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 Social Sciences & Humanities Library 
 
 University of California, San Diego 
 Please Note: This item is subject to recall. 
 
 Date Due 
 
 JUN 9 1995 
 
 UCSD Li).
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 SAN DIEGO
 
 /- (TO
 
 CATALOGUE 
 
 OF 
 
 PAINTINGS 
 
 VASSILI VERESTCHAGIN 
 
 INCLUDING 
 
 THE CAMPAIGN OF NAPOLEON I. 
 IN RUSSIA 
 
 AND 
 
 THE BATTLE OF SAN JUAN HILL 
 
 ON EXHIBITION IN THE 
 
 ASTOR GALLERY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 WALDORF-ASTORIA 
 
 FROM FRIDAY, Nov. 14th, TO WEDNESDAY, Nov. 26th.
 
 THE ALEXANDER PRESS, 
 
 14-16 ASTOR PLACE, 
 
 NEW YORK.
 
 NOTICE OF SALE 
 
 The 
 Verestchagin Collection 
 
 WILL BE DISPOSED OF 
 
 AT 
 
 UNRESERVED AUCTION 
 
 ON THE EVENING OF 
 
 Wednesday, November 26th, 
 
 IN THE 
 
 GALLERY OF THE WALDORF-ASTORIA 
 
 JOHN FELL O'BRIEN, AUCTIONEER.
 
 CONDITIONS. 
 
 1. The highest bidder to be the buyer, and if any dis- 
 pute arise between two or more bidders, the lot so in 
 dispute shall be immediately put up again and resold. 
 
 2. The purchasers to give their names and addresses 
 and to pay down a cash deposit, or the whole of the 
 purchase money, if required, in default of which the lot 
 or lots so purchased to be immediately put up again and 
 resold. 
 
 3. The lots to be taken away at the buyer's expense 
 and risk upon the conclusion of the sale and the remain- 
 der of the purchase money to be absolutely paid or 
 otherwise settled for to the satisfaction of the auctioneer, 
 on or before delivery; in default of which the under- 
 signed will not hold himself responsible if the lots be 
 lost, stolen, damaged or destroyed, but they will be left 
 at the sole risk of the purchaser. 
 
 4. The sale of any article is not to be set aside on ac- 
 count of any error in the description. All articles are 
 exposed for public exhibition one or more days and are 
 sold just as they are, without recourse. 
 
 5. To prevent inaccuracy in delivery, and inconven- 
 ience in settlement of the purchases, no lot can on any 
 account be removed during the sale. 
 
 6. If, for any cause, an article purchased cannot be 
 delivered in as good condition as the same may have 
 been at the time of its sale, or should any article pur- 
 chased thereafter be stolen or misdelivered, or lost, the 
 undersigned is not to be held liable in any greater 
 amount than the price bid by the purchaser. 
 
 7. Upon failure to comply with the above conditions, 
 the money deposited in part payment shall be forfeited, 
 all lots uncleared within the time aforesaid shall be re- 
 sold by public or private sale, without further notice, 
 and the deficiency, if any, attending such re-sale shall 
 be made good by the defaulter at this sale, together 
 with all charges attending the same. This condition is 
 without prejudice to the right of the auctioneer to en- 
 force the contract made at this sale, without such re- 
 sale if he thinks fit. 
 
 JOHN FELL O'BRIEN, Auctioneer.
 
 THE FOLLOWING FIRMS WILL ACCEPT ORDERS 
 TO PURCHASE AT THIS SALE. 
 
 M. KNOEDLER, & CO., - - - 355 FIFTH AVENUE 
 
 W. SCHAUS, 204 FIFTH AVENUE 
 
 DURAND-RUEL, 389 FIFTH AVENUE 
 
 ARTHUR TOOTH & SONS, - - - 299 FIFTH AVENUE 
 
 JULIUS OEHME, 384 FIFTH AVENUE 
 
 FISHEL, ADLER & SCHWARTZ, 35TH AND FIFTH AVENUE 
 
 WM. CLAUSSEN, 381 FIFTH AVENUE 
 
 PRINZ BROS., 541 FIFTH AVENUE 
 
 C. W. KRAUSHARR, 260 FIFTH AVENUE
 
 APPRECIATION 
 
 VASSILI VERESTCHAGIN is, like all the great masters 
 of the art of painting, a man of ideals. He has been a 
 deep observer of the world as it is; traveling over the 
 globe, sketchbook in hand, noting on the spot what he 
 saw and after choosing the most dramatic view-point 
 so putting it on canvass as to make it live for all time. 
 
 He has not been a very prolific painter and although 
 the majority of his large pictures were painted with the 
 idea of portraying war, in all its gruesomness, it must 
 not be understood that all his work is in that line. His 
 delineations of national types are startingly true, and his 
 landscapes have been acclaimed by the most advanced 
 impressionists as illustrating the best achievements of that 
 school. 
 
 A recent appreciation of him by M. Jules Claretie, 
 Member of the French Academy, and Director of 
 the Comedie Franchise, a recognized critic of author- 
 ity, and lends interest to the invitation to American 
 criticiscm made in this exhibition of the Russian artist's 
 latest works. 
 
 COMEDIE FRA^AISE 
 Administrator General. 
 
 VIROFLAY (Seine & Oise), 
 
 Aug. 9, 1902. 
 John Fell O'Brien, Esq. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 I am very happy to learn that my friend, Mr. Verest- 
 chagin, is going to exhibit his pictures at the Waldorf- 
 Astoria in New York. It will be there, as it was in 
 Paris and elsewhere, an important artistic event. Mr. 
 Verestchagin is, in his rendering, a painter who resembles 
 no other. He is an artist who not only makes you see, 
 but think. Had I had the honor of being one of the 
 jury of the Nobel Award, I would not have hesitated, 
 in the name of humanity, to crown him, as M. Duinent, 
 the initiator of the Conference of Geneva, was crowned, 
 as was also M. Sully-Prudhomme, my collegiate of the 
 Academy.
 
 APPRECIATION 
 
 The war pictures of Verestchagin have a thrilling ef- 
 fect on one. After painting War with all its splendor, 
 he denounces it with his brush as a philosopher, or, 
 rather, he does not denounce it, he shows it such as it 
 is, and that glory is also another name for Butchery. 
 
 My opinion of Verestchagin's art is in accord with that 
 of Alexandre Dumas Fils,and Meissonier ; (while we were 
 standing before a splendid canvas by Verestchagin, rep- 
 resenting the Kremlin), and Meissonier was dwelling 
 upon the precision and truthfulness of the Russian painter, 
 and praising his views of India, his battle fields and his 
 treatment of snow, and also his treatment of sunshine, 
 then Alexandre Dumas Fils quoted Victor Hugo, as 
 having written that " Charles Beaudelaire has brought 
 to French poetry a new emotion," and it might be said 
 of Verestchagin, that he has done the same for the art 
 of painting. 
 
 I remember my impression when I first saw, in Lon- 
 don, Verestchagin's paintings of the Turkestan War, 
 nothing could have struck me more forcibly it was 
 picturesque and poignant. M. Dumas Fils, had he told 
 me the same sensations while gazing on the scenes of 
 the Russian War, which were, in his opinion, works of 
 art, of tragic truth, which could only be compared to 
 certain pages of Tolstoi. 
 
 My friend, M. Gerome, the eminent painter, who is 
 the most sincere of men, and hard to suit, can tell you 
 that he has for Verestchagin the same admiration which 
 Dumas Fils and Meissonier had for him; in fact, one 
 can have no other opinion, this talent, both vigorous and 
 determined, imposes itself on every one, as the inde- 
 pendent character of the artist forces sympathy on those 
 who have the pleasure of knowing him. Certainly, to 
 know Verestchagin personally in the intimacy of his life, 
 is to love him, and those who can thoroughly appreciate 
 his work must admire his ideals . 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 JULES CLARETIE.
 
 APPRECIATION 
 HIS TRUE BIOGRAPHY 
 
 His work is his biography. He has lived every one 
 of his pictures, and he has often had to study at almost 
 the cost of his life. All that he represents he has seen; 
 all that he relates with his pencil he has lived. These 
 pictures are just so many chapters detached from his 
 history. They are the work of an artist of an excep- 
 tional nature. But a few newspaper articles are not suf- 
 ficient for the study of such a collection. It is worthy 
 of a book written on the critical method of Sainte-Beuve, 
 a book wherein the man would occupy a place at least 
 as considerable as the work itself; for the one and the 
 other are inseparable. EMILE CARDON. Soleil, Paris. 
 
 DEDICATED TO THE CONQUERORS 
 
 He is the first Russian painter who has given his 
 countrymen a true impression of war something besides 
 those official pictures where victory is displayed and 
 never defeat. Even when he paints victory he never 
 separates it from its sadness, its ruin, its misery, its 
 mourning beyond relief. I seem to have always before 
 my eyes, as in a dream, that pyramid of piled-up skulls 
 which he met with somewhere in his wanderings, and of 
 which he has made one of his most striking pictures. 
 He wrote underneath it, " Dedicated to the Conquerors." 
 Gaulois, Paris. 
 
 ESSENTIALLY HUMAN 
 
 When they gave Verestchagin the surname of the 
 Horace Vernet of Russia, no doubt they thought that 
 they were saying something in his praise; but he cer- 
 tainly had a right to feel calumniated, for the general 
 impression left by his work is not admiration for princes 
 nor glorification of war. In telling the truth feelingly 
 about the sufferings of the soldier, without distinction 
 of nationality, with as much pity for the vanquished as 
 for the victors, Verestchagin has shown himself essen- 
 
 9
 
 APPRECIATION 
 
 tially human. His pictures, with their poignant reality 
 and elevated philosophy, are at the same time a terrible 
 satire on ambitious despots. Verestchagin is a courtier 
 of nothing but misfortune. A pupil of Gerome, he 
 seems to have traveled very much in search of himself. 
 Sometimes he has drawn near to Meissonier, then there 
 is something in him of Gericault and of Courbet, and 
 again he is a true Impressionist in the best acceptation 
 of the term. L'Art, Paris. 
 
 To look at his studies you would think you were be- 
 fore some Asiatic Van der Heyden. But your emotion 
 itself is forgotten under the implacable and learned ex- 
 actitude of the rendering. At another time it is a sketch, 
 a mere rough note of an idea which is the all-in-all, and 
 then we are far enough from that Dutchman, but nearer 
 Rembrandt, and sometimes we are in the very midst of 
 the Impressionist school. Constitutional, Paris. 
 
 ESSENTIALLY MODERN 
 
 We poor moderns, with our unmodern art, have some- 
 times moments of artistic anguish in which we feel sen- 
 sible of all our faults and short-comings. The century 
 has for eighty years of its course been looking for rest 
 without finding it, but at length its efforts to put its 
 artistic house in order seems likely to have some result. 
 The realism of life streams with a full tide in every vein 
 of our being, and the very beating of our pulses seems 
 to speak a language not to be misunderstood. No man 
 has ever painted like Verestchagin. He is essentially 
 new modern, in the profoundest sense of the word. 
 He is of our century, however Russian in manner and 
 subject. No earlier period could have produced him. 
 The cut-and-dried artistic rules and receipts are worth 
 nothing in his case. The painter emancipates himself 
 from them, and his right to do so is proved by the fact 
 that the spectator forgets them too the moment he sees 
 the pictures. " There is always something new from 
 
 10
 
 APPRECIATION 
 
 Africa," was a saying of the Romans; we might para- 
 phrase it in regard to Russia, and ask ourselves what 
 surprises of culture may not yet be in store for us in 
 Siberia. Verestchagin has gone to school in the very 
 home of color. He has learned to see it on the Ganges, 
 the Nile, and in the Steppes of Turkestan. His tech- 
 nical skill is astonishing, and it is shown especially in 
 his handling of snow. The fight against winter is a 
 theme which supplies him with a thousand motives for 
 pictures. The sunlight out of doors and the chiaroscuro 
 of indoor effects are equally familiar to him. Very 
 striking too is his representation of great stretches of 
 flat country which he knows how to vary by the finest 
 modulations in tone. Fremdenblatt, Vienna. 
 
 11
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY ON THE CAMPAIGN 
 OF NAPOLEON I. IN RUSSIA 
 
 The study of the life and deeds of a mighty power of 
 his time, like Napoleon the First, is of great interest 
 I mean a comprehensive study, excluding all inclination 
 toward the legendary. The legends that are always con- 
 fused with the acts of a great man, and above all, a 
 warrior, are so closely linked with his memory that it is 
 difficult to discern in the course of events the truth and 
 fiction. The more brilliant his career and the more ex- 
 traordinary his actions, the more the legend resembles 
 the truth. 
 
 The twenty years of Napoleon's career present a series 
 of events beyond conception, and give often to ordinary 
 actions the appearance of providential happenings. 
 
 It is true that in 1812 the emperor began a struggle 
 at the same time with men, climate, and indeed the 
 world, and necessarily succumbed to the work. But his 
 image is none the 'less dramatic, and it is certain that 
 I do not wish to lower Napoleon or his genius in paint- 
 ing the great captain in several difficult positions of 
 his life at the culminating point in a career unique in 
 history. 
 
 In addition to the explanations that I shall give of 
 my pictures, I have gathered together in another volume 
 some notes to which I wish to call attention. I have 
 grouped together many characteristic extracts taken from 
 contemporary memoirs or from testimony of witnesses 
 about the sojourn of Napoleon in Russia in 1812, and 
 have retained as much as possible of the simplicity and 
 originality of these accounts. 
 
 It is possible in reading these pages one should say, 
 " but the . French did nothing but massacre, shoot and 
 pillage." This is because they went there for that pur- 
 
 13
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 pose, but there is one reservation to make; under the 
 title of " the French in 1812," is understood in Russia 
 the mass of soldiers that came from the four corners of 
 Europe to form the Grande Armee. As to the French 
 (properly so-called), I can say that the Russian literature 
 agrees in showing them, although shooting without mercy, 
 somewhat more generous than their allies, especially the 
 Suabians, Wurtemburgers and Bavarians, of whom the 
 record is inexplicable. The Poles also were very cruel, 
 but they were settling an old score with the Russians. 
 
 Napoleon undoubtedly dominated the history of the 
 century, and the war of 1812 remains the event the most 
 dramatic of this history. The immensity of the project, 
 the rapidity of the course of events and the importance 
 of the consequences irresistibly attract the attention of 
 the artist, the politician, the philosopher, and the soldier. 
 
 Among the events destined to throw light on the reasons 
 of the enterprises directed by Napoleon against Russia, 
 I should designate, first: the petition sent in the year 
 1789 by Bonaparte, when First Lieutenant, to the Rus- 
 sian General Zaborovsky, begging to be taken into the 
 service of the Czarina, Catherine the Second. The peti- 
 tion was refused, as the petitioner wished to be admitted 
 with the rank of Major. It is interesting to learn that 
 Zaborovsky never forgave himself for this refusal. In 
 the year 1812 the old General, who had left the service 
 and lived in retirement in Moscow, could not forget that 
 he had rejected Bonaparte, and in so doing had in- 
 directly been the cause of the misfortunes and devasta- 
 tions which had overwhelmed Russia. When the em- 
 peror, Alexander First, arrived in Moscow for his cor- 
 onation, he questioned the General repeatedly as to this 
 event. Count Rostopschin avers that he had in his hand 
 the letter containing Bonaparte's request. The second 
 fact of importance was the proposed marriage of Napo- 
 leon to one of the sisters of Emperor Alexander, a scheme 
 which was frustrated by the intense dislike of the mother 
 of the young princess to the imperial suitor. It would 
 
 14
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 indeed be unjust to ascribe the wounded vanity of the 
 lieutenant and of the emperor as the sole cause of the 
 constant hatred of Napoleon toward Russia ; on the other 
 hand, when we consider both his character and his temp- 
 erament, these facts must not be overlooked. 
 
 In the campaign of 1812 Napoleon proved himself so 
 full of ideas and contradictory resolutions, drew up so 
 many impracticable plans, and conceived so many fool- 
 hardy combinations, that it is impossible to explain all 
 this on the theory of his desire to avenge himself for 
 the pretended offense inflicted on France and all the 
 civilized nations by the Russian people, or to justify his 
 persistent animosity unless one takes into account that 
 his vanity was mortally wounded. 
 
 In spite of all his genius the emperor was not infal- 
 lible. After his second marriage and during the empire, 
 Napoleon appears to have lost all perspicacity. Impa- 
 tience carries him away and his usual method of strik- 
 ing in rapid successive blows carries him of necessity to 
 destruction. 
 
