Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1859-02-24
THE REPUBLICAN.
PLYMOUTH, IND,
Thursday. February "a, 1859.
Written for the Marshall Co. Republican,
4 8 1 =
t or, THE f
RETREAT FROM MOSCOW
BY MAJOR JOHN F. LAxaExnAuoH, SEN.
CHAPTER III.


strongly mounted with iron; il had been necessary
to'orcc it opcn on account of its being bolted from
the inside, sign that there were either people
still in, the building, that they hid fed through
the garden. The latter seemed the most probable.
Two wnling stairs from both sides of the hall con-
Quoted into wide corridors ON the second floor, where
were doors leading to a long line of rooms and sa
looms; they appeared to he of spendor and rich
ness which, ercn in Russia. could not he common;
pering, and gliding, proved tn the decorations had
been owned and used by aEamily ofhigll rank. AT
length night came on, anf large watc. fires began
to burn in the Streets with men lying around inbiv
ouac. l. lrush had gone down to inspect the troops
and TO provide for their wants; while R.,snski aud
myself concluded to take n survey OF the buildings
in the vicinity. Pcrambulaiing several streets, in
Krcnlin. Here large bivouacs were cstabIislcd.-
The ~ oung Guarl' had chosen this place for
their camp. The long lines ofpyrami,ls, formed by
guns stacked toSctlcr, sonc brilliantly in the re-
Lection of the w1tchfircs which hpl been lit along
the streets. In the places where long streets oren
ed, cannon placed, with burning matches stick
ing in the ground behind them. Music was heard
from every side; but there were only few who h,d
still strength and good Eumor enough, to prefer
merry dincc--ihe beloved Franchise, to the quiet
rcposc on the s;raw-coycred pavement. On the
whole, the camp presented the animated, but not
the merry sight which such om siic !! town gcncr
ally gives, especially after day of triumph. The
dresses of most of the soldiers were torn or black
encd with powder; the Guirls were not an cxccp-
ton either, although they had fought at Boro-
dino;-but afterwards, when old onc-eyed kutosow
took fortified position krirnSkoy, three miles
from Moscow, they honorably participated in the
battle. Here and there amcrry song was heard; but
most of the bearded warriors lay wrapped up in their
cloaks, sleeping, or circ.essly looking into the
fires. a little further ON were the s.Oid Gu1rds.-
Very little order prevailed among these usually
cxcellcntly drilled troops. The doors of the houses
were broken open, and here you might sec one
party OF these soldiers bring wood and straw; Others
bedding. carpets cushions holsters, and whatever
they fouml in the abandoned Louscs, TO prepare for
themselves comfortable couchcs. for the soldiers
we're the happy heirs ofthc emgrants. The bivouac
; presented striking, and almost oriental appear
ancc, from these decorations; especially as there
were some Mamclukcs of the Emperor, with long
pipes in their mouths comfortably stretching them
selves on magnifricnt embroidered red carpet and
blue bolsters which they hid found in an adjoining
palace. Every step that took would have
Afforded picture TO the hand of an experienced
list. Here an old warrior lay asleep as if only to
be awakened by the trump Of the lust jud smcnt,
feeling that the solcs of his boots already began to
bura at the fire. and little further off were play
ers, singers, dancers, anda group Of comfortable
old gry-bc ris, with more sca,s on their body tiaa
hairs ON their heads; and few steps to side, a
piper vito, in the habit OF sans-culottc, had pic
turesqucly seated himself upon drum to mend his
own brecchcs; even mother with two year old
by sat Paving with her children by the fire. Tired
with the novelty of the cncampmcns, We rctraccd
sour steps to our quarters; arrived there VIC soon
found rest n the arms of Morpheus report from
the firing of pistol, aroused from my delight
fuI slumbcr, ami directly the voice Of Iarash call
ing for me from an adjoining room; sprinring up
from my couch, hurried into the saloon, which
was lii, not only by the reflection of the fires from
the street, but also by night lamp. Larush adj
vanced with hasty steps to meet me- and almost at
tire same momont the rest OF the officers awakened
by tI,e report rushed in from tn: ante chamber
'"Liyhts. lights called Larush. The order was
harrieJIy obeyed. "wcare h.untcd.'' sail Lar,lsh
Ter couple of lights had been brought by his or
derlies. "Have YOU seen ,sothingl'' at the same
time showing a brief note, which he had picked
up from the floor of his sleeping apartment, con-
timing few brief words only; with the words
I"F1y. Fly. Danger tlrcatcns your life under this
roof" At the same time he lr,d heard voice
from the door leading to the saloon, cxclaming,
|"Takc this as your warnings" upon which he had
fired oifhis pistol. Upon a short consultation i,
was resolved to unriveI This mysterious token
Larush seiz, cas, die with his left and pistol with
isrgtt hinl calling us to follow him. src had not
proceeded many steps. till We found ourselves in a
narrow corridor. sufficiently wide and high to admit
tall person, 1t seemed TO be made within the wall
itself, running parallel with the broader corridor
outside; but it sank perccptbly down. in some pla-
ces prccipitously so. There was at the same time.
a strong smell of fire and birthstone, and at dis
tance gmmcring ofsomcthng, twenty steps fun
ther. andwc were met by Thick suipharo,,s
smoke, and as we advanced further the sulphlrors
be breatiIed. Sudlenlya blast OF wind met us, as
if door had becn opened somewhere; at the same
time the light which we carried went OUT leaving
us in utter darkncsss The next tinstsnta resound
ing blow was hcArslwhich shock the whole building
ssfhat wasa mincv' exclaimed Bsrusll, "we must
RETURN W u,r1,s.,l n nsl oar "a b,ek hui =;