Worlds Best Histories France Vol 7 by M. Guizot and Madame Guizot De Witt

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Meantime, however, the French advanced guard were approaching Moscow.
Several slight skirmishes had taken place during the march, and Kutuzoff
succeeded in protecting his retreat. When Murat appeared at the head of
the first columns, General Miloradovitch, who commanded the Russian
rearguard, made a verbal agreement with the King of Naples to suspend
hostilities for several hours, for the protection of the troops, and the
safety of the citizens. Murat agreed to it, limiting himself to the
pursuit of the Russians when they should have completed their evacuation
of Moscow.

The soldiers, as well as the generals and Napoleon himself, were delighted
at the distant sight of that town, illuminated by the rays of the setting
sun, which brought into full relief the Oriental brilliance of its palaces
and churches. "Moscow! Moscow!" they repeated from one end of the ranks to
the other. The emperor added to the enthusiastic expression of his troops
another thought: "Not a moment too soon!" he muttered.

The great conqueror was deceived, and divine justice punished more
completely than he anticipated his guilty ambition and insatiable pride.
The dense ranks of the French soldiers presented themselves before the
gates of the capital, without any one coming to open them. Several ragged
wretches, with gloomy looks appeared on the turrets of the Kremlin and
fired a few shots; but while passing along the streets of Moscow, among
palaces mixed with cottages--before golden-domed churches, adorned with
paintings of a thousand colors--our soldiers wondered, and felt uneasy at
the solitude which reigned around them. "What is become of them?" they
asked. It was not thus that the French army had entered Berlin or Vienna.
"Let the head men of the town be brought to me!" ordered the emperor. The
population of Moscow had no longer any head men. Those who hid themselves
in terror in the houses, or wept in the churches, felt themselves at the
mercy of the ruffians whom the governor, by quitting Moscow, had let loose
upon them. The door of the Kremlin had to be burst open with cannon-balls
before the old palace of the Czars could be rid of the wretches who had
shut themselves up in it. Napoleon took possession of it, without at first
fixing his abode there, curious to admire its barbarous magnificence, not
yet subjected to the influence of French elegance like the houses of the
rich merchants already occupied by his generals. The whole army gazed with
delight upon this strange and long-anticipated sight. On the 15th
September, 1812, the Emperor Napoleon and his soldiers passed through the
streets of Moscow, deserted, but still standing. They examined the
concentric quarters, like a series of ramparts round the Kremlin; the old
or Chinese town, the centre of Oriental commerce; the white town, with its
broad streets and gilt palaces, the quarter of the great nobles and rich
merchants; and all round the privileged districts: the "land town,"
composed of villages and gardens, interspersed with magnificent houses.

All the military posts were chosen, On the north-west, south-west, and
south-east, between the roads to Riazan and Vladimir, the forces of Prince
Eugene, Davout, Poniatowski, and Ney had taken their quarters. The guard
occupied the Kremlin. Soldiers and generals enjoyed the luxury which had
been preceded by the cruel privation of the months immediately preceding.
"We have provisions for six months," said the soldiers.

On the morning of the 16th fire broke out in a spirit-warehouse, and some
hours afterwards in a magnificent bazaar which was filled with valuable
goods. The officers blamed for it the stupidity of a drunken soldier. They
at once battled with the fire, but the wind was contrary, and the wealth
heaped up in the warehouses became a prey to the flames and pillage, which
it was impossible to prevent. The fire soon spread even to the
neighborhood of the Kremlin, and the sparks, carried by the equinoctial
breeze, fell from all parts on the gilded roofs. The courts of the palace
being crowded with artillery wagons, and the cellars heaped up with
ammunition which the Russians had neglected to take with them, a horrible
catastrophe seemed imminent. The generals had great difficulty in
persuading Napoleon to leave the Kremlin. The imperial guard, acting as
firemen, inundated incessantly the roofs and walls. The fire-engines of
the city were searched for in vain. Soon there was a rumor spread that
incendiaries had been arrested in several quarters.