 Leaving aside the first and remote attempt to enter 
 into good relations with Russia (by admission into the 
 Russian service), and considering on the other hand the 
 second rebuff as the immediate cause of the denouement, 
 I wish to remark that neither the Russian society nor 
 Emperor Alexander himself had intended to hold France 
 at a distance or had fostered against its chief any un- 
 bridled hate. 
 
 It was first the Princess Catherine, after Tilsit, that 
 Napoleon thought to make an Empress, but as soon as 
 his intentions became apparent and before any official 
 measures could be taken, a marriage was hurriedly ar- 
 ranged between the young princess and the Duke of 
 Oldenbourg. 
 
 The Emperor, however, did not allow himself to be 
 discouraged, and secretly, but with due observance to all 
 etiquette, requested the hand of the Princess Anna. The 
 Czar would have accepted the conqueror as the husband 
 
 15
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 of his sister, but the dowager Empress would not even 
 listen to such an alliance. After successive delays to his 
 demands Napoleon recognized that it was intentional, 
 and without waiting for the official refusal, dated the 
 4th of February, he held a family council on the 6th of 
 February, at the end of which he married the Arch- 
 duchess of Austria. On her side the dowager Empress 
 Marie, not contented with the rebuff given Napoleon 
 before all Europe, added to the insult by bestowing the 
 hand of her daughter on a petty German prince. The 
 offense of the intention was but too evident. Napoleon, 
 beside himself with anger, drove the Duke of Olden- 
 bourg out of his own domains, and after threatening the 
 whole of Alexander's German relations with the same 
 fate, began elaborate preparations for war. 
 
 I do not wish to go into an explanation of the reasons 
 given, and eloquent and pathetic phrases which Napoleon 
 pronounced to justify a war which he wished to under- 
 take, and which he declared to be that of the civilized 
 world against the savage. Europe fully recognized the 
 power of France and the greatness of its ruler, and con- 
 scious of its own ability to oppose his decisions was only 
 ready to accept every revelation of this incorporate Prov- 
 idence. 
 
 It is possible that Napoleon wished at first to inspire 
 his adversary with fear by the magnitude of his prepar- 
 ations for war, and to compel him publicly to humiliate 
 himself before the whole of Europe, but when Alexander 
 in full view of this same Europe began to organize for 
 resistance, the emperor of the French had to " drink up 
 the uncorked wine." 
 
 Here begins one of the most instructive and tragic 
 pages in modern history. Recognized by the entire 
 world as a superior intellect, a great military genius, 
 Napoleon could not stop on the verge, and in spite of 
 his own wishes, expressed many times, to stop in time, 
 and not, like Charles the XII,. to penetrate into the 
 heart of Russia, in spite of his comprehensive vision, he 
 
 16
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 let himself be dragged into the heart of the immense 
 country where the Grande Armee was soon to become 
 engulfed in the snow. Fatigued by difficult marches 
 sometimes under a burning sun and sometimes under 
 excessive cold, the military spirit was lost, and the huge 
 territory traversed but not conquered. Misled by the 
 tactics of the enemy, who surpassed him in endurance 
 and tenacity, the Emperor marches onward, strewing his 
 path with corpses. He hardly arrived at Vitebsk before 
 he declared the campaign at an end. " Here I shall 
 halt," he said, " look about me, collect my forces, let my 
 army rest, and find a new Poland. Two mighty rivers 
 mark out the limits of our position. We will build 
 block-houses, form a square with our artillery, construct 
 barracks and store up provisions. In 1813 we shall be 
 in Moscow; in 1814 at St. Petersburg. A war with 
 Russia is a war of three years." 
 
 There is reason to believe that had Napoleon remained 
 in Lithuania, the good natured and pacific character of 
 Alexander would have led this monarch to have brought 
 about peace. But Napoleon lost patience, abandoned 
 Witebsk and pressed forward. However, he decided not 
 to pass Smolensk, the key to the two roads to Moscow 
 and St. Petersburg, roads which he must control in order 
 to be able to continue his march in the springtime on the 
 two capitals. 
 
 At Smolensk he counted on resting and establishing 
 himself and putting everything in order, and if Russia 
 refused to submit, that would be the end of her. But 
 Smolensk was abandoned in its turn. Napoleon became 
 impatient aga*in and pressed forward once more. 
 
 It was at Moscow that this gigantic enterprise was 
 crushed. Those who participated began to murmur, and 
 those who conducted it began to lose their heads. At 
 Moscow he humiliated himself before Alexander: he let 
 him understand, as if on purpose, the difficulty of his 
 position. By the first-comer he sent message upon mes- 
 sage; he overwhelmed the Czar with amiable words. 
 
 17
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 He assured him of his friendship and his brotherly de- 
 votion, and without waiting a response to his letters he 
 sent his generals. He wished to make peace ; " I must 
 have peace," said he to Lauriston, in sending him to find 
 Kutusoff . " Peace at any price save only honor." Never- 
 theless, as General, he permitted pillage, while as Em- 
 peror he became irritated by being unable to stop it. He 
 wished to march upon St. Petersburg at the beginning 
 of winter, and as if to mock the chiefs of his army, he 
 ordered the purchase of twenty thousand horses and great 
 quantities of forage in a country already completely 
 ruined. 
 
 Then came retreat with intentional delays to preserve 
 booty. The Russians took the outposts and barred the 
 passage to Malo-Iaroslavetz. The division of the army 
 into independent columns permitted them to be fought 
 one after the other; they were almost entirely destroyed. 
 Systematic burning by the advance guard of the villages 
 through which they passed, demoralized and ruined the 
 rest of the army. In the end the license permitted the 
 soldiers to profane the churches, to starve and put to 
 death the prisoners, provoked the population which was 
 irritated to horrible retaliations. Here and there, as at 
 Krasnoie, the emperor showed some gleams of genius, 
 but they were only the manifestations of the great force 
 of his soul, the last intermittent but powerful gleams of 
 a star which was about to be extinguished. 
 
 VASSILI VERESTCHAGIN 
 
 18
 
 CATALOGUE 
 
 AND 
 
 ORDER OF SALE
 
 CATALOGUE 
 
 I 
 San Juan Hill 
 
 That part of the hill up which Roosevelt led the Rough 
 Riders. 
 
 Corner of the Morro Castle at Santiago 
 
 Showing in the distance part of the naval battle and 
 the blowing up of the Spanish ship Oquendo. 
 
 3 
 Principal Gate leading to Morro Castle, Havana 
 
 The U. S. troops passed through this gate. 
 
 4 
 U. S. Battery 
 
 Commanding the entrance of the Harbor of Santiago 
 de Cuba. 
 
 5 
 Far from Home 
 
 H. 30^4 in., W. 16% in. 
 
 A typical American soldier in the American army of 
 occupation of the Philippines. 
 
 21
 
 General MacArthur and his Staff at the Battle of 
 Caloocan, Feb. 10, 1899 
 
 H. 48 in., W. 29 in. 
 
 Fought a few days later than the battle of Santa Ana. 
 The troops engaged were the ist Brigade, 2nd Division, 
 8th Army Corps, and part of the 2nd Brigade of the 
 same Division. The troops were commanded by Gen. 
 Arthur MacArthur in person, and consisted of the loth 
 Kansas Regiment, U. S. Volunteers, a Light Battery of 
 the 6th U. S. Artillery, 2 Batteries, Utah Light Artillery, 
 ist Montana Regiment, U. S. Volunteers, loth Penn- 
 sylvania Regiment, U. S. Volunteers, the 3rd Artillery, 
 ist Colorado Volunteers and the ist Nebraska Volunteers. 
 The position occupied by the Headquarters of Gen. Mac- 
 Arthur was on top of a row of tombs in the cemetery 
 of La Loma Church near Manila. The battle was fought 
 for the possession of the town of Caloocan. Col. Frost 
 occupied this entrenched cemetery with his regiment. 
 The forward movement began about 3 p. M. and con- 
 tinued until dark. The movement began by throwing 
 forward part of the 3rd Artillery and loth Pennsylvania 
 Volunteers well to the right for a demonstration; the 
 whole line then moved forward and swinging gradually 
 to the left carried the earth works constructed by the 
 insurgents, on the south of Caloocan as well as all along 
 the east side of Caloocan. Very strong intrenchments 
 had been constructed over the railroad bed just north of 
 Caloocan, where some artillery was used by the insur- 
 gents. 
 
 This was probably the most picturesque fight during 
 the entire insurrection. From the point of view of the 
 Commanding General at La Loma Church nearly all the 
 troops could be seen during the entire movement. The 
 3rd Artillery, commanded by Major (now General) 
 Kobbe, moved as if in extended order drill, never losing
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 the regularity of formation or control of their fire. As 
 an incident of the battle to the observer, the following 
 might be mentioned : 
 
 General Kobbe was riding his pony with the advanced 
 line, when General Bell (then Major Bell), who had 
 command of several companies of native scouts, appeared 
 from the right, approached General Kobbe and in a heavy 
 part of the fire chatted for some moments in the open, 
 General Kobbe drew a cigar from his pocket, struck a 
 match and lighted it and went on as if at ordinary drill. 
 
 The casualties on the American side of this fight were 
 about 20 killed and some 40 wounded. The casualties on 
 the side of the insurgents were about 200 killed and 400 
 wounded. Memoranda of Capt. Wm. G. Haan. 
 
 Battle near Santa Ana, Manila 
 H. 50^4 in., W. 71^ in. 
 
 Fought on the morning of February 5, 1899, between 
 U. S. Troops and native insurgents of the Philippine 
 Islands. The United States troops engaged were the ist 
 Brigade, ist Division, 8th Army Corps, consisting of the 
 ist Washington Volunteers, the 2d Oregon Regiment of 
 Volunteers, the ist California Regiment of Volunteers, 
 Company A, -U. S. Engineers and the Wyoming Batallion 
 U. S. Volunteers. 
 
 The fight began at daylight and lasted until 10.30 
 o'clock, A. M. The brigade was commanded by Gen. 
 Charles King, U. S. Volunteers. The ist Division was 
 commanded by Major-General Thomas M. Anderson, 
 U. S. Volunteers. 
 
 The movements of the battle of Santa Ana were gen- 
 erally directed by General Anderson around a point known 
 as " Battery Knoll." (This is the point from which the 
 artist took his observation.)
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 General Charles King was in immediate command of 
 the line in front of Santa Ana. 
 
 The movement across the small creek near Battery 
 Knoll began about 7:30 in the morning and advanced 
 gradually to a point about half way to Santa Ana, where 
 a considerable firing took place and little movement for- 
 ward was made for nearly an hour. The right wing, 
 under command of General (then Colonel) James F. 
 Smith, ist California Volunteers, was pushed well to the 
 front towards San Pedro Macati and then swung into 
 the left upon Santa Ana, forming a partial envelope. 
 The movement was then gradually forward until the city 
 of Santa Ana was taken at about 10:15 A. M. 
 
 The casualties on the American side consisted of 14 
 killed and about 60 wounded. The casualties on the side 
 of the insurgents were never accurately known, but from 
 the number that were buried the next day, it appeared 
 that approximately 300 were killed and not less than five 
 or six hundred wounded. 
 
 The strength of the troops in Santa Ana were com- 
 posed of a division commanded by General Pio del Pilar, 
 who however was not in immediate command. The line 
 was immediately commanded by General Ricarte, who it 
 is said disappeared to the rear early in the action. 
 
 The insurgent troops contested the ground very stub- 
 bornly for several hours. This was shown from the fact 
 that in one trench about 50 yards long, 34 dead were 
 found. Similar evidences were found in many places. 
 
 The two pieces of Artillery on Battery Knoll did ex- 
 cellent execution, both towards Santa Ana and towards 
 the right in driving away parties having a flank fire on 
 the Brigade moving on Santa Ana. Memoranda of 
 Capt. Wm. G. Haan. 
 
 8 
 
 A Deserter, examined by the Cavalry Officers of the 
 Vanguard to discover whether he is a spy 
 
 H. 42 in., W. 51 in. 
 24
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 Battle at Zapote Bridge 
 
 This battle was fought between 2 P. M. and* 3 :3O P. M. 
 June 13, 1899. General Lawton was in command. Cap- 
 tain Seay commanded the infantry and Lieutenant Kenly 
 the artillery. The loss was not very great on the Amer- 
 ican side, about six killed and fifteen wounded. The 
 most striking incident of the fight was the use of the 
 mountain artillery, which was worked at the close range 
 of 35 or 40 yards. 
 
 10 
 The Insurgent Spy 
 
 n 
 
 You are hit, Sergeant? " " Yes, Sir " 
 H. 40^4 in., W. 29^4 in. 
 
 12 
 
 Battle of San Juan: 
 
 "COME IN BOYS!!" 
 
 25
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 13 
 
 Awaiting Peace 
 H. 23^2 in., W. 29^ in. 
 
 Napoleon, who had always been remarkable for his 
 extreme rapidity of thought and action, now lost courage 
 and could determine on no direct course. He, who in the 
 year 1805 had been able suddenly to abandon the Bou- 
 logne undertaking, begun with so much trouble and cost, 
 in order to lead all his forces into the field with incred- 
 ible rapidity against Austria; he, who a year later dic- 
 tated, without the slightest mistake or miscalculation, all 
 the movements of his army, as far as Berlin itself, who 
 not only fixed beforehand upon the date of his entry into 
 the Prussian capital, but even appointed the Governor 
 found himself, after the burning of Moscow, which de- 
 stroyed all his hopes and plans, in a lamentable state of 
 indecision. At one time he almost signed an order direct- 
 ing the army to hold itself in readiness to march against 
 St. Petersburg, but he soon gave up this plan. He wished 
 to attack Kutusoff, become master of Tula and Kaluga, 
 the arsenal and storehouse of Russia, and thus make a 
 new way for his winter quarters in Lithuania; but again 
 he changed his mind. Finally, he thought of attacking 
 Wittgenstein with all his forces, but could not determine 
 upon this movement, as it might have borne the appear- 
 ance of a retreat. 
 
 The idea of gaining possession of St. Petersburg and 
 compelling the Emperor Alexander to come to terms was 
 the most attractive to Napoleon. But as this could not 
 possibly be carried out before the winter, he cast about for 
 some other means of enforcing peace. Alexander had 
 already received, or would within a few days receive, his 
 amiable and friendly letter, dated from Moscow. Natur- 
 ally, he thought, the Emperor would not fail to embrace 
 this opportunity of entering into negotiations with him; 
 and thus, full of torturing uncertainty, he waited and 
 waited for his answer from the Russian Emperor. 
 
 26
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 14 
 
 Marshal Davout in the Monastery of Tchoudow 
 
 H. 48 in., W. 30^ in. 
 
 Davout had his headquarters in the new convent of the 
 Virgins. When, however, he came in the exigencies of 
 the service to the Kremlin, he stopped at Tchoudow Mon- 
 astery, where the altar had been thrown out and his camp- 
 bed put in its place. Two privates mounted guard on 
 either side of the holy door. 
 
 15 
 Return from the Palace of Petrowsky 
 
 H. 34^ in., W. 54 in. 
 
 From the 5th to the I7th of September it rained heavily, 
 which diminishes without suppressing altogether the con- 
 flagration, and when Napoleon returned from the Palace 
 of Petrowsky to the Kremlin, the city not only was smok- 
 ing still, but was in flames in some places. The camp of 
 the French troops which surrounded the palace extended 
 as far as the gate of Twer. The Generals occupied the 1 
 factories. The cavalry camped on the avenues. In every 
 direction great fires were lighted, fed by window frames, 
 doors and all kinds of furniture. Around these burning 
 piles, on wet straw, were grouped the officers and soldiers 
 begrimed and black wi.th smoke, sitting in arm chairs, or 
 lying on sofas garnished with rich materials. They 
 wrapped their feet up in costly furs and oriental shawls, 
 and ate from silver plates a black soup of horse-flesh 
 mixed with ashes. One could see in the city but the re- 
 mains of houses, and everywhere a sickening odor of 
 burning came from the ruins. In most of the streets it 
 was difficult to effect a passage on account of the crum- 
 bling of the walls and the piles of household furniture and 
 other articles. 
 
 The Emperor met everywhere bands of soldiers drag- 
 ging their plunder with them or driving before them like 
 
 27
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 beasts of burden Russians who bent double under their 
 loads. The men of the different corps, most of them 
 drunk, refused to obey their officers and fought one an- 
 other for their plunder. Napoleon, though accustomed 
 to view with a calm curiosity the most frightful battle- 
 fields, could not help being affected by this spectacle. Im- 
 mediately upon his return he interested himself in the sad 
 condition of the foreigners and especially the French, but 
 for the tattered starving Russian who wandered here and 
 there he had no more consideration than to establish a 
 court-martial, which rid him of those he thought in- 
 cendiaries, that is to say, of almost all those who dared to 
 show themselves on that day. 
 
