my had perished from sickness and
fatigue. At Borodino, another bloody battle was fought, in which more
men were killed and wounded than in any battle which history records.
Napoleon, in this battle, did not exhibit his usual sagacity or
energy, being, perhaps, overwhelmed with anxiety and fatigue. His
dispirited and broken army continued the march to Moscow, which was
reached the 14th of September. The Sacred City of the Russians was
abandoned by the army, and three hundred thousand of the inhabitants
took to flight. Napoleon had scarcely entered the deserted capital,
and taken quarters in the ancient palace of the czars, before the city
was discovered to be on fire in several places; and even the Kremlin
itself was soon enveloped in flames. Who could have believed that the
Russians would have burnt their capital? Such an event surely never
entered into a Frenchman's head. The consternation and horrors of that
awful conflagration can never be described, or even conceived. Pillage
and murder could scarcely add to the universal wretchedness.
Execration, indignation, and vengeance filled the breasts of both the
conquerors and the conquered. But who were the conquerors? Alas! those
only, who witnessed the complicated miseries and awful destruction of
the retreating army, have answered.

[Sidenote: Retreat of the French.]

The retreat was the saddest tragedy ever acted by man, but rendered
inevitable after the burning of Moscow, for Napoleon could not have
advanced to St. Petersburg. For some time, he lingered in the vicinity
of Moscow, hoping for the submission of Russia. Alexander was too wise
to treat for peace, and Napoleon and his diminished army, loaded,
however, with the spoil of Moscow, commenced his retreat, in a hostile
and desolate country, harassed by the increasing troops of the enemy.
Soon, however, heavy frosts commenced, unusual even in Russia, and the
roads were strewed by thousands who perished from fatigue and cold.
The retreat became a rout; for order, amid general destruction and
despair, could no longer be preserved. The Cossacks, too, hung upon
the rear of the retreating army, and cut off thousands whom the
elements had spared. In less than a week, thirty thousand horses died,
and the famished troops preyed upon their remains. The efforts of
Napoleon proved in vain to procure provisions for the men, or forage
for the horses. Disasters thickened, and all abandoned themselves to
despair. Of all the aw