The emperor ordered these wretches to be brought before him. They were
proud of the terrible mission with which they had been entrusted, taking a
delight in the fatal disorder produced under their hands, pillaging and
murdering in the houses which they delivered up to the flames. They all
made a bold declaration of the orders they had received, and underwent
unflinchingly the extremest punishment. The poor population, who had
remained concealed in the lowest haunts of the capital, now fled in
terror, the women carrying with them their children, the men dragging
behind them the most valuable of their household goods, or the shameful
results of pillaging the shops. The flames extended from street to street,
house to house, church to church: thrice the wind seemed to fall, and
thrice it changed its direction, driving the fire into quarters previously
untouched. The Kremlin remained always surrounded by fire. The imperial
guard had not quitted the palace. The army carried their cantonments
outside the town. When scarcely fallen into the hands of the conquerors,
Moscow succumbed before a more powerful enemy, enrolled for the defence of
the country. Palaces and huts were both become uninhabitable, and the
hospitals, filled with wounded Russians, had perished in the flames. The
emperor quitted Moscow, and took up his quarters at Petrowskoi. For three
days the conflagration remained alone in possession of the capital.

The wind falling, was succeeded by rain. The fire everywhere brooded under
the dead ashes, ready to burst out afresh at the contact of air; but the
spectacle had lost its avenging beauty. The roofs left standing were
relieved against the columns of smoke. The Kremlin still rose majestic,
and almost untouched, as if protecting the city against its various
enemies. The soldiers soon began to steal from their cantonments into the
streets; and in the cellars of the houses, under heaps of rubbish,
protected by walls blackened with the flames, they found provisions
collected by households for the winter; valuable clothes; plate which had
been carefully concealed in hiding-places which no longer existed; objects
of art, of which the finders did not know the value; strong drink, which
they madly used to intoxicate themselves. After the fire, in spite of the
efforts of the officers, Moscow was delivered up to pillage.

So much disorder and mad prodigality shocked all the Emperor Napoleon's
instincts of order and government. Returning hastily to Moscow, he
repressed by his mere presence the outrages of the soldiers. Regular
search was everywhere organized for the collection of provisions buried
under the ruins, and bringing them into stores. The resources collected in
a few days were sufficient to supply the troops for a long time. Forage
alone was wanting, and companies were formed for the purpose of scouring
the country round Moscow. The prices offered to the peasantry for their
stock was expected to encourage them to supply the markets of the capital.
Napoleon even considered the interests of the wretches who wandered,
defenceless and houseless, in the streets of Moscow, or timidly glided
into the town at the opening of the gates to look for those they had been
compelled to abandon, and the remainder of their property concealed under
ruined walls. Huts were erected to shelter them.

The desire for peace daily took stronger possession of Napoleon's mind,
and he had already authorized several indirect overtures. On the 20th
September he thus wrote the Czar:

"My brother, having learned that the brother of your Imperial Majesty's
minister was at Moscow, I sent for him, and had some conversation with
him. I requested him to wait upon your Majesty, and acquaint you with my
sentiments. The handsome and superb city of Moscow no longer exists.
Rostopchin has had it burnt. Four hundred incendiaries were taken in the
act; and having all declared that they had lighted the fire by order of
that governor and the director of police, they were shot. The fire at last
seems to have ceased. Three fourths of the houses are burnt, and one
fourth remain. Such conduct is atrocious, and serves no purpose. Was the
intention to deprive us of some resources? But those resources were in the
cellars, which the fire could not reach. Besides, why destroy one of the
finest towns of the world, and the work of ages, to accomplish so paltry
an object? It is the procedure followed since Smolensk, and it has reduced
600,000 families to beggary. The fire-engines of Moscow were broken or
carried off, and some arms from the arsenal given to ruffians, who could
not be driven from the Kremlin without using cannon. Humanity, the
interests of your Majesty and this great city, demanded that it should
have been entrusted to my keeping, since it was deserted by the Russian
army. They ought to have left administrations, magistrates, and civil
guards. That is what was done at Vienna twice, at Berlin, and Madrid; and
what we have ourselves done at Milan, when Souwarof entered. Incendiarism
causes pillage, the soldier abandoning himself to it to rescue what is
left from the flames. If I thought such things were done by your Majesty's
orders, I should not write you this letter; but I consider it impossible
that, with your principles, heart, and sense of justice, you have
authorized such excesses, unworthy of a great sovereign and a great
nation. While carrying away the fire-engines from Moscow, they left 150
field cannon, 60,000 new muskets, 1,600,000 infantry cartridges, more than
200 tons of powder, 150 tons of saltpetre, and also of sulphur, etc.