 " At one time," relates a citizen of Moscow, " I saw the 
 people running towards a place where numerous French 
 were going also. They were going to hang some so- 
 called incendiaries that these brigand-soldiers had gath- 
 ered in. Among them I recognized one ; he was a servant 
 from the house of Korsakof f ; he was old and blind. Was 
 it possible that he had been an incendiary! He had al- 
 ready one foot in the tomb. They took all those who fell 
 into their hands and made of them incendiaries. When 
 the rope was put around their neck they began to beg in 
 a manner that drew tears from several among us, but the 
 hands of the blackguards did not falter. They hanged 
 some and shot others to make an example and to scare 
 those that were looking on." 
 
 But after the arrival of Napoleon at the Kremlin the 
 order to stop this pillage was given and repeated without 
 success. " The Emperor," one may read in the reports, 
 " saw with much sorrow that, in spite of his express com- 
 mands, the pillage continued with the same violence." 
 " From to-morrow, the 3<Dth of September," says another 
 order, " all soldiers who are arrested for pillaging will be 
 judged with the greatest severity," but the orders of 
 Napoleon were ineffectual. The looting continued, and 
 the whole French army was soon no more than a horde 
 overladen with booty.
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 16 
 The Hut in Gorodnia: Advance or Retreat? 
 
 H. 4oy 2 in., W. 59^2 in. 
 
 Napoleon was in Borowsk when he received the good 
 news of the occupation of Malo-Iaroslavetz by a French 
 division. This occupation was effected without a battle, 
 the French having arrived ahead of the Russians on the 
 road to Kalouga. During this whole day the emperor on 
 horseback kept a watchful eye upon the country. His 
 eyes were kept on the left side of the route, from which he 
 feared to see the Russian army issue, but the latter was 
 not to be seen, and he passed a tranquil night. But on the 
 following day, the 24th of October, he learned that " the 
 Russians were there, and that they had defeated and 
 driven from laroslavetz the French division, which had 
 been expecting the corps of the Viceroy Eugene to come 
 to its help, and that the struggle had been sanguinary." 
 Napoleon in great excitement hurried to one of the neigh- 
 boring heights and listened eagerly. Could the Barbar- 
 ians have been too cunning for him ! Was it possible that 
 the old fox, Kutusof f , had outwitted him ! Or could he 
 himself have been too slow ! Could he, Napoleon, have 
 been the cause of this defeat through his want of energy ! 
 If he had not for a whole day held back the Prince Eugene 
 at Fominskoe, the prince would have already been at 
 Malo-Iaroslavetz, and consequently at Kalouga, and they 
 would have been in advance of the enemy; that was an 
 assured line of retreat. 'How idiotic not to press the 
 march, to reduce the baggage of the troops, the marshals, 
 and his own! He was too late, and now what chances! 
 Fine weather, his army leaving Moscow rested and re- 
 mounted; all due to him as much as to Kutusof f; all 
 ruined, and his fault ! He listens, he listens again ; steady 
 cannonading! It is certainly a battle! It is now clear 
 to him that it is no longer a question of fame, but of 
 saving the army and of flight. 
 
 29
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 When the firing of the cannon became more and more 
 rare, he entered one of the huts of the hamlet of Gorodnia, 
 some miles from Malo-Iaroslavetz, and called together 
 the marshals who were at hand. 
 
 All through the night one report succeeded another, 
 telling him that the field of battle remained in the hands 
 of the French. The Russians, repulsed but sheltered in 
 the forest, occupied a stronger position on the other side 
 of the town and their ranks were augmented from hour 
 to hour. At last came the news that the army of Kutu- 
 soff disclosed the intention of turning the left wing of 
 the French by the road of Medyne, and that there was no 
 choice except to engage in a general battle, or to beat a 
 retreat. At eleven o'clock Marshal Bessieres, sent to 
 reconnoitre, returned and reported that the position of the 
 Russians was impregnable. The Emperor folded his arms 
 on his breast. " Do you hold yourself responsible for 
 what you are saying ? " Bessieres repeats his report, 
 and assures him that the Russian position is so solid that 
 with three hundred men they could hold in check an entire 
 army. He ventures to propose retreat, and is backed by 
 other officers. The emperor listens to their opinions and 
 asks Count Lobau, " What is your advice ? " " Retreat, 
 sir, by the shortest road, and as soon as possible." 
 
 Napoleon, always with his arms folded, his head bent, 
 remained sitting in an attitude of deep thought. There 
 was no longer any doubt he had made a mistake, and he 
 alone was responsible, he could not accuse any one else. 
 The image of Charles XII., so often mentioned during 
 this campaign, and his blunders, which he had so firmly 
 determined not to repeat, appeared before his eyes in spite 
 of him. How had it all happened ! 
 
 As usually occurs in such cases, when conscience brings 
 all our actions in a lightning flash before our eyes, he saw 
 in a moment the whole history of the campaign, from the 
 occupation of Moscow to the present time. 
 
 He remembered the order given by him to Marshal Mortier, 
 appointed Military Governor of the capital, to prevent all incen- 
 diarism, all plundering : " Your head will answer for it ! Defend 
 
 30
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 Moscow above all and against all ! " Then came the dreadful 
 night which brought to his ears the sad reports of incendiarism. 
 He had been overcome by them and could find no rest. Again 
 and again he had called up his attendants and made them repeat 
 these rumors, always hoping that they could not substantiate them, 
 till, at two o'clock in the morning, the flames broke forth! He 
 had hurried in person to the scene of the conflagration, giving one 
 order after the other, scolded, threatened. The fire seemed to be 
 extinguished, and he had returned to the Kremlin somewhat reas- 
 sured. He had at last seen himself the possessor of the Palace of 
 the Muscovite Tsars. 
 
 " Now we shall see," he said, " what the Russians will do 
 next! If they will not now begin to treat for peace they must 
 be made to do so by patience and perseverance. We are now 
 in winter quarters, and we will show the world the spectacle 
 of an army peaceably wintering, surrounded by a hostile popu- 
 lation, like a ship in the midst of Arctic ice ! In the spring we 
 will begin the war anew. But Alexander will never let matters 
 come to this extremity, we shall agree and conclude peace." 
 
 Napoleon had evidently foreseen all these contingencies the 
 bloody struggle before Moscow, the long stay at Moscow itself, 
 the severe winter, even disasters ; but, with the city in his power, 
 and 250,000 soldiers at his back, he thought himself secure against 
 the worst. 
 
 But then came the unforeseen the city was engulfed in a 
 huge, inconceivable conflagration. The earth seemed to open 
 and spit out the fires of hell. Even now, when thinking over the 
 events of that night, he shuddered at the recollection of his awak- 
 ening in the double glare of dawn and of these terrible flames, 
 remembered his order that the fire should be put out at any cost, 
 and the conviction, to which he was speedily driven, that this 
 was an order impossible to execute, and that there was a will 
 at work even stronger than his own. 
 
 This conquest, for the sake of which he had made every sac- 
 rifice, which, like a shadow, he had endeavored to seize, eluded 
 his grasp, vanished in fire, in clouds of smoke, in the crackling 
 and crumbling of falling buildings ! Again he called to mind 
 how, in his excitement, he did not know where to begin, what to 
 undertake; how he had sat down, stood up, sat down again; had 
 set about some urgent work, thrown it aside, rushed to the 
 windows to watch the track of the fire, and then cried : " This, 
 then, is what they are, these barbarians, these Scythians ! How 
 many magnificent buildings palaces! What resolution ! What 
 men!" 
 
 The panes near which he stood were so hot that they burnt 
 his face, and the men placed on the roofs had scarcely time to 
 
 31
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 extinguish the sparks as they fell. A rumor spread that the 
 Kremlin was undermined, and many servants, and even court 
 officials, lost their heads with fear. Napoleon had sadly watched 
 the flames snatching away his brilliant conquest, even blocking 
 up his way out of the Kremlin, and holding him prisoner. He 
 had seen the neighboring buildings fall victims to the flames, and, 
 watching the ring of fire close in around him, had already begun 
 to breathe smoke and ashes. 
 
 The King of Naples and Prince Eugene hurry to him, and, 
 together with Berthier, beg him on their knees to leave the palace, 
 but he still remains. 
 
 At last the report is brought in, " Fire in the Kremlin ! The 
 incendiary captured ! " 
 
 He now makes up his mind to leave the Kremlin, rushes down 
 the celebrated Strelitz Staircase, and gives orders to be taken to 
 the Petrowsky Palace outside the city. He must hurry, for the 
 flames around him increase at every moment. He hastens to the 
 river, whence a small winding street leads him to an outlet from 
 this hell. 
 
 On foot he presses forward, through this fearful avenue of 
 flame, through the crackling of innumerable burning buildings, 
 the thunder of falling masonry, of beams crashing from the roofs, 
 and molten metal pouring from the gutters. The road is so 
 covered with debris of all kinds that it is most difficult to force 
 a passage. The fires which destroyed the buildings in front of 
 which he had to pass rose upwards on both sides of the streets 
 and formed above his head a veritable arch of flame. 
 
 In this desparate situation, where haste alone could ensure 
 safety, the guide came to a stand. He had lost his way. Napo- 
 leon's career on this earth would have ended there and then had 
 it not been that some marauders of the First Army Corps recog- 
 nized their Emperor, hurried up to his aid, and led him out to an 
 open space that had already been burnt out. He now involuntarily 
 shuddered at the recollection of these awful moments. In spite of 
 the storm which had burst forth, of the many eyes fixed upon him, 
 waiting for his commands, he could not shake off the incubus 
 of this recollection. 
 
 Again he remembered how, early the next morning, he had 
 cast a glance from the Petrowsky Palace in the direction of Mos- 
 cow, and had had to acknowledge to himself that the conflagra- 
 tion was ever on the increase, and that the whole city seemed 
 like one huge devouring pillar of flame and smoke. 
 
 The extraordinary effort to obtain possession of Moscow had 
 exhausted all his resources. Moscow was the end of all his plans, 
 the goal of all hopes and endeavours, and this Moscow was now 
 vanishing. What should he now do? 
 
 32
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 He who was accustomed to explain his plans only so far as to 
 ensure their due execution was now driven to seek advice. Na- 
 poleon proposed to march on St. Petersburg. The Marshals 
 argued that the season was too unfavourable, the roads too much 
 cut up, that provisions were unobtainable, and that, therefore, 
 such a campaign was not to be thought of. Out-voted, but not 
 convinced, he could not fix on any definite plan; he hesitated, 
 and suffered tortures. 
 
 He had so confidently hoped for peace in Moscow that he had 
 not even provided for proper winter quarters, and could not make 
 up his mind to face another battle, as this would expose the 
 whole line of operation, now strewn with wounded, sick, and 
 stragglers, and blocked up by carts. The main point, was how- 
 ever, that he could not renounce the hope for which he had 
 sacrificed so much, that the letter which he had addressed to 
 Alexander would be successful. That letter must now have 
 passed the Russian outposts, and within the week, perhaps, he 
 would receive the longed for answer to his proposals of peace 
 and friendship. Why not? 
 
 His fame, his star were at that time still in full splendor, why 
 should he not believe in the possibility of a favourable issue! 
 At that time he had stood firm, had not run away as he had now 
 to do. 
 
 Under the weight of these remembrances Napoleon 
 remained stupefied, and to the demands of the Marshals, 
 who continued to await his orders, he replied only with 
 a discouraged shaking of his head. He passed a sleep- 
 less night. At daylight he got into his saddle and left 
 for Malo-Iaroslavetz so quickly that the four squadrons 
 of cavalry which constituted his habitual escort, ordered 
 up too late, were not ready. Long lines of ambulances, 
 wagons of powder and ammunition encumbered the way. 
 Suddenly, in the distance on the left of the road, were 
 discerned several groups, then a compact mass of cavalry. 
 The stragglers and women who follow the army took 
 fright and scattered in disorder, howling and groaning 
 in a great panic. It was the Cossacks of Platoff. They 
 advanced with such rapidity that the Emperor, not un- 
 derstanding at once what it meant, halted. General Rapp 
 had but time to seize briskly the bridle of Napoleon's 
 horse, and turning quickly, cried, " Save yourself, they 
 are here." Napoleon succeeded in escaping, but the
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 horse of Rapp received such a lance stroke that he fell 
 with the General. The cavalry escort which now gal- 
 loped up saved the Emperor and his suite, and the Cos- 
 sacks disappeared as quickly as they came. Intent on 
 plunder, they had not remarked the magnificent prey 
 they had allowed to escape. The brave Rapp related 
 afterwards that Napoleon, remarking the General's horse 
 bleeding, asked him if he were not wounded. Upon his 
 answering that he was only bruised by the fall, Napoleon 
 burst into loud laughter. The general added, that for 
 his part, he had no desire to do likewise. 
 
 The battle-field of Malo-Iaroslavetz was horrible. The 
 city, which changed masters eleven times, had disappeared 
 from the face of the earth. The streets were marked by 
 lines of bodies. After congratulating the Viceroy on his 
 victory and being assured that the Russians were work- 
 ing with feverish energy to fortify their position, Napo- 
 leon returned to the hut of Gorodnia, where Murat, the 
 Prince Eugene, Berthier, Davout and Bessieres followed 
 him. Thus in that small, dark and dirty room an Em- 
 peror, two Kings and several Dukes and Marshals met 
 together to decide as to the fate of the Grand Armee, and 
 with it that of all Europe. On a bench in the center of the 
 only room was seated Murat, the marshals stood be- 
 fore the table, on which, under the ikon, Napoleon, his 
 head hidden in his hands, endeavored to conceal the ter- 
 rible anguish and indecision betrayed by his countenance. 
 An inkstand, a map and the celebrated plumed hat of 
 Murat were on the table, on the benches a portfolio and 
 rolls of maps, on the floor torn envelopes and fragments 
 of reports. Silence reigned in the room. It was neces- 
 sary to get out of a position which had become critical, 
 to solve a complicated problem ! How to reach Smolensk 
 and by what route! By Kalouga? There untouched re- 
 gions would be crossed, rich and well provisioned, but 
 defended at all points by the Russian army. By Mojaisk 
 and Viazma? The old route they had taken in coming, 
 where the country was starved, ravaged, burned and in- 
 
 84
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 fected. The silence was long. Napoleon for a long 
 time mentally weighed all the chances of success in one 
 case and the other, but he could not succeed in making 
 any decision. His eyes wandered over the map spread 
 out before him, or fixed themselves again and again 
 on Malo-Iaroslavetz and Kalouga, his recollections al- 
 ways taking him to Moscow, to the neighborhood of 
 Alexander, and bringing back to him his attempts at 
 peace. He thought of the humiliations which these at- 
 tempts entailed, of his letters which remained unanswered. 
 Smarting under these insults, he again proposed to his 
 Marshals to burn all that was left of Moscow, and to 
 march on St. Petersburg. He endeavored to excite 
 their imagination with the prospect of new exploits. 
 " Think," he said, " of the glory that will cover us, and 
 how the world will praise us, when it hears that in three 
 months we have captured the two capitals of the North ! " 
 But they again urged the severity of the weather, and 
 the bad state of the roads. " Why should we rush 
 towards a winter which is so rapidly approaching ? " 
 they asked. " What will become of our wounded ? We 
 shall have to leave them to Kutusoff's mercy, and he 
 is certain to follow us. We shall have to attack and 
 defend ourselves at one and the same time, conquer and 
 fly!" 
 
 These discouraging responses influenced him to at- 
 tempt a new effort with Alexander, and to try once 
 more if the charm that he had in bygone times so power- 
 fully exercised upon him still existed. This proved but 
 one more humiliation. He had chosen Caulaincourt, 
 who he knew was favored by the Czar, but whom he 
 had neglected on account of his constant opposition to 
 the whole campaign. Too proud to acknowledge his 
 error Napoleon remained silent for a long time before 
 his chamberlain. Then he spoke. He said he was ready 
 to march on to St. Petersburg. He knew that the ruin 
 of this city would affect Caulaincourt, his ancient am- 
 bassador, and be a great calamity. He wished to pre- 
 35
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 vent this, and inasmuch as he had a high opinion of his 
 enemy, the Emperor Alexander, he had decided to send 
 Caulaincourt to St. Petersburg; what had he to say 
 to this? 
 
 Caulaincourt was an obstinate man, and no courtier, 
 although he had once been an Ambassador, and he openly 
 declared that such a message would be useless, that 
 Alexander would hear nothing, and refuse to entertain 
 the idea of peace until every Frenchman had left the 
 soil of Russia. In his opinion, Russia knew well, es- 
 pecially at this season, the strength of her own position 
 and the weakness of the enemy's. Such an attempt 
 would do more harm than good, as it would acquaint 
 Alexander with the dangerous situation in which Napo- 
 leon found himself, and enable him to guess how urgently 
 the Emperor desired peace. Moreover, Napoleon's sol- 
 icitude would be more evident the higher the position 
 of the person sent as Ambassador. He, Caulaincourt, 
 would be the less likely to obtain his object, inasmuch 
 as he would arrive at St. Petersburg strong in this con- 
 viction. " Enough," interrupted Napoleon, angrily, " I 
 shall send Lauriston." 
 
