ctly at this time by two fresh divisions
from Smolensko, which nearly restored his muster to what it had been
when the battle began; and, thus reinforced, commanded the pursuit to
be vigorously urged. On the 9th, the French van came in sight of the
Russian rear again, and Buonaparte prepared for battle. But next morning
Kutusoff had masked his march so effectually, by scattering clouds of
Cossacks in every direction around the French, that down to the 12th the
invader remained uncertain whether he had retreated on Kalouga, or
directly to the capital. The latter he, at length, found to be the case;
and on the 14th of September Napoleon reached the Hill of Salvation; so
named because from that eminence the Russian traveller obtains his first
view of the ancient metropolis, affectionately called "Mother Moscow,"
and hardly less sacred in his eyes than Jerusalem. The soldiery beheld
with joy and exultation the magnificent extent of the place; its mixture
of Gothic steeples and Oriental domes; the vast and splendid mansions of
the haughty boyards, embosomed in trees; and, high over all the rest,
the huge towers of the Kremlin, at once the palace and the citadel of
the old Czars. The cry of "Moscow! Moscow!" ran through the lines.
Napoleon himself reined in his horse and exclaimed, "Behold at last that
celebrated city!" He added, after a brief pause, "it was time."

Buonaparte had not gazed long on this great capital ere it struck him as
something remarkable that no smoke issued from the chimneys. Neither
appeared there any military on the battlements of the old walls and
towers. There reached him neither message of defiance, nor any
deputation of citizens to present the keys of their town, and recommend
it and themselves to his protection. He was yet marvelling what these
strange circumstances could mean, when Murat, who commanded in the van,
and had pushed on to the gates, came back and informed him that he had
held a parley with Milarodowitch, the general of the Russian rear-guard,
and that, unless two hours were granted for the safe withdrawing of his
troops, he would at once set fire to Moscow. Napoleon immediately
granted the armistice. The two hours elapsed, and still no procession of
nobles or magistrates made its appearance.

On entering the city the French found it deserted by all but the very
lowest and most wretched of its vast population. They soon spread
themselves over its innumerable streets, and commenced the