"I made war upon your Majesty without animosity. A letter from you before
or after the last battle would have stopped my march, and I should have
been ready to forego the advantage of entering Moscow. If your Majesty
still retains aught of your former sentiments, you will take this letter
in good part. In any case, you must feel indebted to me for giving an
account of what is taking place in Moscow."

When thus writing to the Emperor Alexander, Napoleon well knew that the
material disasters of the burning of Moscow were exceeded by the moral
results, and that the ruins of the capital were a proclamation to the
French army, to Russia, and to the whole of Europe, of the implacable
resolution of the old Muscovites. Rostopchin himself had written on the
iron door of his splendid country-house at Voronovo: "For eight years I
have been improving this estate, and have lived here happy in the bosom of
my family. The inhabitants of this estate, to the number of 1720, leave it
at your approach, and I set fire to my house that it may not be polluted
by your presence. Frenchmen, I have left you my two houses in Moscow, with
contents worth half a million of roubles. Here you will find nothing but
ashes."

The hatred which he had excited against the invader was afterwards to fall
back upon himself. Count Rostopchin driven from Russia by the execration
of all those whom he had ruined, was compelled to take refuge in France,
where he died in peace, honored by his former enemies. He had nevertheless
rendered to Russia one of those terrible services excused by a state still
half barbarous, and that violent patriotism by which the soul is possessed
in presence of foreign invasion. He revived in the Russian people the
unconquerable ardor of resistance. Moscow on fire was an appeal to the
eyes and hearts of all.

Napoleon understood this well. Besides, other difficulties were becoming
extreme. Time was passing; no reply arrived from St. Petersburg, and the
emperor's overtures made to Kutuzoff by Lauriston remained without result.
The attempt to continue hostilities was unsuccessful, General Sebastiani
having been deceived as to the direction taken by Kutuzoff, and, after
following him in vain for two or three days, compelled to return to
Moscow. Murat being again put in command of the advanced guard, met the
enemy on the Pakra, after being joined by Marshal Bessieres. In spite of
the cries of his army, who were furious at the burning of Moscow, and
wished to march to battle, Kutuzoff slowly retreated before the French
generals, and finally pitched his camp at Taroutino on the road to Kaluga.
Two cavalry engagements terminated successfully for our arms. Napoleon's
lieutenants waited for his orders. A sort of armistice reigned between the
two armies. Murat had several times seen Kutuzoff; and the Russian
officers overwhelmed him with attentions. He showed himself in favor of
peace, concluded by him and through his exertions. The Cossack chiefs
celebrated his exploits, one of them surnaming him the "hetmann." Kutuzoff
had sent Prince Wolkonsky to St. Petersburg, with instructions to
communicate to the Czar the pacific advances which had been made.
Alexander replied on the 21st October: "All the opinions which you have
received from me, all the determinations expressed in the orders addressed
to you by me--everything ought to convince you that my resolution is
immovable, and that at the present moment no proposal of the enemy can
make me think of terminating the war, and so failing in the sacred duty of
avenging our outraged country."

Before the Emperor Alexander thus expressed his resolution of listening to
no offers of peace, his enemy had already evacuated Moscow--beginning,
whatever pain it cost him and whatever care he took to conceal it, a
retrograde movement, which was soon to be the consummation of his ruin.
Napoleon long hesitated as to what route he should take. By advancing upon
Kaluga in pursuit of Kutuzoff he should plunge further into Russia,
towards regions where he should be without winter-quarters and
communication with the rear. By resuming the road to Poland, as all his
lieutenants wished, he should tacitly admit his defeat. He conceived the
idea of making the Duke of Belluna march upon St. Petersburg, reckoning
that, on his arrival and while threatening the capital and court, he could
effect an oblique movement northwards by Woskresensk, Wolokolamsk, and
Bieloi, and then concentrate all his forces at Smolensk. Winter being
past, Napoleon would then be in a position to attack St. Petersburg in
earnest. To satisfy his own mind, the emperor wrote out this plan before
speaking of it to the generals, who were waiting, full of serious thought,
to know his determination.