 But Lauriston was equally unwilling to undertake 
 the mission, and advised that, instead of negotiations, 
 the retreat should begin without delay. The Emperor 
 was obliged to insist, and at last explicitly commanded 
 Lauriston to undertake the negotiations. He rode off 
 with a letter to Kutusoff, requesting a free pass to St. 
 Petersburg. 
 
 Kutusoff and his Generals well understood how to 
 deceive Lauriston with flatteries, courtesies and an ap- 
 parent desire for a speedy conclusion of this terrible 
 campaign, and Napoleon himself was so greatly misled 
 by this duplicity that he summoned his staff and made 
 known to them the approach of peace. 
 
 Had Lauriston overlooked the red uniform of the 
 Englishman, Wilson, behind Kutusoff's chair? Why 
 had he indulged in these vain boasts, even if it were 
 
 36
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 only to those most intimate with him! 
 
 Whilst Napoleon was pondering over these things, 
 the Marshals were whispering to one another, closely 
 watching the Emperor, but not daring to disturb him. 
 He sat bent over his map, still invincible, still uncon- 
 quered, but oppressed with the most intense anxiety for 
 the fate of his army, his name, his dynasty and France. 
 
 Napoleon thought of his melancholy walks through 
 the huge cemetery, for the Moscow of that time resem- 
 bled nothing so closely through masses of plundered 
 wealth, the masquerades in which the troops had in- 
 dulged, subversive of all discipline, the daily exhibition 
 of rich gifts, which seemed to terrify rather than to de- 
 light the recipients. 
 
 He remembered the sleepless nights, during one of 
 which he disclosed to an intimate friend, Count Daru, 
 the inward workings of his mind, and acknowledged to 
 him openly the difficulty of his position. He still pos- 
 sessed sufficient clearness of mind to recognize the true 
 state of affairs after the return of Lauriston. 
 
 Napoleon acknowledged that in this savage country 
 he had not conquered one single man, and could only 
 call his own that piece of earth on which at that moment 
 he stood, that he simply felt himself absorbed by the 
 huge, immeasurable territory of Russia. He admitted 
 that he only hesitated to retreat because he could not 
 bring himself to admit, in the eyes of Europe, that he 
 was fleeing from Russia he shrank from dealing the 
 first blow to his supposed invincibility. 
 
 It was now evident to him that here, as in Spain, 
 the guiding principle of his policy, never to withdraw, 
 never openly to acknowledge a mistake, however great 
 it might be, but to march steadily onward, was no longer 
 applicable. 
 
 He well understood that he could not depend on Prus- 
 sia, and that nothing could be done with Austria. He 
 furthermore saw that Kutusoff had overreached him, but 
 still he hesitated. It appeared, in fact, equally impossible 
 
 37
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 for him to halt or to retreat, to advance or to risk a battle 
 with any prospect of victory. 
 
 During this period of vacillation and doubt he was at 
 great pains to persuade himself and others that matters 
 were not so bad as they appeared to be. The loss of 
 Moscow, he argued, " was indeed a misfortune, but it 
 had also its good side, for if the city had not been 
 deserted it would have been difficult to maintain order 
 among its 300,000 fanatical inhabitants, and, at the same 
 time, to sleep quietly in the Kremlin. It was true that 
 nothing now remained of Moscow except ruins. Still, 
 one could at least occupy them in peace. Again, although 
 millions in " contributions " were lost, how many thou- 
 sand millions was Russia losing. Her commerce had 
 been destroyed for a century at least, and the develop- 
 ment of the nation retarded for at least fifty years 
 that was no mean result! When the excitement of the 
 Russians was at an end, and the hour for deliberation 
 struck, then would they be terrified. The blow would 
 undoubtedly shake the throne of Alexander, and compel 
 him to sue for peace. 
 
 The check of Murat at Taroutina, the abandonment 
 of the ruins of Moscow, the insoluble situation at Malo- 
 laroslavetz finally determined Napoleon to cease all ter- 
 giversation. Retreat was imperative. The first to break 
 the silence was Murat, he showed signs of impatience. 
 " I may be accused of recklessness," he said, " but we 
 cannot remain in one spot, and as it is dangerous to go 
 back, let us attack. What does it matter if the Russians 
 are behind their fortresses. Give me what is left of the 
 cavalry and I will force a passage to Kalouga." Napo- 
 leon quenched this ardor, saying that enough had been 
 done for glory, and it was necessary to think of saving 
 the army. Bessieres said that the tired remnants of the 
 cavalry had not enough spirit and was incapable of the 
 effort that the King of Naples demanded of it. It was 
 only necessary to survey the battlefield of the day before 
 to be convinced of the courage of the Russians and to 
 
 38
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 see that the new recruits knew how to fight and die. 
 Bessieres concluded his speech with advice to retreat, 
 and the Emperor, judging from his silence, was not far 
 from assent, when Davout remarked that if they decided 
 on retreating they would have to march towards Smo- 
 lensk by the Medyne. Either from wounded self-love 
 or because of his hatred for Davout, Murat shouted that 
 the Marshal wished to take the army to its destruction, 
 harassed as it would be on its flanks by Kutusoff. 
 " Will you, Davout, undertake to defend it ? Have we 
 not the straight line to Borowsk and to Mojaisk to beat 
 a retreat upon, with provisions awaiting us ? " " My 
 way is sure and much shorter," howled Davout, " the 
 soldiers would find themselves in villages which are in- 
 tact and will furnish living and shelter from the cold. 
 On your route, Murat, there is sand or the cinders of 
 destroyed places, and for the comfort of the soldiers, 
 epidemic and hunger ! if the Emperor wishes advice, here 
 it is! You cannot compel me to keep silence although 
 you are a King. You are not my King, and you never 
 will be." Berthier and Bessieres separated in time the 
 two chiefs. During this dispute the Emperor remained 
 seated and motionless, bending over his map apparently 
 heedless of the quarrel. At last he raised his head and 
 said to his companions in arms, " Well, gentlemen, I will 
 give the order." 
 
 17 
 
 Resting by Night 
 H. 42 in., W. 60 in. 
 
 The frightful winter which had let itself loose, surprised 
 the French army. Embarrassed by the immense booty, 
 and laden with precious things, they had no warm cloth- 
 ing, and the cold proved to them that they were not 
 masters of that country. The order of Napoleon to burn
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 everything on their way, as a pretence of punishing the 
 Russians, struck first his own army. The order being 
 executed by the advance guard instead of the rear, it 
 deprived the unhappy soldiers of all hope of warming 
 themselves from time to time, and obliged them to pass 
 the nights sleeping in the open air. Those who suc- 
 ceeded in lighting fires stayed for hours together seated 
 around them, not noticing that they were burning their 
 clothes, while their frost-bitten limbs were slowly freez- 
 ing. Some of them got right into the fire and there 
 perished. The nights of snow and tempest were espec- 
 ially terrible. In crowded ranks, enveloped in rags and 
 tatters, the soldiers uttered prolonged groans that seemed 
 to rise above the raging of the tempest. Soldiers, of- 
 ficers, generals, mixed together, cried for their native 
 land, for their mothers, for their brothers, and covered 
 with imprecations the names of Alexander and Napoleon. 
 
 18 
 Napoleon in the Frost 
 
 H. 30^4 in., W. 2$y 2 in. 
 
 " Napoleon was clothed in a Polish dress, consisting 
 of a cap trimmed with sable and a green coat edged with 
 the same fur, with gold frogs, and warm top boots. . . . 
 Napoleon was on foot. . . . He was dressed in the 
 above-mentioned costume, and had in his hands a birchen 
 staff." CHAMBRAY. 
 
 19 
 Revenge Hurrah ! 
 
 H. 56 in., W. 6oy 2 in. 
 
 Napoleon left Smolensk, and Prince Kutusoff left 
 Stschelkanow to march towards Krasnoje on one and the 
 same day. 
 
 40
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 Thither hastened also on the enemy's side the Corps 
 commanded by Junot, the artillery of the Guard, the parks 
 of artillery, the Cavalry and the Guides. The Polish 
 Corps covered the left flank. 
 
 Then came the French from Smolensk first the 
 Viceroy, then Davout, and at last Ney, all at a distance 
 of a day's march from one another. 
 
 Ney received the command of the rear-guard after 
 Davout had been declared too pedantic and slow. He 
 was ordered to put the sick and wounded out of their 
 misery, to burn anything that could not be carried away, 
 to blow up all walls and towns, for Napoleon said that 
 " in his next campaign he did not wish to be stopped by 
 these obstacles." 
 
 Prince Kutusoff communicated the movements of the 
 army to Tschitschagow, and added that for the future he 
 would follow up Napoleon's left flank. " By so doing 
 I shall keep up my connection with the fertile provinces, 
 a safe communication with you, and when the enemy 
 does not see me near him he will not dare to halt for 
 fear lest I shall surround him." Miloradowitsch received 
 instructions to occupy the road to Krasnoje, and to en- 
 deavor to cut off the retreat of the enemy into the town. 
 He was to be careful not to drive the French to despair, 
 but let them retreat, and, as far as possible, only skir- 
 mish with the flank or rear-guards. 
 
 At four o'clock in the afternoon on November 3d, 
 Miloradowitsch approached the high road and saw the 
 French Guard, led by Napoleon. The Emperor was 
 taken aback by the appearance of the Russians, as he 
 had not thought it possible that they could head him, 
 and he believed himself to be followed only by Cossacks. 
 
 The eldest son of Starost Semen was serving in a 
 regiment of the Guards. Semen had the right to exempt 
 his sons from military service, but as he did not wish to 
 be less patriotic than the nobility, who, without excep- 
 tion, hurried off to the war, he caused his eldest son to 
 be enrolled. The second lived in the wood, where, with 
 
 41
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 the women, he looked after the property that had been 
 saved and stored in quickly - constructed earthen huts. 
 The youngest son had joined the Starost in tracking 
 down the enemy. 
 
 The son knew nothing of the misfortunes that had 
 overtaken the old man, but he had heard that the latter 
 was seriously engaging, not only marauders and strag- 
 glers, but small parties of foragers. As he was now in 
 the neighborhood of his home, he hoped to meet, if not 
 his father, at least some of the family. 
 
 The apparent want of resolution on the part of their 
 leader, Kutusoff, was totally incomprehensible to the 
 Russian rank and file. The soldiers related how " He " 
 that was the Field-Marshal had given orders not to 
 press too closely upon the retreating foe, and not to pro- 
 voke a desperate defence on the part of men driven to 
 bay. " Pity ! " They were all longing for the end of 
 the war, they could not be worse off in the next world 
 than they were now during this winter campaign. Mi- 
 loradowitsch's men suffered exceptionally severely, and 
 had to endure cold, hunger, and fatigue. Whilst the 
 main army moved comparatively slowly, with intervals 
 of rest, they knew absolutely no cessation of their daily 
 change of position. The foragers brought in very little, 
 horses and men marched with the greatest difficulty, and 
 the losses were enormous. The soldiers slept in the open, 
 and in warming themselves set fire to their own clothes. 
 On days when provisions were scarce Miloradowitsch 
 used to say, " The less bread, the more fame." That 
 was not, however, the prevalent sentiment. The hope of 
 cutting off the enemy's army, and capturing it, together 
 with Napoleon, was common to both officers and men. 
 It was not known with which of the regiments the Em- 
 peror of the French would be found, and, although the 
 advance guard marched into Krasnoje in view of them 
 all, they still hoped to capture the corps that followed, 
 and awaited them with the greatest impatience. 
 
 42
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 During the whole of the following morning not a 
 single Frenchman was to be seen on the Smolensk road. 
 About three o'clock the Cossacks reported that the Vice- 
 roy was coming from Rjawka in heavy columns. 
 . Miloradowitsch drew up a corps of Infantry and an- 
 other of Cavalry across the line of march, and parallel 
 with the road he placed Rajewski, who at that time com- 
 manded only a division. 
 
 When the Viceroy saw himself cut off from Krasnoje 
 he drew up his corps in line of battle. It was accom- 
 panied by masses of unarmed soldiers, cavalrymen with- 
 out horses, artillerymen without guns. The Artillery had 
 lagged behind, and been attacked near the River Wopp by 
 the Cossacks, so that, altogether, only about seventeen 
 guns at that time were available. 
 
 The battle was unequal, and did not last long. The 
 French were driven out of all their positions, and only a 
 few, with the Viceroy at their head, managed to escape 
 into Krasnoje. The Grenadiers with shouldered mus- 
 kets came out of the wood in which they were concealed, 
 shouting " Hurrah ! " Dragging their feet with difficulty 
 through the snow, they attacked the enemy with so much 
 determination that the great column laid down its arms 
 and surrendered. 
 
 Nevertheless, the action was not completely finished on 
 that day, and a yet fiercer struggle was expected to take 
 place on November 5th. 
 
 Napoleon then marched out of Krasnoje to join Da- 
 vout, who was to come from Smolensk. He walked at 
 the head of the Old Guard, in his fur cloak lined with 
 sable, his sable cap, and lined boots, carrying his birch 
 stick in his hand. He was going back deeper into 
 Russia, and on a remark being made regarding the danger 
 to which he exposed himself with so weak a force, op- 
 posed by the Russian army, he replied : " I have played 
 at being Emperor long enough, it is time for me to be 
 General once more ! " 
 
 43
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 Recognizing that Davout could not join him without 
 great loss while the Russians held the road, he determ- 
 ined to attack the main army, in the hope that the cau- 
 tious Kutusoff would have recalled Miloradowitsch, thus 
 giving the First Corps a chance of forcing its way 
 through. This almost turned out to be the case. Milo- 
 radowitsch was compelled nolens volens to let the main 
 portion of the Marshal's detachment pass through and 
 join Napoleon. He attacked only the rear guard, tak- 
 ing about seven thousand men prisoners, together with 
 twenty-eight guns. 
 
 Prince Kutusoff, who showed so much prudence 
 many called it cowardice was true to his policy. After 
 he had personally inspected the position of the French 
 before Krasnoje, and had firmly convinced himself that 
 Napoleon was in command, he confirmed the orders al- 
 ready given, not to drive the enemy to bay, as in that 
 case the Russian losses might be very heavy. He held 
 to the opinion that the whole army must be compelled 
 to leave the country, and not a remnant, that there was 
 no object to be gained by incurring a great loss of life. 
 The enemy's army, he thought, must of necessity be 
 destroyed through cold, hunger, and the other hardships 
 attendant upon a winter campaign, and when crossing 
 the Beresina under the Russian guns would be obliged 
 to lay down their arms. 
 
 Being on the left of his company, Semen's son had 
 often to charge at the point of the bayonet. He was often 
 under a heavy artillery fire, and met death face to face. 
 
 He saw many awful sights : the whole country strewn 
 with dead and dying, ammunition cases, hospital carts, 
 guns, muskets, pistols, drums, breastplates, ramrods, bay- 
 onets, swords, carriages and phaetons from Moscow (the 
 last-named being especial favorites with the French) lay 
 heaped together, besides horses with bowels protruding 
 and abdomens gaping, into which the enemy crept for 
 warmth. The French wrapped themselves up in priest's 
 vestments or women's clothes to guard against the cold, 
 
 44
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 fastened straw round their legs and covered their heads 
 with women's caps, Jews' hats, or woven cane. 
 
 However greatly the Russians may have suffered, their 
 condition was not to be compared with that of the enemy. 
 It is sufficient to mention that the French ate those of 
 their compatriots who succumbed through hunger, roast- 
 ing them at the bivouac fires. 
 
 The Russian Generals insisted in their orders on char- 
 ity and brotherly love. The soldiers, indeed, could not 
 fail to be moved to compassion toward the victims of such 
 terrible misfortunes. Many a time did they succor the 
 starving French, moving about like mere ghosts, by feed- 
 ing and warming them. 
 
 Soon, however, Ivan's feelings received a terrible 
 shock; in the snow, near the road, his company found 
 the bodies of three peasants who had been shot. One of 
 the bodies was that of an old man. A single glance was 
 sufficient he recognized his father and two of the vil- 
 lagers. They lay there, buried in the snow, with wounds 
 in their breasts and in their heads. There was no time 
 for mourning, a grave was quickly dug and the three 
 victims were buried. From that time forward Ivan had 
 less compassion for the enemy, and on the following day, 
 when about to attack Ney's column, Miloradowitsch gal- 
 loped up to his men, and said : " There are the French, I 
 make you a present of them ! " he and his companions 
 waded through the deep snow, threw themselves on the 
 enemy, and terribly avenged the death of his father. 
 
