows on the table, he fixed his eyes on the map, and remained for more than an hour in moody silence. The three generals, respecting his mental agony, sat also still and speechless. At last, he suddenly started up and dismissed them, without making known his intentions. But immediately afterward, he sent orders to Davoust to take his place at the

head of the advanced guard, saying that he would himself be at the outposts with his Imperial Guard, at daybreak. Ney was also directed to take a position between Barowsk and Malo-Jaroslawitz, after leaving two divisions to protect the reserve artillery and baggage at the former of those towns.

Early on the 25th, Napoleon set out in person to examine the ground, and was advancing, through a confused mass of baggage-wagons and artillery, when a sudden tumult arose, and the same moment this cry was heard, "It is Platoff! they are ten thousand strong!" and a large body of Cossacks dashed down on the Imperial escort. By a quick and desperate effort the tide of this alarming irruption was turned, and the Cossacks, ignorant of the prize so entirely within their grasp, directed their attention to the artillery, and carried off eleven guns. After thoroughly reconnoitering the ground, the Emperor returned to his quarters, and nothing further was attempted on either side for the day. But the fatal retreat was definitively resolved on, and early in the morning of the 26th the men silently and mournfully commenced their march. Kutusoff pursued with his main body by a parallel road toward Mojaisk and Wiazma, while Platoff with the Cossacks pressed the French rear-guard.

The several French corps marched at intervals of half a day's journey from each other, and for some days were not seriously harassed by the enemy; but the discouragement of the troops had become very great, and the dreadful features of the retreat already began to appear. Baggage-wagons were constantly abandoned, the infantry and cavalry hastened along in utter confusion, and incessant explosions through the vast column, announced the number of ammunition carts that were left behind of necessity, and blown up to prevent their falling into the hands of the Russians. In fact, the retreat was rapidly becoming a flight; the troops separated from the marching columns in quest of plunder or subsistence, and numbers of horses were slain to furnish food for the hungry multitudes that surrounded them.

On the 2nd of November, the leading divisions reached Wiazma, and Napoleon, flattering himself that he had gained several marches of Kutusoff, and would not be disquieted by any further hostilities, continued his retreat toward Smolensko; but he was soon undeceived. Davoust's corps, forming the rear-guard, approached Wiazma on the 3rd, and was there so severely attacked by Milaradowitch and the Cossacks, that he was driven through the streets of that town at the point of the bayonet, and lost more than six thousand men. The corps of Davoust had, previous to this action, lost no less than ten thousand men by sickness, fatigue and desertion since the retreat commenced; and it was now so reduced that Napoleon directed Ney with his corps to take the rear, and cover, thenceforward, the movements of the army.

The weather, though cold and frosty at night, had hitherto been bright and clear during the day; but on the 6th of November the Russian winter set in with unwonted severity. Cold fogs first rose from the surface of the ground, and obscured the face of the sun; a few flakes of snow floated in the air; and gradually the light of day declined, and a thick, murky gloom overspread the firmament. The wind rose and blew with frightful violence, howling through the forest or sweeping over the plains with resistless fury; the snow soon covered the earth, and numbers of the troops, in struggling forward, fell into hollows or ditches which were