The Colorado statesman., 1924-05-24
THE FALL OF NAPOLEON
A. d. 1912

The greatest OF modern adVenturers,
Napoleon Bonaparte, was something
short of gentleman, person of mean
build, coarse tastes, odlous manners
and defective courage, yet gifted with
Satanic beauty of face, charm that be-
witched all fighting men, stupendous
genius in war and government. Be
ginning as penniless lieutenant of
French artillery; he rose to be captain,
colonel, general, commander-in-chief,
consul of France, emperor of the
French, master of Europe almost con-
queror of the world-and he was still
only thlrty-three years of age when,
at the height of his glory, he invaded
Russia. His army of invasion was
gathered from all his subject nations
Germans, Swiss, Italians, Poles, Aus
trians, numbering more than half
million men, an irresistible and over
whelming force, launched like shell
into the heart of Russia.
The Russian army could not hope
to defeat Napoleon, was routed again
and again in attempting to check his
advance, yet in retreating laid the
country waste, burned all the standing
harvest, drove away the cattle, left the
towns in ashes. Napoleon's host
marched through a desert, while daily,
by waste of battle, wreckage of men
left with INTENDED wounds, horrors of
starvation, and wolf-like hOrdes of
Cossacks who cut off all the stragglers,
the legions were swept away. In
Lithuania alone Napoleon lost n hun
dred thousand men, and that only
fourth part of those who perished be-
fore the army reached the gates of
Moscow.
That old city, hallowed by centuries
of brave endeavor, stored with the
spoils of countless victories, that holy
place at the very sight of which the
Russian traveller Frustrated himself in
prayer, had been made ready for Ma
poleon's coming. Never has any ma
ton prepared so awful a sacrifice as
that which wrenched million people
from their homes. The empty capital
was left in charge of few officers,
then all the convicts were released and
provided with torches. Every vestige
of food had been taken away, but the
gold, the gems, the silver, the precious
aces, remained as bait.
Despite the horrors of the march,
Napoleon's entry was attended by all
the gorgeous pageantry of the Grand
Army, a blaze of gold and color, con-
quered Europe at the heels of the lit
tie Corsican adventurer with waving
flags and triumphal music. The cav
airy found cathedrals for stabling, the
guard had palaces for barracks, where
they could lie at ease through the
winter; but night after night the great
buildings burst into flames, day after
day the foraging parties were caught
in labyrinths of blazing streets, and
the army stalled on a diet of wine and
gold in the burning capital.
In mortal fear, the emperor attempt
ed to treat for peace, but Russia kept
him waiting for a month, while her
troops closed down on the line of es-
cape, and the winter was coming on
the Russian winter.
From the time when the retreat be-
gan through a thousand miles of naked
wilderness, not q single ration was Is
sued to the starving army. The men
were loaded with furs, brocades, chal-
ices, ingots of silver, bars of gold and
jewels, but they had no food. The
transport numbered thousands of carts
laden with grain, but the horses died
because there was no forage, so all the
commissariat, except Napoleon's treas
ure train, was left wrecked by the
wayside.
No words of mine could ever tell
the story, but here are passages from
the Memoirs of Sergeant Burgogne
(Heineman). l have ventured to con-
dense parts of his narrative, memories
of the lost army, told by one who saw.
He had been left behind to die:
cat that moment the moon came
out, and I began to walk faster. In
this immense cemetery and this awful
silence l was alone, and l began to cry
like child. The tears relieved me,
gradually my courage came back and,
feeling stronger, / set out again, trust
ing to Gods mercy, taking care to
avoid the dead bodies.
81 noticed something I took for a
wagon. 1t was a broken canteen cart,
the horses " hich had drawn 1t not only
dead, but partly cut to pieces for eat
ing. Around the cart were seven dead
bodies almost naked, and half covered
with snow; one of them still covered
with a cloak and a sheepskin. On
stopping to look at the body saw that
It was woman. l approached the
dead woman to take the sheepskin for
a covering, but 1t was impossible to
move it, A piercing cry came from the
cart. Marie Marie 1 am dying!
"Mounting on the body of the horse
In the shafts 1 steadied myself by the
top of the cart. 1 asked what was the
matter. A feeble voice answered,
Something to drink :!
81 thought at once of the frozen
blood in ny pouch, and tried to get