 When, later, he returned to his village, he related how 
 he had found the " old man " and his companions, with 
 bullet holes in their breasts and heads, gnawed by dogs. 
 The whole village celebrated Mass for the dead, the 
 musket of the slain Starost being hung up in the church. 
 Either the musket was of no value in the eyes of the 
 French, or they had forgotten it ; in any case, it was found 
 in the spot where the execution took place, and for many 
 a day was an object of great interest, not only to the peas- 
 ants, but to the magistrates, who looked upon it as a 
 
 45
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 monument of the deeds of valour performed by the mur- 
 dered Mayor. 
 
 The martyrdom of Semen and his heroic deeds gave 
 rise to many legendary stories. There were even eye- 
 witnesses who related how the Starost had slain a large 
 number of Frenchmen before being overpowered, and his 
 grandchildren did not hesitate to relate that the old hero 
 had not had time " to load and pull the trigger " ; the 
 number of those whom he killed it was impossible to 
 estimate. 
 
 20 
 
 In the Ouspensky Cathedral 
 H. 42^4 in., W. 51 in. 
 
 All contemporaries agree in stating that the churches 
 on the line of march of the Grande Armee were used as 
 stables. On the portico of the cathedral of Malo-Iarosla- 
 vetz one could read written in charcoal, " Stable of the 
 General Guilleminot." 
 
 " The Churches," says Labaume, " which as buildings 
 suffered least through the conflagration, were used as 
 barracks or stables. The neighing of horses and the hor- 
 rible blasphemies of the troops took the place of the 
 sacred hymns whose melody had once echoed through 
 these holy aisles." 
 
 Rene Bourgeois briefly remarks that the cavalry took 
 all the churches that were spared by the fire. According 
 to the author of The Journal of the War, the rich churches 
 of Viazma were all devastated and pillaged. Against 
 the exterior walls of the Cathedral of the Assumption, 
 in the enclosure of the Kremlin, were established forges, 
 on which the French melted gold and silver attached to 
 the sacred statues or stolen from the church. The figures 
 of the results of these depredations were found inscribed 
 in chalk in the emperor's stall, 365 pouds of silver and 
 18 pouds of gold (a poud equals 35 pounds). 
 
 46
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 Behind the altar of the Cathedral of 1'Archangelsk, 
 also at the Kremlin, a church consecrated by the tombs 
 of the Czars, a French cantaniere had established her 
 living room. She cooked near the window, dressed in 
 a rich chasuble. Everywhere were piled up sacks of hay, 
 corn, potatoes and barrels of salted provisions, which 
 made the nave a vast store house. 
 
 " Everything in the Cathedral," says Prince Schac- 
 howski, who was among the first to return to Moscow 
 after its evacuation, " had been destroyed or stolen. The 
 Rakha of the Holy Metropolitan Philip was not to be 
 found; we gathered together the remains of his relics 
 and laid them on a small bare side-altar." 
 
 The coffin covering the remains of the Metropolitan 
 Peter was completely broken up, the lid torn asunder, 
 and the grave dug up. In the Cathedral, from the cupola 
 downwards, with the exception of the Rakha of Saint 
 Jonas, not a single piece of metal, not a vestment was 
 left behind. The wooden monuments of the coffins of 
 the Archpriests of Moscow were stripped, but only one 
 of them was cut up, namely, that of the Patriarch Herm- 
 ogen. 
 
 Prince Schachowski believes that the insults shown to 
 the memory of the great patriot of the popular move- 
 ment of 1612 prove their perpetration by the Poles. 
 
 " On arriving at Moscow," says an eye witness, " I 
 found that after the departure of the French, the relics 
 of the saints were found removed from their settings 
 and dispersed, and many of the holy martyrs had limbs 
 pulled off; that the head of Tzarevitch Dmitry was cut 
 off, and the remains of the Metropolitan Alexis had com- 
 pletely disappeared." The altars everywhere had been 
 upset to be transformed into tables. The ikons served 
 them for targets and wood for burning. Church vest- 
 ments were seen everywhere on the backs of the soldiers. 
 The Monastery Tchoudow and the Cathedral of the An- 
 nunciation were not spared any more than the Assump- 
 tion, where the Czars were crowned, and where the 
 
 47
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 soldiers, it is said, in the presence of Napoleon, had not 
 only taken off the ornaments from the large ikons of 
 the saints, but destroyed them and left nothing but 
 empty spaces. Vases of gold and silver, jewels and 
 objects of art that the clergy had been imprudent enough 
 to leave in the cathedral, the ecclesiastics beheld pillaged 
 under their eyes. Among other things that disappeared 
 was the celebrated candle-sticks, in silver, given by Boy- 
 ard Morosow during the reign of Alexis Michailovitch, 
 which was marvelous in its execution. Everything, even 
 to the evangels and the church books were burned in 
 order to separate from them the precious metals. 
 
 In the choir of the Cathedral of Kazan, a dead horse 
 was deposited in the place of the destroyed tabernacle. 
 Antique furniture, broken utensils, the remains of the 
 pillaging of the Muscovite palaces, were spread about 
 in the most of the churches. Even the manikins and lay 
 figures from the Museum of Armor were found grouped 
 as a sign of mockery in derisive attitudes. 
 
 Napoleon, wishing to see the archepiscopal Russian 
 service compelled a priest of inferior rank to hold a 
 service in Ouspensky-Sobor ; for this he presented him 
 with a " Kamilawka," or cap, worn by the secular priest- 
 hood. He ordered the big cross taken down from the 
 tower of Ivan le Grand, about six metres high and plated 
 with silvergilt, as he wished to put it on the dome of the 
 Invalides in Paris, but in the desperation of the retreat, 
 this cross was thrown, according to some into Lake Sem- 
 lewo, according to others, it went near to Wilna, whence 
 it was returned to Moscow, and restored to its place. 
 Into this lake they threw so much booty from the pillage 
 of Moscow, that it would be interesting to know if any 
 search has been made at any time in the waters along 
 the route. 
 
 48
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 21 
 
 The Partisans: Let them come 
 H. 56 in., W. 6oy 2 in. 
 
 Simon Archipovitch in 1812 was starost (mayor) in 
 a village of the government of Smolensk in the district 
 of Krasnoie, about forty verstes (7 miles) from the high- 
 road. On their march towards Moscow, the men and the 
 horses of the Grande Armee found in the villages and 
 fields along the route what was necessary for their sub- 
 sistance, so that the foraging parties did not make their 
 way far into the interior. The mayor, Simon, had already 
 hidden in the forest all that he had, with the determina- 
 tion to take refuge there with the peasants, but seeing 
 no one and regaining courage he returned to his home 
 with all his family. But soon marauding parties appeared 
 demanding bread, milk, etc., and showed a very cruel 
 spirit to all the peasants who fell into their hands. The 
 mayor and his fellow villagers longed to retaliate but 
 they refrained, not wishing the ill-will of the French, 
 who had spread the rumor of the speedy and complete 
 occupation of Smolensk and its government, which hence- 
 forth would not belong to Russia, and of the complete 
 emancipation of the serfs in that part of the empire. 
 The reports excited such an agitation in the minds of the 
 peasants that there were men who were ready to help 
 the march of the invader by bringing back all that they 
 had hidden in the form of provisions, forage, etc., and 
 in some districts the peasants were seen trespassing on 
 the domains of their landlords and plundering their 
 houses. It was said that the Bishop of Moguileff and 
 his clergy had ordered public prayers in the churches 
 in which the name of the Emperor Napoleon was sub- 
 stituted for that of Czar Alexander. The trouble became 
 so serious that in some districts the enemies were given 
 a hospitable reception and the soldiers were presented 
 with bread and salt. Among the peasants discontent was 
 
 49
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 widespread, and Simon remarked that the more the 
 French advanced the more the revolt gained ground 
 and the more often appeared, though still a little timid, 
 the reprisals against the land owners and their stewards. 
 Even his own orders were unwillingly obeyed. From all 
 sides, however, irritating news was brought. The French 
 were carrying off everything they could lay their hands 
 on. They encamped in the fields, trampled down the 
 newly sown seed and treated the inhabitants in the most 
 cruel manner. The women and young girls were pursued, 
 outraged, and even assassinated. Men and children met 
 the same fate. It was said that the churches were turned 
 into barracks, powder magazines, stables and slaughter 
 houses, and that the silver settings were torn off the 
 pictures of the saints and the holy images were thrown 
 into the streets, where they served as firewood, while the 
 altars were turned into tables and benches. The invaders 
 desecrated everything, the sacred vessels and the church 
 vestments, profanations horrible and impious in the high- 
 est degree in the public mind. 
 
 It was impossible to disbelieve the news, and it provoked 
 terrible excitement among the peasants, destroying the 
 influence of those who had urged patience, under the 
 belief that Napoleon would free them. A peasant who 
 escaped from Moscow related that want of discipline 
 was so prevalent in the French army that the superior 
 officers had lost all authority. The troops drank, plun- 
 dered and killed. In the Kremlin, on the altar of the 
 Archangelski Cathedral, they erected a kitchen. Horses 
 were stationed in the Upenski Cathedral. The insults 
 and desecration were indescribable. Two priests were 
 killed in the Andronjef Monastery. The peasant him- 
 self saw a target placed upon the Red Gate composed 
 entirely of pictures of Saints. The vestments of a priest 
 and the chaplet of a bride had been taken out of the 
 Voznessenki Monastery and put upon a tame bear, which 
 had been made to dance. The inhabitants had been tor- 
 tured in every imaginable way, and many had seen the 
 
 50
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 Princes Wolkonski, Lopuchin, and Galizyn, laden with 
 sacks, and driven along by the French with shouts of 
 " Allo ! " " Allo ! " (Allans! Allans!) On his way from 
 Moscow he had heard that the people were seeking 
 now to avenge themselves ; that large parties of peasants 
 had flocked to the battlefield of Borodino to pick up 
 muskets, swords, and all kinds of weapons for despatch- 
 ing the French, whom they might chance to meet on the 
 roads, in the woods, or villages. 
 
 Simon summoned his council under the authority of 
 the priest, and it was determined to ask -the superior 
 authorities if the murder of a Frenchman would be pun- 
 ished by the Czar; if not, they would come together and 
 with the assistance of God defend their villages. The 
 arrival of an officer of Figner's Cossacks, come from a 
 reconnaissance with some men in the neighborhood of 
 Moscow, put an end to all hesitation. He told the peas- 
 ants not only would the murder of a Frenchman not be 
 regarded as a crime, but it would be credited on the 
 contrary as a laudable service. He announced, moreover, 
 that Napoleon had very little time longer in Moscow, as 
 Kutusoff held him there as in a trap. A corps of volun- 
 teers was soon formed, Simon being given command. 
 At first there was some difficulty with the young men, 
 who refused to accept so old a chief under the belief that 
 he would not act with enough firmness and audacity, but 
 order was restored spontaneously and promptly when 
 they perceived that this so-called lack of audacity was 
 only good tactics. 
 
 When Simon found himself in the presence of a 
 superior troop he never risked his men. He tried to get 
 in touch with some other detachment or with the Cos- 
 sacks, but if the affair gave some promise of success the 
 mayor knew how to exhibit the necessary energy and 
 determination. Having surprised, in a village near his 
 own, a detachment which, after having shot some of the 
 peasants on the porch of the church, were resting unsus- 
 piciously in a hut, he had the hut silently sealed up by 
 
 51
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 his men, then the exits barricaded and fagots brought, 
 he set fire to the house and burnt the marauders alive. 
 Simon was not naturally cruel. Among the bodies of 
 partisans of the neighborhood we are told of chiefs who, 
 not satisfied with the different punishments already 
 known which they could inflict on their prisoners, in- 
 vented new ways of making them suffer and die, the 
 others appearing to them too gentle in comparison with 
 the crimes of the invading horde. It is said that the 
 chief of the Cossacks, Figner, often put the French pris- 
 oners in line and shot them through the head one by one. 
 This mutual ferocity was terrible and went so far that 
 some of the French being attacked and resuming the 
 offensive, soaked in oil the partisans they were able to 
 capture and warmed themselves at this new kind of bon- 
 fire; on other occasions they skinned alive the peasants 
 who were found with arms in their hands. Simon made 
 reprisals, but never shot without necessity, especially 
 soldiers without arms. He sent his prisoners to the civil 
 authorities of his district, thus washing his hands of them. 
 He was very severe with his own men, and one of them 
 having sold some provisions to the enemy was judged, 
 condemned and shot, with the consent of the village priest. 
 The volunteers were not all armed in the same manner; 
 some had old muskets of a style dating at least in the 
 previous century ; others had excellent French guns which 
 had been taken from the dead and prisoners; many 
 had but bayonets and shoulder belts taken from the 
 enemy; others had only pikes or poles to which scythes 
 had been fastened. It was not rare to see among the 
 volunteers some old priest with cross in hand endeavor- 
 ing to encourage the men and inspire them with more 
 firmness and hardihood. A discharged soldier assisted 
 Simon in mounting his sentries who should signal the 
 approach of the enemy. A bell was rung and the parti- 
 sans on foot or on horseback ran to an appointed place 
 of meeting. There were many classes of people among 
 .the volunteers. A village deacon among others on horse- 
 
 52
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 back guarded the outskirts of the village, especially at 
 night, letting no one pass without subjecting him to a 
 serious and penetrating inspection, although he had only 
 one eye. Another man, Fedka, was also noted for his 
 courage. He was always in the front ranks with his 
 long red hair and beard. On the whole, the corps of 
 Mayor Simon, consisting of perhaps a hundred mem- 
 bers, assisted some fifteen hundred Frenchmen into the 
 next world and took nearly three thousand prisoners. 
 
 22 
 
 Bad News from France 
 H. 60 in., W. 46 in. 
 
 On Tuesday, the 6th of November, 1812, the Russian 
 winter made its real appearance in the form of a violent 
 snowstorm. On this day Count Daru accompanied by 
 his staff went in haste to the Emperor, and held a 
 mysterious conference with him, which naturally aroused 
 the already uneasy attention of the Emperor's staff. 
 This was the first courier that had arrived for six days. 
 It did not take long to transpire that he was the bearer 
 of bad news from France. It related to the conspiracy 
 of Mallet, a General heretofore unknown, who had just 
 missed success in carrying off the power by means of 
 false dispatches about the ruin of the Grande Armee and 
 the disappearance of the Emperor. The attempt had 
 accidentally failed. A part of the plan of Mallet had 
 succeeded, and if Fouche had allowed himself to be 
 arrested, the Empire were lost! The Emperor learned 
 at the same moment of the crime and the punishment of 
 the guilty. He disguised his emotion and contented 
 himself by saying to Daru, " We should have been in 
 fine case if we had remained in Moscow ! " 
 
 When in the presence of the army Napoleon showed 
 neither fear nor uneasiness, but his anxiety became all 
 
 53
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 the more apparent when he found himself alone with his 
 immediate staff. He then displayed astonishment, anger 
 and rage. But when quite alone with the thoughts which 
 for a long time past had permitted him no rest, his mind 
 was filled with deep sorrow. 
 
 What would Europe say? How it would rejoice at the insta- 
 bility of his much-vaunted new institutions, and at the want of 
 civil courage in those persons who were the props of his State. 
 Was it possible that the era of revolutions and turmoils in 
 France was not yet at an end ! Was it possible that his relation- 
 ship to the imperial House for which he had made such great 
 sacrifices, counted for nothing ! Was his son, the hope and sup- 
 port of his country, of so little importance that he was forgotten 
 in the moment of danger ! 
 
 The Headquarters were encamped near the Post Office, 
 and the Emperor occupied a small village church sur- 
 rounded by a wall. The field bed, with the articles of 
 his toilet, harmonized badly with the ornaments of the 
 old church, the gilt Slavonic decorations, the pictures of 
 Christ, the Virgin and Saints, which, gloomily, full of 
 reproach, looked on at the unusual preparations made for 
 the reception of an intruder who forced himself upon 
 them with such scant courtesy. The picture of Christ, as 
 well as all the other paintings, was hacked and scratched 
 and desecrated in every possible manner by the soldiery ! 
 One of the eyes of the figure remained untouched, and 
 seemed to pass judgment on the scenes around Him. . . 
 
 The day was closing; many of the older Generals 
 waited for an opportunity of gaining audience of the 
 Emperor; but, without a summons they did not dare 
 intrude. A number of important documents lying on the 
 table awaited his inspection, and yet Napoleon sat im- 
 movable, buried in deep thought, holding in a convulsive 
 grasp the report brought from Paris. 
 
