Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1941-10-13
NupoIeon's TRAGEDY

Napoleon's Tragedy
When Guizot, the great historian,
came to write of Napoleon's invasion
of Russia in 1912, he set at the top
of the first page of his manuscript
the words: Glory and Madness" In
that profoundly significant phrase
it was his intention to summarize
the tragedy of the campaign against
Moscow, often discussed since Adolf
Hitler began the most comprehen-
Sive military enterprise of modern
times"
But nothing more compelling than
NapoleonS own description of his
defeat could be found by any chron-
lcler of that stupendous event. Ac-
cordlng to the Emperor, the army
was in good condition on November
6, and till then the weather had been
perfect. The cold began on Novem-
Der 7, and from that date we lost
every night several hundred horses,
which died during bivouac. Soon
10000 had Succumbed, and our cav
airy were all on foot On November
IA we were almost without cavalry,
artillery and transports. Without
cavalry we could gain no information
beyond quarter of league. With
out artillery we could not fight a
battle or keep positions steadily. 1t
was necessary to march, to avoid a
battle, which the want of supplies
made undesirable. 1t was necessary
to occupy certain space, to avoid
being taken in flank, and that with
out cavalry to gain information and
unite the columns"
Napoleon's troops, it would seem,
were doomed quite without regard to
anything that their enemy might do
against them. Whether they at
tempted to camp or tried to retreat
mattered little. The Corsican'S expe-
dltion had been recruited from milder
climates. When winter struck. thou
sands died in the frigid blast without
ever having fired a shot at their
unseen foe. The paymaster's chest
was seized by raiding Cossacks at
the foot of an icy hill up the slope
OF which no man nor beast could
carry it. Veterans, made desperate
by their sufferingS, rushed into a
burning house to perish in the
flames. M. Guizot quotes an officer
OF the Russian advance guard. who
said: The road which we followed
was covered with prisoners who re-
qulred no watching and who under
went hardships till then unheard Of
several still dragged themselves
mechanically along, with their feet
naked and half frozen; some had
lost the power of speech, others had
fallen into kind of savage stupidity
and wished, in spite Of US, to roast
oead bodies in order to eat them"
OF course, the German dictator is
familiar with the horrors of Napo-
Icons ordeal. Long before he decided
to attack his erstwhile partner. he
had instructed himself in the condi-
tons which he knew he must face
His schedule of operations was for
mulated with an allowance for acct
dents. Whether or not he permitted
his generals a sufficient margin-an
adequate differential-is a matter of
speculation. They are better equipped
than the French were; they have the
advantages which Napoleon lacked
planes. tanks, clothing, food.
marvelously efficient communications
system. 1t may be "wishful think
ing on the part of Hitlers world
wide opposition to expect him to
encounter the Affections of a Russian
winter, yet 1t cannot be denied that
the storms of December and January
are factor which Der Fuehrer must
reckon with before he has accom-
pllShed the complete subsection of
the entire Soviet Union. His present
haste to reach the Bolshevik capital
and to achieve there a victory of
major consequence is in line with
the theory that he wishes to avoid
the fate OF Napoleons venture of
1872.