more serene. These poor
soldiers also rejoiced to see their comrades, and questioned them with
anxious curiosity concerning the events which had followed the battle of
Borodino. When they learned that we had bivouacked at Moscow, they were
filled with joy; and it was very evident that their greatest regret was
that they could not have been with the others to see the fine furniture
of the rich Muscovites used as fuel at the bivouac fires. Napoleon
directed that each carriage of the suite should convey one of these
unfortunates; and this was done, everybody complying with the order with
a readiness which gratified the Emperor exceedingly; and the poor wounded
fellows said in accents of most ardent gratitude, that they were much
more comfortable on these soft cushions than in the ambulances, which we
could well believe. A lieutenant of the cuirassiers who had just
undergone an amputation was placed in the landau of the Emperor, while he
traveled on horseback.

This answers every accusation of cruelty so gratuitously made against the
memory of a great man who has passed away. I have read somewhere with
intense disgust that the Emperor sometimes ordered his carriage to pass
over the wounded, whose cries of agony made not the slightest impression
on him; all of which is false and very revolting. None of those who
served the Emperor could have been ignorant of his solicitude for the
unfortunate victims of war, and the care he had taken of them.
Foreigners, enemies, or Frenchmen,--all were recommended to the surgeon's
care with equal strictness.

From time to time frightful explosions made us turn our heads, and glance
behind us. They were caissons which were being exploded that we might no
longer be encumbered with them, as the march became each day more
painful. It produced a sad impression to see that we were reduced to
such a point of distress as to be compelled to throw our powder to the
winds to keep from leaving it to the enemy. But a still sadder
reflection came into our minds at each detonation,--the grand army must
be rapidly hastening to dissolution when the material remaining exceeded
our needs, and the number of men still left was so much short of that
required to use it. On the 30th, the Emperor's headquarters were in a
poor hovel which had neither doors nor windows. We had much difficulty
in enclosing even a corner sufficient for him to sleep. The cold was
increasing, and the nights were icy; the small fortifie