 " I am no longer wanted in France ! " he pondered. " Good, 
 let them elect another, we shall see if he can manage better." 
 
 And how had it come to this ! 
 
 What had become of Alexander? What had rendered this 
 good-natured man so bitter? It is true that Narbon had already 
 told him in Dresden, after his return from Wilna, that the Tsar, 
 who was neither weak nor boastful, was not to be moved from 
 
 54
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 any resolution upon which he had determined; but still it was 
 difficult to explain the hatred expressed in all Alexander's pro- 
 clamations and manifestos. 
 
 Even at the very beginning of the campaign they had to con- 
 ceal those Russian manifestos from the army, charged as they 
 were with the most deliberate and venomous insults against the 
 person of the Emperor. The soldiers had to be deceived, and the 
 Russian army represented to them as demoralized, ready at any 
 moment to take to flight. They had to be amused with the tale 
 that the Emperor of Russia would soon be murdered by his dis- 
 satisfied subjects, and with the rumor that he was coming as a 
 fugitive, begging the Senate for aid and pardon for his flight. In 
 the meanwhile Napoleon himself would have given much to be 
 able to enter into immediate and direct relations with this fugitive. 
 How bitterly he now repented that he had so contemptuously 
 rejected Alexander's last efforts to preserve the peace the 
 sending of General Balascheff as delegate, the importance of 
 which he had not grasped. This was evidently Alexander's last 
 word of peace and friendship before the opening of this most 
 deadly struggle. Thereafter the Russian Emperor had not only 
 imposed silence upon himself, refusing to make any advances, 
 but he would not even vouchsafe a reply. 
 
 As Napoleon could not make the first overtures in person, he 
 had endeavored to open up negotiations through Berthier, who 
 wrote to Barclay de Tolly : " The Emperor has commissioned me 
 to beg you to communicate the expression of his highest regard to 
 the Emperor Alexander. Tell him that neither the vicissitudes of 
 war, nor anything else, can ever impair the sentiments of personal 
 friendship which he feels for him." He then remembered how he 
 had again tempted his fortune in Moscow, when he ordered the 
 unfortunate Tutolmin to appear before him, and the poor old man 
 had lost his reason through terror. Napoleon had made use of 
 much logic to convince this official that a peace could easily be 
 concluded if no intriguers came between him and Alexander, and 
 this he begged him specially to hint at in his report. The old 
 man promised everything possible and impossible in order to 
 escape speedily from the outbursts of Imperial rage, which, 
 against Napoleon's will, were manifest during the interview. 
 
 Still more unpleasant was the recollection of his attempt to 
 force an embassy of peace on Jakowleff, a Russian nobleman 
 seized while trying to escape from Moscow. For two hours he 
 explained his views and intentions to this strange person, whom 
 his soldiers had plundered, and who presented himself before 
 Napoleon in the dress of his valet. This improvised ambassador 
 had certainly pledged his word to deliver the letter in person to 
 
 55
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 the Tsar, though he made promises which he could not fulfil, im- 
 pelled thereto by fear and by the hope of obtaining his liberty. 
 
 Ah ! what a pity ! Napoleon felt that his arguments were 
 powerful, that had they but come to Alexander's ears he would 
 certainly have admitted their force. " If Alexander will only 
 express a wish to arrange terms," he said, " I am ready to listen 
 to him ; I will sign peace in Moscow, as I have signed it in 
 Vienna and in Berlin. ... I did not come here to remain. It 
 was not necessary for me to come here, and I should not have 
 come had I not been compelled. The field of battle, on which 
 the war was to be decided, was in Lithuania; why has it to be 
 carried into the very heart of the country. If a single word had 
 been uttered by Alexander, I should have halted at the gates of 
 Moscow, bivouacked my army, without even entering the sub- 
 urbs, and declared Moscow to be a free city ! I waited several 
 hours for his word, and must openly admit that I desired it. The 
 first advance of Alexander's part would have proved to me that 
 in the depths of his heart there still lay some affection for me. 
 I should have prized it, and peace woud have been concluded 
 between us without any intermediary. He need only have said, 
 as in Tilsit, that he had been, as far as I was concerned, greatly 
 deceived by others, and all would have been immediately for- 
 gotten ! " 
 
 Was it possible that such generous words and intentions could 
 find no echo in Alexander's heart ! Yet he had received no 
 answer to the letter sent through Jakowleff, and he now found 
 the recollections of these letters, and all of these outbursts before 
 men of no position, with no pretense to such intimacy, very 
 bitter. 
 
 And again his former intimacy with Alexander recurred to 
 his memory. He saw the figure of this young enthusiast as he had 
 known him in Tilsit: they had sworn friendship, and endeavored 
 to surpass each other in complaisance. Alexander submitted will- 
 ingly to Napoleon's superiority of mind, experience, and genius, 
 and loudly declared that the " friendship of a great man was a 
 gift of the gods." Had anything happened since then that could 
 not be set right by mutual concessions and treaties ! What had 
 induced him to enter upon this war against the advice of his best 
 friends, against the voice of his own conscience, and against the 
 interests of France, which, according to his own candid opinion, 
 was not in a fit state to carry on at the same time two such 
 undertakings as the Spanish and Russian campaigns ! 
 
 In vain did he seek for some vital interest of State which 
 would have rendered it politic to throw the sword into the balance. 
 In his own remembrance there only existed two grounds. The 
 one was far distant, the almost forgotten insult which had been 
 
 56
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 offered to him when, as a First- Lieutenant, he had been refused 
 admission into the Russian service. Vainly had he sought to 
 prove to the Commander of the Russian Mediterranean expedition 
 that, as a Captain in the National Guard, he was entitled to expect 
 the rank of Major in the newly- formed Russian army. His re- 
 quest was refused so much the worse for the Russians. The 
 second was an insult of a more recent date, a deadly, personal 
 insult, the rejection of his suit. The hand of Princess Anna had 
 been refused to him, Napoleon, and, as if purposely, bestowed 
 soon afterwards on a petty German Prince ! Refused to him, 
 who was ready to make all political and family concessions, who 
 had explicitly declared that even the difference in belief would 
 prove no obstacle! No suitable reply was returned; either an 
 immediate agreement with his wishes, or a refusal, and he in- 
 sisted on an answer within forty-eight hours ! How could he act 
 otherwise? He could not play at being lovesick, nor pay court 
 to the Princess, nor could he be expected to beg the acceptance 
 of his suit as an alms. That would be unworthy of him, not 
 only as a man, but also as Emperor of the French, as a ruler 
 of the West. He showed foresight only in his demand for an 
 immediate answer, for, instead of a definite reply, matters dragged 
 on until finally it became clear to him that either Alexander did 
 not desire the marriage, or was not the head of his own family. 
 Then, in society, people began to whisper and smile this was 
 a terrible humiliation. 
 
 Was this, then, in truth the direct and immediate cause of the 
 war! Would these inhuman butcheries have been avoided had 
 Anna been his wife and settled down in the Tuilleries ! Did he 
 allow self-love and pride to obtain so great a mastery over him! 
 
 And to these questions his conscience answered Yes ! Yes ! 
 
 Had he no other cause of complaint? No. 
 
 Did there exist between the two countries any irreconcilable 
 differences, any misunderstandings admitting of no solution? 
 No ! The non-observance of certain articles in treaties, the ques- 
 tion of English goods, together with his violent polemics with 
 Alexander, were but mere pretences .... 
 
 These reflections were indeed terrible ! . . . . 
 
 A noise at the door of the church made him start up 
 and collect himself. Berthier, bearing dispatches, entered 
 unannounced, again running the risk of insult from his 
 master, unhinged by the effect of these mortifying re- 
 collections. But, contrary to all expectations, Napoleon 
 greeted the Chief of the Staff most amiably. He was 
 glad of company, to be free from his terrible mental 
 sufferings and qualms of conscience. 
 
 57
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 23 
 
 A Sea of Fire 
 H. 22 in., W. 29 in. 
 
 On the Red Square (in front of the Kremlin) the 
 guard house and several smaller constructions were burn- 
 ing. Zamoskvoretchie, on the other side of the river, 
 was a sea of flame; the sight was extraordinary: for 
 four times twenty-four hours the nights were as bright 
 as day. The streets on fire were covered with long can- 
 opies of flame: fourteen thousand houses were burned to 
 ashes . . . 
 
 24 
 
 Peace at any Price! 
 H. 35^ in -> W. 41^ in. 
 
 " I wish for peace, I must have peace without fail ! 
 Only save my honor ! " were Napoleon's instruction to 
 General Lauriston, when sending him to the Russian 
 camp. Kutusoff and the headquarters deceived the 
 French General with assurances of the desire for peace 
 among the whole Russian army, which gave occasion for 
 Napoleon to say to his Marshals and Generals, who were 
 summoned to hear this joyful news : " I alone knew the 
 character of the Russians and their Emperor on the 
 day that my letter arrives in St. Petersburg, the town 
 will be illuminated ! " 
 
 25 
 
 Before Moscow: Awaiting the Deputation of the 
 Boyars 
 
 H. 52 in., W. 41^/2 in. 
 
 The battle being won at Borodino, more properly, the 
 Russian army being thrown out of the way, fatigued 
 
 58
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 and still ill, Napoleon went towards Moscow in a car- 
 riage, but he rode on horseback the last section, ad- 
 vancing with prudence, reconnoitering with the cavalry 
 surrounding hedges, ravines and crossroads. Another 
 battle was looked for. Very often they encountered earth- 
 works commenced in haste and abandoned. Nowhere 
 was the least resistance made. There remained to be 
 crossed the last hill, called "The Hill of Salutation," 
 because from its summit one sees the sacred city, and 
 before entering it, the Russian pilgrims there perform 
 their first devotions. The sun illuminated the roofs and 
 the golden cupolas of the immense city. 
 
 It was 2 o'clock in the afternoon when the French 
 advance guard showed itself on the hills, and before this 
 magnificent panorama they raised a joyful shout of 
 " Moscow, Moscow ! " Behind them the soldiers rushed 
 forward in disorder, and the whole army repeated 
 " Moscow, Moscow ! " with the same enthusiasm with 
 which sailors fatigued by a long and trying sea voyage 
 cry out " Land, Land ! " Napoleon stopped, filled with 
 emotion and delight, and could not repress an exclamation 
 of joy. The Generals, whose attitude since Borodino 
 had been somewhat cold, forgot their resentment and 
 came near to the Emperor; the marvelous city was their 
 captive at their feet. Carried away by such complete 
 success, full of hope at the news which was circulating 
 of the arrival of a Russian envoy, they forgot their dis- 
 content and saluted once more the star of the Emperor, 
 which shortly before they had supposed obscured. Napo- 
 leon himself could not help crying : " Here it is, the 
 famous city ; it was time ! " Soon, however, the warrior 
 showed signs of great uneasiness. No keys were sur- 
 rendered with due respect to his rank, nor was he met 
 with the accustomed prayers of the citizens for clemency 
 and mercy such as he was wont to receive in the other 
 capitals of Europe. His impatience was accentuated by 
 the fact that an hour previous he had ordered his General, 
 Count Durosnel, to push on to Moscow to organize the 
 
 59
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 demonstrations. He did not know the Moscovites had 
 abandoned the city. Not only the officials but the in- 
 habitants had fled in a mass, so that his conquest was 
 empty. No one dared to tell him. When at last he 
 became aware of the facts, he could not believe this total 
 abandonment of the city, and still hoped that a deputation 
 of some kind would appear and relieve him from the 
 awkward situation in which he was placed in the eyes 
 of his army, all Europe and himself. They gathered to- 
 gether in haste a few foreign dealers, added a few of the 
 lower classes, and presented them to Napoleon. The state 
 of the poor wretches was pitiable. They were far from 
 thinking of welcoming the conqueror. They had eyes 
 only for his face and for the splendor of his staff. It 
 was necessary to leave to another occasion the speech 
 to the Boyars with all the grandiloquent expressions pre- 
 pared for the occasion, whose echo was to resound 
 throughout the globe. When an unhappy French printer, 
 as spokesman of this so-called deputation, had enough 
 courage to mutter a few words, he had the gentle word 
 " Imbecile " thrown at him by the Emperor. 
 
 A Russian prisoner, who was present at the scenes, 
 testifies to the stupor of Napoleon at the news of the 
 abandonment of Moscow. " He lost for an instant all 
 consciousness. Then he became nervous and rubbed his 
 nose, took off and put on his gloves, pulled, out his 
 handkerchief which he wrung between his hands, walked 
 up and down with hasty footsteps, stopped all of a 
 sudden, and alone appeared much agitated in the midst 
 of his Generals, who remained like statues, not even 
 daring to move." 
 
 Here then is the result of several months of a difficult 
 campaign, mercilessly conducted, a farce from which 
 he, the Emperor, turned away, lest he should add ridicule 
 to his profound mistake. His hope of separating Alex- 
 ander from his Boyars and opposing Moscow to St. 
 Petersburg, vanished. He mounted his horse and de- 
 parted at a gallop for a suburb of the city. 
 
 60
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 26 
 
 Captured 
 H. 59}4 in., W. 79^ in. 
 
 Famine was not long in appearing after the departure 
 from Moscow and made itself felt among the men and 
 the horses, and as the country had been devastated all 
 along the road during the advance, the army corps found 
 itself obliged to provision itself by sending foragers afar 
 and accompanying them not only by cavalry, but also 
 by infantry, and often by artillery. The village of Simon 
 Arkipovitch was empty all the week excepting on Sunday, 
 when the peasants still met in their devastated churches. 
 One of these Sundays, a watch, who was in the tower, 
 sounded the warning bell at the moment the mayor and his 
 people were coming out from service. They only had time 
 to seize their arms, but they were already surrounded by 
 a detachment of French Hussars. Semen, surprised, did 
 not know whether he had fired off a shot or not in the 
 melee. Completely dazed, a sharp pain brought him to 
 consciousness as he felt his bones cracking while they 
 fastened his hands behind his back with his own sash. One 
 of those who were binding him had blood on his cheek. 
 " I must have done that," thought Semen, " he is so 
 anxious about me." The Frenchman was really enraged 
 with the old man, and fastened his elbows together behind 
 as if he were a horse in its collar, growling all the time, 
 " Attends, mon vieux, tu vas voir." 
 
 Semen understood nothing, he had been too badly 
 beaten, his bones ached, and his head was dazed. As 
 if in a fog he saw, besides himself, three other peasants 
 had been taken prisoners. The red-headed Fedka, the 
 intrepid hunter of the French, dumb but angry; the in- 
 dignant narrator of the profanations of Moscow, Grigory 
 Tolcatchef, groaning as much now as he had talked 
 before; and the lame Jeremka, saddler, blacksmith and 
 
 61
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 armorer for the repairs of the pikes and sabres of his 
 brothers-in-arms. Semen led the march, courageous as 
 always. Fedka followed him closely, avoiding by his 
 agility in walking and getting over obstacles, the blows 
 of the sword or the butt end of the musket, freely be- 
 stowed upon the infirm Geremka, whom the soldiers 
 encouraged to rouse himself by blows of feet and fist, 
 the unhappy man leaving behind him on the snow a trail 
 of blood. As for Grigory, in spite of his strength, he 
 had been so severely beaten that he stumbled like a 
 drunken man. So, tired of hauling him along, the soldiers 
 consulted together, and one of them fired a gun into 
 his ear. At the sound, Semen and his companions under- 
 stood what was happening, but they did not dare even 
 to turn their heads to give their comrade a farewell look. 
 They marched this way for thirty or forty verstes. All 
 of a sudden a stream of men accoutred in the most 
 peculiar manner, with women's garments, legs wrapped 
 up in rags, dirty faces, unshaven and swollen by the cold, 
 seemed to drag themselves along, infantry, cavalry, all 
 mixed up, in the midst of carts, wagons and sleds. This 
 was on the main road from Moscow to Smolensk. By 
 the side of the road, a group of better dressed men were 
 warming themselves and talking near the fire. " Offi- 
 cers," thought Semen. Among them, with his back to 
 the fire, was a short, fat man, with a fur hat and a 
 green velvet overcoat, on which sparkled an order; he 
 held with eagerness his hands towards the flames ... "It 
 is he," continued Semen, and as the escort stopped, with 
 a military salute, he had a presentiment that he was in 
 the presence of the great chief, and involuntarily he 
 knelt down and was followed by the others. One of the 
 soldiers was already off his horse and with his hand 
 to his hat was making his report. At this moment fear 
 overcame Semen. He bowed his head and commended 
 himself in a fervent prayer to Christ, the Mother and 
 the Saints. Fedka had also understood, but he only stared 
 more fixedly at the little man, saying to himself, " What 
 
 62
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 assurance, a manikin, that one could crush like an insect 
 on his nail." Napoleon turned towards the hussar a 
 weared and indifferent face, and murmured, " Arms in 
 their hands?" "Yes, sir." "All of them?" "Yes, 
 sir." " Shot." That was all. 
 