They all opposed Napoleon's new plans; all repeating that he did not take
into account the hardships of the army, that he over-reckoned the strength
of the corps, that the soldiers were incapable of any fresh effort. He
went over, with Count Lobau, the statistics of the different regiments and
the detachments in charge of generals at a distance. "There, six
thousand." "Four thousand, sire," said the general. "Ten thousand here."
"Five at the most." "You are perhaps right," the emperor admitted. But on
coming to sum up the total of his resources, he always went back to his
first inaccurate reckoning, the truthful and blunt obstinacy of Lobau
being unable to overcome his master's voluntary illusions. Nevertheless,
Napoleon understood that he could now no longer, by the mere superiority
of his genius, take his lieutenants along with him without discussion or
hesitation. He did not insist upon marching northwards. Count Daru's
proposal was to spend the winter in Moscow. From his administrative
experience, he concluded that their supplies were sufficient for the army,
while the troops should thus be spared all the hardships and difficulties
of travelling. In spring, all the army corps would be again brought
together, there would be a rising in Lithuania, and the emperor could
complete his conquest. Napoleon turned toward his faithful servant, and
looked upon his energetic features, his robust figure, and the resolution
which shone in his looks. "My dear Daru," said he, "that advice is lion-
like, but I should require lions to put it in execution. You are right,
Moscow is not a military position, it is a political position. Yet what
would be said in Paris? what would become of France during that long
absence, without possible communication? No, it is impossible. Austria and
Prussia would take advantage of it to betray me."

The emperor came back to the idea of marching upon Kaluga, and driving
Kutuzoff from the camp of Taroutino, summoning the Duke of Belluna to join
him in order to keep up communications with Smolensk, at the same time
leaving Marshal Mortier in the Kremlin with 10,000 men to occupy and
preserve Moscow. Preparations were being made for this purpose, when, on
the 18th of October, cannon were heard on the road which Napoleon was
making ready to follow, and speedily one of Murat's aides-de-camp
appeared. The King of Naples, who had long complained of the isolation in
which he was left, was careless in his guard, and had been attacked by
Kutuzoff at Winkowo. The Russian army taking advantage of all the delays
which gradually diminished our forces, had increased theirs; and their
general had 100,000 men at his disposal, when he yielded to the urgent
request of his lieutenants, and all at once made an attack with two corps
upon our positions. Murat's personal courage and skill in the field partly
compensated for the faults of his imprudence. He repulsed the enemy's
attack, and fell back upon Voronovo, continuing to cover the road to
Moscow. Kutuzoff, however, held our positions, and the King of Naples lost
the greater part of his cavalry. Napoleon immediately resolved to march to
the enemy. According to the plan already decided upon, Mortier fixed his
quarters at the Kremlin, over the mines laid ready to blow up the citadel
and palace of the Czars. All the rest of the army defiled through the open
gates of the city, recently so eagerly longed for, and now only occupied
for thirty-seven days, which had been full of agitation and terror. The
long trains of carriages, the soldiers' booty heaped upon the wagons or
their shoulders, the furs fastened to their haversacks or arms, were all
proof enough that the troops were no more deceived than the generals as to
the possibility of a return to Moscow. The Duke of Trevisa's friends and
comrades looked upon him as a man condemned beforehand to death, and
sorrowfully bade him adieu without shaking his courage. The French
families formerly settled in Moscow fled from the anger of the Russians,
and joined the march of their fellow-countrymen. The long train on its
march seemed more like a convoy defiling, than the progress of an army
advancing against the enemy. Napoleon, however, had not yet said anything
to imply that the evacuation was final; he was marching against Kutuzoff,
whom he wished to chastise, and, if possible, crush. Before leaving
Moscow, his last instructions were devoted to the defence of the Kremlin.

It was on the morning of the 20th October that the emperor left the city,
in fine autumnal weather which prevented any one from yet anticipating the
rigors of winter. On reaching the castle of Troitskoi, he was struck with
a new idea; Kutuzoff held the old Kaluga road, and a battle was necessary
to dislodge him; and the French, even if victorious, would lose men and be
encumbered with a crowd of wounded. The new road to Kaluga was protected
by Broussier's division, and had not been cut up by the passage of troops;
if it were possible to deceive Kutuzoff by a sudden detour to the right,
and to gain the new road, Kaluga would be reached without a battle, and
the positions for winter secured. The occupation of Moscow must now no
longer be insisted upon, and Mortier immediately instructed to leave
Moscow and join them. Having made up his mind, the emperor in the evening
sent his orders to the Duke of Trevisa: "My cousin," said Napoleon to the
Marshal Berthier, "give orders to the Duke of Trevisa to put on march, to-
morrow, at daybreak, all the tired and lame soldiers of the corps of
Prince Eckmuehl and the viceroy, of the foot-cavalry, and the young guard,
and to direct the whole upon Mojaisk. On the 22nd or 23rd, at two o'clock
in the morning, he will set fire to the brandy storehouse, the barracks,
and the public buildings, except the Foundling Hospital. [Footnote: This
establishment, founded by the dowager empress, had been patronized by
Napoleon. The governor General Toutelmine, had been one of the agents of
his communications with St. Petersburg.] He will have the palace of the
Kremlin set on fire. He will take care that all the guns are broken into
pieces, that powder is placed under the towers of the Kremlin, that all
the gun-carriages are broken, as well as the wagon wheels.

