e,
they laid themselves down upon them, there to expire in their turn, and
serve as a bed of death to some fresh victims. In a short time
additional crowds of stragglers presented themselves, and, being unable
to penetrate into these asylums of suffering, they completely besieged
them.

It frequently happened that they demolished their walls, which were
formed of dry wood, in order to feed their fires: at other times,
repulsed and disheartened, they were contented to use them as shelters
to their bivouacs, the flames of which very soon communicated to the
buildings, and the soldiers who were within them, already half dead with
the cold, perished in the conflagration. Such of us as survived in these
places of shelter found our comrades the next morning lying frozen and
in heaps around their extinguished fires; while to escape from these
tombs effort was required to enable us to climb over the heaps of those
who were still breathing.

Yet this was the same army which had been formed from the most
civilized nation of Europe: that army, formerly so brilliant, which was
victorious over men to its last moment, and whose name still reigned in
so many conquered capitals. Its strongest and bravest warriors, who had
recently been proudly traversing so many scenes of their victories, had
lost their noble bearing: covered with rags, their feet naked and torn,
and supporting themselves with branches of fir, they dragged themselves
painfully along; and the strength and perseverance which they had
hitherto put forth in order to conquer, they now made use of only to
flee.

The army was in this last state of physical and moral distress when its
first fugitives reached Wilna. Wilna! their magazine, their centre of
supplies, the first rich and inhabited city which they had met with
since their entrance into Russia. Its name alone, and its proximity,
still supported the courage of a few.

On the 9th of December, the greatest part of these poor soldiers at last
arrived within sight of that capital. Instantly, some dragging
themselves along, others rushing forward, they all precipitated
themselves headlong into its suburbs, hurrying obstinately on, and
crowding together so fast that they formed but one mass of men, horses,
and chariots, motionless, and deprived of the power of motion.

The capital of Lithuania was still ignorant of our disasters, when, all
at once, forty thousand famished soldiers filled it with groans and
lamentation