 Semen came to himself and raised his head on being 
 shaken and compelled to stand on his feet. All were 
 excited; a carriage was driven up for the fat man; he 
 got in, together with another General wearing the mantle 
 of a Russian Cossack, and drove away; the others fol- 
 lowed, some on horseback, some in carriages. 
 
 " It was really he, brothers," whispered Fedka, greatly 
 impressed, but it was only for a short time. By means 
 of halters passed round their bodies the prisoners were 
 fastened to the trunks of willow trees, at the foot of 
 one of which, while warming himself, the Emperor had 
 pronounced their doom. A bullet in the head of each 
 one terminated the partisans. Semen Arkipovitch and 
 Jeremka were dead, their heads falling on their breasts; 
 it was necessary to dispatch Fedka. 
 
 The clothing of the victims became the property of 
 the hussars : the fine Sunday caftan of the mayor fell to 
 the wounded soldier. The rest divided the sheep skins 
 of Fedka and Jeremka. The fear of the stragglers did 
 not permit even the aged companion of the pious and 
 courageous mayor to look for and find the body of her 
 husband. 
 
 27 
 Incendiaries 
 
 28 
 
 In the Kremlin: The Conflagration 
 H. 51 in., W. 41^4 m - 
 
 The conflagration at Moscow began during the night 
 which followed the evacuation of the city by the Rus-
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 sians. When the emperor entered the Kremlin, the drug- 
 stores, the oil shops, and the quarters of Zariadie and 
 Baltschouk were already burned. The Bazaar of the 
 Red Square was taking fire. Marshal Mortier, if he 
 did not entirely stop the conflagration, at least by his 
 efforts preserved the Kremlin, but the following days 
 the flames extended themselves with such rapidity that 
 the part of the town, Zamoskvoretchie, situated back of 
 the river was enveloped. 
 
 " For four successive nights," says an eye-witness, 
 " one could go without candles, because it was as light 
 as day." A wind from the northeast blew the fire again 
 towards the Kremlin, in which, as though on purpose, 
 an artillery station had been established containing great 
 quantities of powder. It is easy to understand what 
 anxiety reigned in the palace. 
 
 The fire in the district behind the Moskwa, which 
 lay straight in front of the palace, had all the appearance 
 of a tempestuous sea of flame and produced an extra- 
 ordinary impression. Napoleon could find no rest, he 
 paced through the various rooms of the palace with 
 mighty strides, his every movement betrayed extreme un- 
 easiness. He endeavored to view the fire from the walls 
 of the Kremlin, but the heat of the flames compelled 
 him to return to his apartment; his face was red and 
 covered with perspiration. 
 
 In his bulletin, Napoleon affirms that the preparation 
 of the conflagration of Moscow should be credited to 
 Rostopchin, but that is completely false. As half the 
 people remaining in Moscow were composed of ragamuf- 
 fins, it is not impossible that they undertook the task of 
 propagating the fire, but there was no preconceived plan 
 to burn the city. If on one side many Russians were of 
 the opinion that it was better to burn their goods and 
 chattels than to abandon them to the enemy, and so set 
 fire themselves to their houses, on the other hand the 
 French soldiers went about seeking for plunder with 
 burning torches and pine-knots, setting fire to piles of 
 
 64
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 wood in the court-yards without taking the slightest pre- 
 cautionary measures. In such circumstances it is not 
 surprising that three- fourths of the wooden-built town 
 should take fire and burn. The terror of Napoleon at 
 the sight of this gigantic conflagration must have been 
 great. Having made great sacrifices to capture Moscow, 
 with a desire to strike Russia to the heart, it was with 
 death in his soul that he saw his prey escape him in 
 smoke, and converted into piles of ruin about which the 
 Russians themselves would henceforth concern themselves 
 very little. The plunder of the city commenced with the 
 first entry of the troops. The news that Moscow was 
 full of treasure, which was being carried off on all sides, 
 spread with lightning rapidity throughout the camp, and 
 when the first marauders returned la'den with rum, wines, 
 cognac, sugar, coffee, etc., it became impossible to keep 
 the soldiers in the ranks. The kettles were left without 
 fire or cooks. Those that were sent to hunt up water 
 and wood did not return. The sentries even left their 
 posts. The booty was so rich that the officers them- 
 selves gave way to temptation. 
 
 It was above all the Germans of the Confederation of 
 the Rhine and the Poles who showed themselves most 
 grasping. They tore from the women their shawls and 
 their silks, their dresses even. They took their ear-rings, 
 rings and watches. The Bavarians and the Wurtem- 
 burgers were the first to dig up the dead in the cem- 
 eteries in order to rob them. They broke the statues 
 and vases of marble. It was a rage for destruction. 
 
 Napoleon decided to leave the palace, and he left by 
 the same route by which he had entered. From the Stone 
 Bridge he went to Arbat, lost his way, was nearly burned 
 up and reached the village of Horoschevo with the great- 
 est difficulty. He crossed the Moskowa on a pontoon 
 bridge near the Waganka Cemetery and arrived in the 
 evening at the Petrowsky Palace. 
 
 65
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 29 
 
 Vive 1'Empereur! Taking of the great Redoubt at 
 Borodino 
 
 H. 64^ in., W. 97^ in. 
 
 The battle was still. The French cuirassiers ended by 
 taking the great redoubt, the trenches filled with dead 
 and wounded. Napoleon proceeding leisurely over the 
 battle field appears in the distance on a white horse. The 
 soldiers salute him. A wounded man who has just had 
 his limb amputated seizes his cut-off foot and raising it 
 in the air calls with all his strength, " Long live the 
 Emperor ! " 
 
 30 
 On the Great Road: The Retreat 
 
 H. 71^ in., W. H9>4 in. 
 
 Napoleon made the first part of his retreat in an 
 excellent carriage, perfectly appointed for work as well 
 as for repose. The vehicle was lined with furs. After 
 Smolensk he went more frequently on foot, clad in a 
 long velvet coat lined with sable and ornamented with 
 gold frogs. He wore a fur cap with ear-flaps, and fur 
 lined boots. The cold was intense. The newly fallen 
 snow concealed the condition of the Smolensk road: 
 carts, ammunition wagons, arms, bodies of horses and 
 men, were piled one on another on both sides of the 
 road. The officers of the staff marched in close rank 
 behind the Emperor, silent and discouraged. The smile 
 had disappeared from the lips of even the most zealous 
 courtier. Napoleon walked some paces in front leaning 
 on a birchen stick, sombre but inpenetrable. On the 
 previous day he had an opportunity at Krasnoie of
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 reviewing what was left of the best army in the world. 
 He must have been greatly troubled, for through the 
 whole night his attendants heard him lamenting aloud, 
 and commiserating the state of his soldiers in the most 
 heartrendering terms. 
 
 From day to day the situation became more critical, 
 the regiments melted away visibly and the men who re- 
 mained under arms forgot all discipline. The personal 
 prestige even of the Emperor was waning, and those 
 on whose devotion he was still counting, as days went 
 on manifested an indifference not far from hostility. 
 On one occasion the Duke of Vincenzia was near one 
 of the camp fires and wishing to use it for the Emperor, 
 who was awaiting with his suite on the road, overheard 
 such expressions by the soldiers that he advised the 
 Emperor not to come near. Another time the wheels 
 of a heavy cart passed over both legs of a wretched 
 member of the Army Service Corps. Rolling about the 
 snow in his agony, he called out to Napoleon, who was 
 passing by, " Monster ! You have been devouring us 
 for ten years ! Friends, he is mad, he is a cannibal ! 
 Avoid him, he will swallow us all ! " Napoleon passed 
 by, without appearing to hear this, while the dying and 
 exasperated man continued to shower epithets upon him. 
 Surely Napoleon's mental sufferings were greater than 
 his physical discomforts. One can imagine how in sleep- 
 less nights as well as in long marches on the white plains 
 of snow, there came to him most trying recollections. 
 
 He remembered how the French youth entered into this Rus- 
 sian campaign as if going to a picnic, to a joyial expedition of six 
 months, promising promotion and decorations. They said to their 
 acquaintance, " We are off to Moscow, we shall meet again soon ! " 
 They had no thought of hard work and danger. 
 
 Never before had such tremendous preparations for a war been 
 made. For a long time before the war began, thousands of men 
 of all professions smiths, locksmiths, carpenters, masons, me- 
 chanics, clock-makers, had offered their services. Most of them 
 were not even aware that all these preparations were directed 
 against Russia. Indeed, public sympathy was inclined to side 
 with Russia in her war against Turkey, and the general question 
 was: against whom was this expedition to be launched? Was it 
 
 67
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 England,. Prussia, .Turkey, Persia, or even the West Indies? 
 Tchernicheff's sudden departure gave some clue to the answer, 
 but nothing certain was known ; moreover, an army order forbade 
 all discussion or mention of war. 
 
 The army was undoubtedly the finest that had ever been raised. 
 Eleven corps of Infantry, four corps of heavy Cavalry and 
 Guards; altogether 500,000 men with 1,200 guns awaited the 
 command of the Emperor. 
 
 How terrible was the contrast between then and now. It 
 seemed to Napoleon that it was only yesterday that he was in 
 Dresden, where luxury, splendor and adulation had made him a 
 fabulous Asiatic demi-jgod, showering diamonds upon all who 
 approached him. 
 
 The Emperor of Austria had protested in the most submissive 
 manner that he could always count on Austria to insure the com- 
 plete triumph of the expedition; and the King of Prussia had 
 assured him, with equal humility, of his undeviating attachment 
 to his person and loyal support of his policy. 
 
 The King of all kings, he felt himself embarrassed by the 
 attentions of the monarchs, who thronged his ante-chamber, and 
 was compelled to hint, as delicately as might be, that he would 
 rather dispense with so much adulation. All eyes were fastened 
 on him with astonishment and admiration, in expectation of great 
 events to come. 
 . And these events had now taken place ! 
 
 The campaign began gloriously. : Every day was marked with 
 some new success, and every officer who reported himself brought 
 flattering tidings. Involuntarily he compared with intense self- 
 reproach those gorgeously bedecked cavaliers, whose joy it was 
 to serve under the greatest of all commanders, and who had 
 unconditionally entrusted to him their lives and their honor, with 
 the ragged fugitives, scarcely human, who with downcast looks 
 were painfully dragging themselves along the roads lined with the 
 corpses of their friends. No campaign had begun so successfully. 
 
 Experienced officers had even at that time remarked with 
 alarm the great loss of men and horses that occurred from day to 
 day. It was conceivable that they should succumb in this fearful 
 retreat, but even in the advance, against an almost unresisting 
 enemy, they had been worn out by the rays of the burning sun. 
 and had fallen by thousands on the road from the combined effects 
 of bad water and poor and insufficient food. So great were their 
 losses that the full cadres of 2,800 men were reduced to 1,000 
 and even less. As to the other side both he and his most experi- 
 enced officers were discouraged at the exemplary order in which 
 the Russian army retired, under cover of the Cossacks, without 
 leaving behind any wounded, carts or guns. 
 
 68
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 Napoleon was silent at that time, but he clearly recognized 
 the faults in the organization of his army and its commissariat. 
 The necessary system was lacking. The bridges and fords on 
 the road were soon destroyed, but no one repaired them, and 
 each corps d'armee forced its way through as it pleased, for the 
 staff did not trouble itself about such trifles. No one took note 
 of dangerous spots, of precipitous places. Stragglers were to be 
 seen endeavoring to find their regiments; the orderlies could not 
 carry out their orders, being continually stopped on the roads, 
 which had become almost impassible. From the very beginning, 
 discipline became dangerously lax, but success at that time cov- 
 ered a multitude of faults. Napoleon himself once burst out 
 laughing, instead of appearing annoyed, at the report that the 
 lately-appointed sub-prefect of Wilna had been plundered of his 
 effects by the soldiers, and appeared at his new post with nothing 
 on but his shirt. He was aware that the soldiers plundered and 
 ill-treated the inhabitants, but in the hour of triumph he troubled 
 himself little about this. 
 
 The Grande Armee was at that time still in magnificent con- 
 dition and Napoleon well remembered the scene of his first entry 
 into that part of Russia through which he was now retreating 
 a beautiful country, with a straight, broad road, planted with birch 
 trees, the weapons of the advancing army glittering in the sun- 
 light. He remembered his disappointment at the sight of the 
 Dnieper, that celebrated ancient river of the East, which proved 
 to be quite insignificant and not even picturesque. Then the 
 Battle of Smolensk, with a French loss of 6,000 killed and 12,000 
 wounded and the terrible conflagration in the city. He can still 
 see before him the burning town, with its streets full of wounded, 
 the Russians setting fire to their own dwellings, and retiring in 
 unbroken order, suggesting to him a possibilty that the fate of 
 Charles XII. may yet overtake him. He became aware that his 
 army was already losing confidence. Where were now the jokes, 
 the laughter ? Even the officers appeared to be nervous, and 
 did their duty impatiently. He called to mind how at Smolensk 
 he himself was anxious and undecided, deaf to the prayers and 
 entreaties of his most experienced advisers. Murat had fallen upon 
 his knees, Berthier wept. He had not been true to himself, his 
 theoretical plans were forgotten, he was urged forward by cir- 
 cumstances. How could it be otherwise? The Russian Calvary 
 had caught Sebastian unawares and defeated him, the army 
 could not be left with the impression of this misadventure. 
 
 The march was almost silent, one heard only the crack- 
 ling of the snow under the feet of the officers of the 
 suite and of the bodyguard, and, in the distance, the sub-
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 dued rumble of the retreating army. Steam from men 
 and horses rose up in the still, windless atmosphere, 
 the cold became more intense, and the Emperor's thoughts 
 more and more gloomy. . . 
 
 Then he thought of the great battle before Moscow, 
 with its fearful sacrifice of 40,000 to 50,000 men, and 
 its indecisive result. 
 
 Was it not his own fault that this had been merely a great 
 battle and not a great victory? Was not it the fault of his illness 
 (dysuria) that the battle was not fought out? He had been 
 unable to mount a horse, and was compelled to view the battle- 
 field from a distance, the battlefield which looked like an ocean 
 of smoke, with the din of musket and cannon, with the shouts of 
 " Hurrah ! " and " Vive 1'Empereur ! " 
 
 These vexations and obtrusive thoughts excited the 
 Emperor to such an extent that he hastened onward and 
 began striking out with his stick. 
 
 Again the battle rises before his mind's eye, the Marshals 
 begging him for reinforcements to strike a decisive blow, and his 
 determination to bring up his last reserve, to lead his Guard in 
 person into the fight. This would break the last stand of the 
 Russians, who still held the positions into which they had been 
 driven, but which were becoming untenable. Soon the bloodiest 
 battle in history would end in victory, the army of the enemy 
 would be scattered, and Alexander be compelled to beg for peace. 
 But now Marshal Bessieres approaches him and whispers, " Do 
 not forget, Sire, that you are 800 miles from your base of opera- 
 tions." 
 
 The excitement of this recollection causes the Emperor 
 suddenly to stand still, his suite also came to an uprupt 
 halt, causing many comical scenes, collisions among the 
 Generals, cries and curses among the grooms of the suite 
 and private soldiers. Napoleon turns round, looks back, 
 and in so doing his eye falls involuntarily upon Marshal 
 Bessieres then marches on again. 
 
 The deed was done; and the battle before Moscow is marked 
 down as the most sanguinary but least decisive battle in history. 
 As a matter of fact, Bessieres had been in the right. If, in this 
 terrible retreat, all the troops do not cast away their guns, if some 
 show of order is maintained, if the Guard still retains in a certain 
 degree the former spirit and discipline of the army, thanks are 
 due to him, for it is owing to him that at Moskowa the Guard 
 were spared, and that their ardour was not damped by the losses 
 
 70
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 to which the rest of the army was exposed. What would have 
 happened if this column of thousands of picked soldiers had 
 dwindled to some hundreds, without courage or energy, wholly 
 demoralized? Utter destruction would have been inevitable. 
 
