People

Yet even in thishopeless situation Post Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2008 13:58:33 +0000
The bridge was destroyed by the Russians, and Tchitchagoffopened communication with Witgenstein's army, which lay only a few miles tothe north. It appeared as if the retreat of the French was now finallyintercepted, and the surrender of Napoleon inevitable. Yet even in thishopeless situation the military skill and daring of the French worked withsomething of its ancient power.

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The fate of themiserable crowd Post Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2008 14:16:49 +0000
The army reached the Beresina; Napoleonsucceeded in withdrawing the enemy from the real point of passage; bridgeswere thrown across the river, and after desperate fighting a great part ofthe army made good its footing upon the western bank (Nov 28). But thelosses even among the effective troops were enormous. The fate of themiserable crowd that followed them, torn by the cannon-fire of theRussians, and precipitated into the river by the breaking of one of thebridges, has made the passage of the Beresina a synonym for the utmostdegree of human woe.

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The frost, which hadbroken up Post Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2008 14:30:31 +0000
This was the last engagement fought by the army. The Guards still preservedtheir order: Marshal Ney still found soldiers capable of turning upon thepursuer with his own steady and unflagging courage; but the bulk of thearmy struggled forward in confused crowds, harassed by the Cossacks, andlaying down their arms by thousands before the enemy. The frost, which hadbroken up on the 19th, returned on the 30th of November with even greaterseverity.

Autor of the post: Undefined

Wilna itself was abandoned Post Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2008 14:42:08 +0000
Twenty thousand fresh troops which joined the army between theBeresina and Wilna scarcely arrested the process of dissolution. On the 3rdof December Napoleon quitted the army. Wilna itself was abandoned with allits stores; and when at length the fugitives reached the Niemen, theynumbered little more than twenty thousand.

Autor of the post: Undefined

Of all thishost, not Post Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2008 14:53:45 +0000
Here, six months earlier, threehundred and eighty thousand men had crossed with Napoleon. A hundredthousand more had joined the army in the course of its retreat. Of all thishost, not the twentieth part reached the Prussian frontier.

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In the presence of acatastrophe Post Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2008 15:04:55 +0000
A hundred andseventy thousand remained prisoners in the hands of the Russians; a greaternumber had perished. Of the twenty thousand men who now beheld the Niemen,probably not seven thousand had crossed with Napoleon. In the presence of acatastrophe so overwhelming and so unparalleled the Russian generals mightwell be content with their own share in the work of destruction.

Autor of the post: Undefined

The bestof the army were Post Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2008 15:22:30 +0000
Yet theevent proved that Kutusoff had done ill in sparing the extremest effort tocapture or annihilate his foe. Not only was Napoleon's own escape thepledge of continued war, but the remnant that escaped with him possessed amilitary value out of all proportion to its insignificant numbers. The bestof the army were the last to succumb.

Autor of the post: Undefined

The material power of Napoleon Post Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2008 15:36:00 +0000
Out of those few thousands whoendured to the end, a very large proportion were veteran officers, whoimmediately took their place at the head of Napoleon's newly-raised armies,and gave to them a military efficiency soon to be bitterly proved by Europeon many a German battle-field.Four hundred thousand men were lost to a conqueror who could still stakethe lives of half a million more. The material power of Napoleon, thoughlargely, was not fatally diminished by the Russian campaign; it was throughits moral effect, first proved in the action of Prussia, that the retreatfrom Moscow created a new order of things in Europe.

Autor of the post: Undefined

[174] York had no evidence Post Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2008 15:46:34 +0000
The Prussiancontingent, commanded by General von York, lay in front of Riga, where itformed part of the French subsidiary army-corps led by Marshal Macdonald.Early in November the Russian governor of Riga addressed himself to York,assuring him that Napoleon was ruined, and soliciting York himself to takeup arms against Macdonald. [174] York had no evidence, beyond the word ofthe Russian commander, of the extent of Napoleon's losses; and even if thefacts were as stated, it was by no means clear that the Czar might not beinclined to take vengeance on Prussia on account of its alliance withNapoleon.

Autor of the post: Undefined

Soon afterwards the Russian commandant produced Post Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2008 16:00:10 +0000
York returned a guarded answer to the Russian, and sent anofficer to Wilna to ascertain the real state of the French army. On the 8thof December the officer returned, and described what he had himself seen.Soon afterwards the Russian commandant produced a letter from the Czar,declaring his intention to deal with Prussia as a friend, not as an enemy.

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