It seemed that
the marshal's army had received very vague information of our disasters,
and was prepared to receive the Emperor with joy and enthusiasm. His
soldiers still fresh and vigorous, at least compared with the rest of the
army, could hardly believe the evidence of their own eyes when they saw
our wretched condition; but the cries of "Vive l'Empereur" were none the
less enthusiastic.

But a different impression was made when the rear guard of the army filed
before them; and great confusion ensued, as each one of the marshal's
army who recognized a friend rushed out of the ranks and hastened to him,
offering food and clothing, and were almost frightened by the voracity
with which they ate, while many embraced each other silently in tears.
One of the marshal's best and bravest officers stripped off his uniform
to give it to a poor soldier whose tattered clothing exposed him almost
naked to the cold, donning himself an old cloak full of holes, saying
that he had more strength to resist the freezing temperature. If an
excess of misery sometimes dries up the fountains of the heart, sometimes
also it elevates men to a great height, as we see in this instance. Many
of the most wretched blew out their brains in despair; and there was in
this act, the last which nature suggests as an end to misery,
a resignation and coolness which makes one shudder to contemplate. Those
who thus put an end to their lives cared less for death than they did to
put an end to their insupportable sufferings, and I witnessed during the
whole of this disastrous campaign what vain things are physical strength
and human courage when the moral strength springing from a determined
will is lacking. The Emperor marched between the armies of Marshal
Victor and Marshal Oudinot; and it was a depressing sight to see these
movable masses halt sometimes in succession,--first those in front, then
those who came next, then the last. And when Marshal Oudinot who was in
the lead suspended his march from any unknown cause, there was a general
movement of alarm, and ominous rumors were circulated; and since men who
have seen much are disposed to believe anything, false rumors were as
readily credited as true, and the alarm lasted until the front of the
army again moved forward, and their confidence was somewhat restored.

On the 25th, at five o'clock in the evening, there had been thrown across
the river temporary bridges made of beams taken from the cabins of t