The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1929-01-25

the impulse of his heart and stayed
where he was, and assuredly it was
not his grandeur that sriveted him to
the shore. You could see what suffer
ings he endured when, at every In
slant, he would ask how the passage
was getting on, If the cannons could
still be heard rolling over the bridge,
If there were fewer cries from that
side Imprudent people, he would say,
why could they not have waited a lit
tie longerr
''There were fine examples of devo-
ton on this unfortunate occasion. A
young artilleryman sprang into the
water to save poor woman who, en-
numbered by her two children, was
trying to reach the other shore in a
small boat. The load was too heavy.
An enormous piece of fee struck the
boat and it foundered. The cannoneer
seized one of the children and swan
ashore with it. The mother and the
other infant perished. This good
young man brought up the little or
phan as his son.
The Emperor Shivers While the Sol.
diers Die.
"Some officers harnessed themselves
to sledges SO as to fetch along a num-
Der of their companions who had been
made helpless by their wounds. They
wrapped the poor fellows up as warm
ly as possible, comforted them Occa-
sionally with glass of brandy when
any could be procured, and hvished
on them the most touching attentions.
There were many who acted thus and
yet how many whose names are UNI
known! How few returned to enjoy
in their own country the most beauti-
full memories of their life!
"The bridge was burned at eight
O'Clock in the morning. The 10Th, the
emperor left the banks of the Berez-
ina and we went to pass the night at
Kamen. There his majesty occupied
wretched wooden house. A freezing
wind entered it on every side through
windows, nearly every pane of which
was broken. We closed the apertures
with trusses of hay"
Constant was concerned, you see,
over the privations which his beloved
master endured. There is no word
from him to indicate that in the slight
est degree Napoleon showed remorse
for the host who died that night or
for the greater hosts who already had
died in this hideous retreat-poor
1nameless sacrifices to the insatiate
ambition of man determined to hold
military dominion over continent.
Between Constants lines we read
the concern which Napoleon felt for
the destruction of his army, but no
where is there an implication that Ma
pOleOn was stirred to pity for the in
dividual human atoms whose stiffened
bodies by thousands and yet more
thousands dotted the wintry plains be-
hind him. Conquerors are like that.
else they would never have the will to
conquer. To them human beings are
merely pawns in a mighty game.
So Constant, one perceives, is dis:
tressed by the fact that Bonaparte
must SILVER in dismanteled howell.
with only bundles of fodder to shut
out the icy blasts. Immediately after
telling of this he adds another para
graph which sums up in some measure
the miseries of the forlorn wretches
elsewhere in that encampment-men
who have no roofs above them but the
heavens, no beds beneath them but
the frozen earth.
What Price Glory?
This is what he says in summary of
the scenes presented within earshot
of his masters resting place:
"Not far away from us on vast
open space the unfortunate Russian
prisoners whom the army was driving
before it were penned up like cattle.
Truly, found difficulty in compre-
bending that air of being victorious
which our soldiers still assumed by
dragging along a wretched superiority
of prisoners who could only hamper
them by requiring superintendent.
When the victOrs are dying of hunger,
what becomes of the vanquished?
Hence these miserable Russians, worn
out by want and marching, nearly all
persisted that night. In the morning
we saw them huddled close together.
They had hoped to find little warmth
in this way. The feeblest of them had
succumbed, and all night long their
dead bodies had been embraced by
the survivors without the latter hav-
ing noticed it. There were some who.
in their voracity, devoured their dead
companions. The firmness with which
the Russians endure pain has often
been spoken of; | can give an instance
of 1t which almost surpasses belief.
One of these poor fellows having wan
dered away from the corps to which
he belonged, was struck by cannon
ball which cut off both his legs and
killed his horse. French officer,
making a reconnaissance on the bank
of the river where the Russians had
fallen, perceived at distance mass
which he recognized as a dead horse;
and yet he saw that this mass was not
without movement. He approached it
and saw the head and shoulders of a
man whose extremities were hidden
in the body of the horse. The unfor-
tunate man had been there four days,
shutting himself up inside his horse
as a shelter from the cold, and feed
ing on infected scraps from this fright.
full lodging"
That is the final picture which l, for
one, got from this narrative-not the
emperor in his makeshift quarters, but
the legless Russian clinging to life in
side the carcass of slaughtered
beast. To my way of thinking ii is
a picture which all lovers of war for