"When these orders are attended to, and the Kremlin is on fire in several
places, the duke will leave the Kremlin, and advance on the Mojaisk road.
At four o'clock, the officer of artillery appointed to that duty will blow
up the Kremlin, according to instructions.

"On the march he will burn all carriages left behind, use every endeavor
to bury all the dead, and burn all the muskets he can find. On reaching
the Gallitzin palace, he will take the Spanish and Bavarians stationed
there, and put fire to the ammunition wagons, and everything which cannot
be removed. He will collect all the commanders of posts, and order the
garrisons to fall back.

"He will reach Mojaisk on the 25th or 26th, and there receive further
orders to put himself in communication with the army. He will naturally
leave a strong advanced guard of cavalry on the Mojaisk road.

"He will be particular in remaining in Moscow till he has himself seen the
Kremlin blown up; and also in setting fire to the governor's two houses
and that of Rasomowsky."

Thus Napoleon himself put hands to that burning of Moscow with which he
had recently blamed the Russians, and the originator of which he did not
forget to punish even then! The march upon Kaluga was already begun, and
one of Prince Eugene's divisions, being in advance, had already occupied
Malo-Jaroslawetz, on the Lougea. General Delzons, who was in command, was
engaged in repairing the bridges, when Kutuzoff was informed of the
direction which the French seemed to take. General Doctoroff at once
advanced with a large body, and Kutuzoff raised his cantonments to follow
him.

The small town of Malo-Jaroslawetz was built on a chain of heights, of
which the Russians at once took possession, cannonading the French, who in
their turn dislodged them. Six times was the town taken and retaken, the
fire of the burning houses combining with the cannon-balls to repulse the
combatants on both sides. Seven French generals fell on the field towards
evening; yet, in spite of the keen determination of the Russian recruits,
who had scarcely arms or clothes, the ruins of the town remained in our
hands. When the emperor arrived on the banks of the Lougea with the main
army, he beheld a sight as painful in proportion to its extent as had been
the plain of Borodino. Many of the corpses were scorched by the fire. Ten
thousand men fell on both sides. The emperor saw that all future movements
implied new and terrible battles. The generals appointed to reconnoitre,
considered the enemy's positions impregnable; and on Napoleon himself
going to take observations he narrowly escaped being taken by a body of
Cossacks, who surprised him when crossing the Lougea. General Rapp had
only time to get him out of the way of those troublesome enemies, bands of
whom incessantly harassed the army. A council was held in a ruined hut on
the banks of the small river.

The emperor was still inclined to attempt a march towards Kaluga, for the
sake of the battle, victory, and consequent rest in a rich district not
yet exhausted. The generals were as confident as their chief in the
success of our arms, but they thought that the loss of 20,000 men and a
charge of 10,000 wounded would themselves constitute a check in presence
of the Russian army, constantly recruited by new forces. A retreat to
Mojaisk, and thence to Smolensk, was decided upon. The attempt on Kaluga
had cost ten days, and exhausted the greater part of the provisions
brought from Moscow, and it was now necessary to submit to a retreat pure
and simple. Marshal Davout proposed to effect this by a new road, which
should still supply some resources for the troops; but his advice was not
listened to. A passionate desire for return, and terror of the frightful
evils which threatened the army, had seized all those men who were
recently so daring, and ready to try any danger. Napoleon still hesitated.
"What do you think about it, Mouton?" he asked Count Lobau, standing
beside him. "That as quickly as possible, and by the shortest road, we
must get out of a country where we have stayed too long," was the
immediate reply of the hero of so many battles. The emperor hung down his
head. In his inmost soul he felt himself beaten.