 Horses are lost by the thousands, the Calvary marches on foot, 
 the guns are abandoned, the ditches on both sides of the road are 
 filled with men and horses. The Parthian Calvary were less bold 
 than the Cossacks, the burning plains of Bactria less deadly than 
 the snowfields of Russia, but the fate of both armies, Roman and 
 French, was in every way similar, both were destroyed. The 
 trophies of the victory before Moscow were thrown into the rivers, 
 together with part of the plundered treasure. All recognize that 
 safety lies only in flight. Generals and officers are on the same 
 footing as their soldiers all are in rags, they have let their 
 beards grow, are filthy, black with smoke, and covered with 
 vermin. The army is but a hord of thieves and murderers, neither 
 life nor property is safe; what remains to be stolen is stolen; 
 comrades, as they fall, the weak, the sick, the dying, all are robbed. 
 The road resembles a battlefield, a cemetery; the villages along 
 the line of march are burned to the ground. . . . 
 
 It is incomprehensible how Napoleon could have remained so 
 long in Moscow. He alone is responsible for this disgrace. The 
 Eylau campaign had led him astray. After having experienced a 
 Polish winter, he thought he could gauge the severity of the cold 
 in Russia, but he deceived, cruelly deceived himself. 
 
 Darker and gloomier became his thoughts, ever more 
 precarious his condition. Around him crackles the frost ! 
 France! Paris! How very distant they are! 
 
 31 
 
 Napoleon on the Heights of Borodino (Moscow) 
 H. 39^4 in., W. 60 in. 
 
 The Emperor reconnoitered in person the Russian po- 
 sitions at Borodino, and examined the future field of 
 battle for a long time, from the steeple of the Monastery 
 of Kolotsky. A glance at the Russian lines sufficed to 
 show him that Kutusoff had committed an error by forti- 
 fying his right flank and neglecting his left. He noticed 
 
 71
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 that the river of Kolotcha turned suddenly to the right 
 and concluded that the banks must be very steep hills 
 therefore, there was nothing to be done on that side. 
 On the contrary, the left bank of the river was visibly 
 lower and the Emperor at once formed his plans. The 
 viceroy was to make an attack on the large fortification, 
 make a demonstration in front of Borodino and the right 
 wing of Kutusoff, Poniatowski was to turn the extreme 
 left, while Ney and Davout were to seize the bastions of 
 Semenovskoi and, wheeling quickly to the left, drive 
 Kutosoff back, and hurl him and the remains of his army 
 into the Kolotcha. The plan was well conceived, but Gen- 
 eral Bagration's more than average skill and the extreme 
 tenacity of the Russian soldier rendered it of no avail. 
 
 Happily for the Russians, Napoleon refused to ap- 
 prove of the plan of Marshal Davout, who wished to 
 turn with 40,000 men by the old road to Moscow, the 
 enemy's position, spend the night in carrying redoubt 
 after redoubt by assault, demolish them all, and by seven 
 o'clock in the morning, crush, disperse or take the Rus- 
 sian forces by attacking from the rear. When we con- 
 sider the mistake of Kutusoff, who massed his principal 
 forces on the right, far from the march projected by 
 the Marshal, we may admit that the Russians would have 
 been completely conquered; but Napoleon did not accept 
 the plan made by his great tactician because it seemed 
 to him audacious, as he said because of professional 
 jealousy, one might add. Altogether the Emperor in 
 attacking the Russians from the front gave to Kutusoff 
 time to see his mistake and to correct it even under the 
 fire of the enemy. 
 
 He saw his mistake, and during the battle, in the 
 midst of a terrible fire, managed to wheel his men from 
 right to left, where they gave Ney and Davout so much 
 trouble that these Marshals were unable to push suffi- 
 ciently far forward. Poniatowski, with his Polish regi- 
 ments, only managed to force Toutchkoff back slightly 
 from his position at Outitza, and thus Napoleon's cal- 
 culations fell. 
 
 72
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 The French army at Borodino numbered between 
 160,000 and 170,000 men.* It had occupied two days 
 before the redoubt of Schewardino, which, after having 
 changed hands several times during the day, finally re- 
 mained in the possession of the French.f 
 
 On the day following the capture of the redoubt no 
 battle took place. It seemed as if both sides had agreed 
 that everything should be decided to-morrow ; why, there- 
 fore, a useless skirmish? All the time preparations were 
 made, arms, ammunition and uniforms being carefully 
 examined. 
 
 On the French side there was profound silence, broken 
 occasionally by shouts of " Vive 1'Empereur." The Guard 
 was filled with enthusiasm at the sight of the portrait of 
 the King of Rome, which, having arrived from Paris, 
 was exposed outside the Emperor's tent. A little more 
 excitement prevailed on the side of the Russians, where 
 all the army was under arms : the miraculous ikon of the 
 Holy Virgin of Smolensk, escorted by Kutusoff and all 
 his staff was carried between the ranks of the soldiers, 
 who knelt down, praying, weeping and preparing for 
 death. 
 
 " This will be a hard day," said Napoleon to one of 
 his immediate suite, " the battle will be terrible ! " On 
 the night preceding the general attack, he was seized with 
 fear less the Russian army should again evade him, tak- 
 ing advantage of the darkness. This fear disturbed his 
 sleep. He continually called to his attendants, inquiring 
 whether any noise was heard, and sending out scouts to 
 
 * As at the crossing of the Niemen the army numbered 400,- 
 ooo men, what had then become of the 230,000 who were missing, 
 according to the statement in the XVIIIth Bulletin? Whence 
 also came the Russian regiments, which, according to those 
 Bulletins, were killed, wounded or wiped out during the previous 
 seventy days? 
 
 f It may here be stated that, after this success, Napoleon asked 
 why he did not see any prisoners. The answer he received must 
 have made him ponder over the gravity of the situation : " Sire, 
 they all died rather than surrender." 
 
 73
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 note whether the enemy still occupied the same position. 
 At last, at five o'clock, an officer sent by Ney requested 
 permission for the Marshal to begin the attack. And 
 then began the battle, the most sanguinary ever fought 
 since the invention of gunpowder. 
 
 Napoleon's point of observation was the best that could 
 have been chosen. The whole field of battle lay before 
 him. It was in front and slightly to the left of the 
 redoubt taken on the 5th, on the borders of a ravine. 
 A numerous suite attended him, motionless, full of 
 anxiety. The determination of both armies was so great 
 that but few prisoners were taken, the trophies also were 
 insignificant. There was nothing but fighting, fighting, 
 fighting. It is admitted that the losses on both sides 
 exceeded 100,000 men in killed and wounded. In view, 
 however, of the official statement that more than 56,000 
 bodies were buried on the field at Borodino,* it is prob- 
 able that nearly 150,000 men were placed hors du combat 
 in this single battle. According to his usual custom of 
 greatly exaggerating his successes, Napoleon announced 
 his victory as decisive, and stated that 50,000 Russians 
 had been killed or wounded, whilst he himself had lost 
 only 10,000 men. The truth is, according to the most 
 credible authorities, that the French losses were enor- 
 mous, more than 60,000 men having been either killed 
 or wounded, including forty-threee generals and an enor- 
 mous number of officers. Whole regiments were swept 
 away, and the cavalry completely destroyed, without any 
 important results being obtained. Although the enemy 
 was driven back, he took up a new position, where he 
 awaited the French until a late hour at night, and it was 
 only on the following day that he left in good order, 
 taking away his guns and baggage. 
 
 In order to turn this orderly retirement into a flight, 
 it would have been necessary to attack the Russian army 
 again and again, a course which Napoleon, terrified by 
 his immense losses, was unwilling to adopt. He was 
 
 * 32,000 horses. 
 
 74
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 implored to allow the Guard to advance, as a decisive 
 blow ; but he refused, remarking, impatiently, " If I 
 have to fight another battle under the walls of Moscow, 
 where shall I find the troops ? " The French army una- 
 ware, of course, that he was ill, commented severely 
 upon his resolution. 
 
 In his order for the day, the Emperor had declared 
 that he would remain on the redoubt of Schewardino, 
 taken the night before, but he passed the day on a hill 
 near by, a little to the left. From time to time he tried 
 to walk, but his illness would overcome him and force 
 him to resume his chair, there to rest in a fatigued con- 
 dition with much suffering. 
 
 " I recapitulated what I had already seen during the 
 day," says Baron Lejeune in his " Souvenirs of an Officer 
 of the Empire," and, comparing this battle with Wagram, 
 Eylau, and Friedland, I was very much astonished not 
 to have seen the Emperor, as in preceding years, display 
 that activity which commands success. On that day he 
 only mounted his horse to ride on to the field of battle. 
 Then he sat down below the Guard on a hillock where 
 he could see everything. Several cannon balls passed 
 over his head. When I returned from my gallops I 
 always found him in the same attitude, watching, through 
 a pocket glass, all the movements, and giving his orders 
 with an imperturbable calmness. But we had not had the 
 joy of seeing him, as on other occasions, electrify by his 
 presence the troops engaged at those points where a vig- 
 orous resistance rendered success doubtful. We were all 
 astonished not to find him the alert leader of Marengo, 
 Austerlitz, etc. We did not know that Napoleon was 
 suffering, and that his illness prevented him from taking 
 part in the great doings that were enacted under his very 
 eyes, and solely for his glory. Nothing could exceed 
 the courage displayed on that day by both sidqs. The 
 blood of 80,000 Russians and French was shed, either to 
 confirm or shake the power of Napoleon, and he watched 
 the sanguinary catastrophes of this terrible tragedy with 
 
 75
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 an appearance of composure." " Napoleon had dis- 
 mounted," relates the Marquis de Chambray, " Berthier 
 was near him. He wore the uniform of the Rifles of the 
 Guard. He remained from the beginning of the battle 
 in the same spot, or walking up and down with Berthier. 
 Behind him was the infantry of the Old Guard, in front, 
 and a little to the left, the other regiments of the Guard. 
 He was seen to remain apathetic during almost the entire 
 battle, in a spot too distant from the field to be able to 
 distinguish the operations with his own eyes, and whence 
 his orders came often too late. In moments of the great- 
 est importance he showed a marked want of resolution, 
 in a word, he was not on a level with his reputation, nor 
 did his usual luck attend him. I must, however, add 
 that he was suffering from a very heavy cold." De la 
 Fliise tells us that during the whole of the battle Napo- 
 leon did not appear on horseback, owing to illness. He 
 wore his grey overcoat, and spoke little. A group of 
 officers of his suite was to be seen just behind him. The 
 action could not be followed, owing to the dense smoke 
 from thousands of guns that covered the horizon. 
 
 " One saw him nearly all this day," says Segur, " seated 
 or walking slowly in front of and a little to the left of the 
 conquered redoubt on the borders of a ravine far from 
 the battle, which he had dimly seen since it passed beyond 
 the heights. He made only a few gestures in a resigned 
 manner, when from time to time they came to let him 
 know of the loss of his best generals. He got up several 
 times, took a few steps and reseated himself. All those 
 around him looked at him with astonishment. Up to this 
 time, under great shocks they had seen a calm activity, 
 but here it was a heavy calm or lassitude with no activity. 
 
 On that day his composure indicated lack of energy 
 rather than self-possession. He remained in the same 
 place, with an air of suffering and depression; his ap- 
 pearance was dejected, his look gloomy. He gave his 
 orders in a languid manner, in the midst of this horrible 
 din of war, which now seemed almost strange to him . . . 
 
 76
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 Murat remembered having seen the Emperor, reconnoi- 
 tering the enemy's lines on the previous day, stopping 
 several times, dismounting and leaning his head on a gun 
 in an attitude of great suffering. The king knew that in 
 this critical moment the power of Napoleon's genius was 
 chained down by a body worn out under the triple load of 
 fatigue, fever, and of that malady which, above all others, 
 breaks down the physical and moral strength of man ..." 
 
 Segur finishes his account of the events of this im- 
 portant day with the following remarks : " When he re- 
 turned to his tent he was the victim of great mental 
 suffering as well as physical depression. He had seen 
 the field of battle; the scene spoke in louder tones than 
 man. The victory so eagerly longed for, so dearly bought, 
 was incomplete. The losses were immense, and without 
 proportionate result. Every man around him mourned 
 the loss of some friend, relation, brother, for the lot of 
 war had fallen on those of most importance. Forty-three 
 Generals had been killed or wounded. What weeping 
 in Paris ! What a triumph for his enemies ! How dan- 
 gerous might be the effect of the news in Germany! 
 In his army, even in his tent, there is no sound of con- 
 gratulation on his victory. All is silence and gloom. He 
 was pleased to tell Europe that neither he nor his Guard 
 had been exposed . . . Murat was heard to say that on 
 that eventful day he had not recognized Napoleon's 
 genius. The Viceroy admitted that he could not under- 
 stand the cause of the want of decision shown by his 
 adopted father! And when Ney's turn came to give his 
 opinion, he showed a curious obstinacy in advising re- 
 treat..." 
 
 Those, however, who had not left his side alone saw 
 that the conqueror of so many nations had himself been 
 conquered by a burning fever, and above all by a return 
 of that painful malady which any violent movement, or 
 any strong or lasting emotion, was liable to provoke. 
 They quoted his own words : " In war, health is indis- 
 pensable, and nothing can replace it " ; and his prophetic 
 
 77
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 saying on the field of Austerlitz : " There is but one time 
 for war ; I shall be good for another six years, after that 
 even I must stop." He did not stop, and this was the 
 result. 
 
 32 
 An old Steward 
 
 H. i8y 2 in., W. i2 l / 2 in. 
 
 An old Steward, who is relating with great humor how 
 he succeeded in buying himself free from serfdom by 
 cheating his master. 
 
 33 
 
 Jolly good Fellows: Russian Men's Costumes of the 
 XVII. Century 
 
 H. 24 in., W. 18 in. 
 
 34 
 
 The Road at Inkerman 
 H. 30 in., W. 16. in. 
 
 On this rock was played the last act of the drama of 
 the battle of Inkerman. A part of the Russian army, 
 infantry as well as cavalry, hotly pursued by the allies, 
 in terrible disorder, were hurled down from this place. 
 
 A small chapel, erected at the foot of the rock, con- 
 tains the bones of those who fell. 
 
 35 
 In the Crimea 
 
 78
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 36 
 
 The Temple of Diana on the Cape, in the morning 
 as it might have been 3,000 years ago 
 
 H. 17^4 in., W. 23^4 in. 
 
 37 
 
 The Monastery of St. George, late evening 
 H. 16 in., W. 29^4 in. 
 
 About the year 60 A. D. the apostle Andrew, the first- 
 called (brother of the apostle Peter), came to preach in 
 Taurica, especially in the temple of the goddess Diana, 
 and it may be supposed that a cave church was made 
 here, serving as a foundation for the monastery of St. 
 George in the ninth century. St. Clement, the Pope of 
 Rome, sent by the emperor Trojan to forced labor in the 
 stone quarries of Inkerman, found as many as 2,000 
 Christians in these parts. When he was drowned for his 
 preaching, together with many other zealous followers 
 of the new religion, the spread of Christianity was de- 
 layed somewhat. However in the fourth century there 
 were already regularly appointed bishop-missionaries here, 
 of whom Basil was concealed in the cave church already 
 mentioned, before being tortured and delivered up to 
 death. The Russians, sailing here in boats, robbed and 
 killed not a few, and committed every kind of outrage, 
 till their famous invasion under the leadership of Vladi- 
 mir, ending in the taking of the Chersonese; the cave 
 church had become then the monastery of St. George, 
 having, in this manner, an existence of over 1,000 years. 
 
 38 
 
 In the Crimea 
 79
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 
 39 
 The Rock of St. George 
 
 H. 12% in., W. 15^4 m - 
 
 On which, according to tradition, a thousand years ago 
 St. George the Victorious appeared to the drowning Greek 
 sailors. After this miracle the monastery was founded. 
 
 40 
 In the Transvaal 
 
 To-day, to-morrow, as yesterday, . . . always the same ! 
 
 41 
 
 Mount Kazbek, in the Caucasus 
 (16,500 ft.) 
 
 A tradition affirms that the Saviour of the world was 
 born on this mountain, and that His cradle is preserved 
 up to the present day in one of its gorges. Nevertheless 
 all that have tried to discover the sacred spot have been 
 struck with blindness. The last great avalanche of snow 
 on the Kazbek filled the valley of the river Terek with 
 snow, ice and stones to the height of 350 feet, for the 
 distance of eleven and one-half miles. 
 
 The classical traditions says that Prometheus was at- 
 tached to this rock. 
 
 42 
 
 Mount Elbrooss, in the Caucasus 
 (18,000 ft.) 
 
 The scene of many legends, the highest point in Europe, 
 wilder than Mt. Kazbek. 
 
 80
 
 VERESTCHAGIN COLLECTION 
 43 
 
 The dry Channel of the River Jumna, India 
 
 A thick growth of reeds, frequented by wild boars, 
 panthers and tigers. 
 
 44 
 The Snows of the Himalayas 
 
 The highest group of mountains in this colossal chain, 
 raising its summits, covered with ice and snow, to the 
 height of 27,000 to 29,000 ft. 
 
 VASSILI VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 81
 
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